Away- Part I- Wood and a Beautiful Girl

While in PA, I discovered that my niece, Lily really likes my pottery. :) She's teething, and with that dark hair is definitely a Huacani having dark hair and dark eyes. I'm biased, but I think she's simply beautiful. My dad thinks she is the best too.

Maybe she'll be a potter in the days to come.
My trip to PA was full and busy. I'm still recovering because it's been a real busy week. It's fun though, catching up by reading blogs and spending a little time in the studio.

I was in Pennsylvania for Mother's Day. Got some pics here and there. Spent some time with my dad as he helped me to get a display ready for an upcoming pottery show in mid-June. First, I had to see the new lawnmower too. He was proud of it. Jake, the family dog is always by my dad's side.
We found this old beautiful board in the back yard. Really. Dad insisted on carrying it to his woodshop by himself.

He cut it into different lengths. He was so incredibly helpful. (Jake is in the pic, of course). Labs are so loyal.
This looks like ordinary wood, but it;s not because it is now here in NC and will be part of my pottery display. Thanks, Dad!

More on my PA trip in my next post. I'm tired.

Pottery from South of the Equator

I'm visiting my parents in PA for the weekend. Two of my three siblings are here too. While here, I discovered that my Dad and Mom had these two pieces; both are from Bolivia and I'm part-Bolivian (Dad is from Bolivia) so I was excited to see these. I really like the design on them; the design of the one on the left is like one of my pieces I had made with a similar wax resist design that's at the top of this blog. How beautiful!
They're so thin and the glaze is all over the pot... and the foot is indented on the pot. Hard to see from the pics. Handles are small too.

This handmade piece is from a restaurant in Cuzco, Peru. It has the customary (not sure which animal) design as the mug handles and has a very thin glaze on it. Simple and beautiful. Very typical Peru/Bolivia. Got it in Peru while on a family trip there.
A closeup look at the handle.
Yesterday, on the way here, I stopped at one of my Aunt's houses for a baby shower for one of my cousins. Went to another Aunt's house too and saw the beautiful stained glass that she makes. She's an artist too! This is above one of the doorways in her home.

This is a gorgeous Bolivian ahuayo blanket that she has in her family's kitchen. Her family lived for many years in Arizona; this fits right in with that motif in her beautiful home.
And, as my Dad, Mom, sister and I were talking about pottery, my Dad got out this 'bad day mug' that he purchased at a festival here in Lancaster, PA. It is well made; and is definitely a joke, all in one. I like the glaze though and the rim and writing at the top. Writing says 'bad day mug'.

It definitely has not been a bad day today. Definitely the opposite. Received a gift too from my Dad and he helped me with a big project. Will say more about that tomorrow. It was great to be with my mom on Mother's Day. More pics tomorrow too.

Always Changing

These days, I see my pottery-making changing and evolving. I really like that; there's always something new to try in the pottery world. I already am thinking of ways to change the surface design of my yunomi cups for the next firing. Talking with Greg Scott, a potter and instructor at Clayworks helps, of course. Did that today, and have some new ideas! His surface work is unlike any other I've seen.

I'll say more about surface design later, but for now I just had to be at the wheel this afternoon for a bit. I'm getting quicker at this. Made all of these yunomis above in less time than ever. New, soft clay, really helps. Can't see all of the forms here; most are really different from the others.

I'm traveling to PA to see my parents and two of my siblings-- family time for Mother's Day weekend. I'll miss time at the wheel and in the studio. Will miss going to the Barn Sale tomorrow and the Rosedale event. Even so, I did bring a little clay with me.

The good thing, though is that I'm taking my new yunomis with me. :)

And, my shelf is slowly getting full again. :)

Yeah! Another Amazing Firing...

I love this art called pottery. Here's one reason why:

This! A whole new kiln-ful of pottery! This firing was AMAZING! Great colors... good colors from reduction (meaning the oxygent leaving the kiln). I'm so pleased. Got to help unload the kiln... it was a bunch of fun to be the first to see the pieces ANd also to hear the 'ping ping' of the pottery as it adjusts to its new temp. Slowly adjusting that is... (if there's too much of a temp change too quickly, cracking can happen).

Here are four of my pieces--- all yunomi cups. Really good colors. I'll sell these.

And some more. The pieces were scattered all throughout the kiln. One is also on the brick in the far right of this picture too.

Julie's pieces came out well too. Her work is on porcelain. She's selling it tomorrow at a show here in Charlotte- the Rosedale one.

The back of one of Becky's birds 'kissed' one of Julie's pots... the oribe closeby to her glaze gave it that pinkish color. That is ALWAYS a good thing.

A full pic of the kiln. After opening it, we decided to wait awhile to unload so the pots would cool more and make for an easier unloading. So, in the waiting time, I shot several pics and listened to the ping-ping of the pots.

Some more yunomis scattered throughout. Click the pic for a close-up.

With a show in a a month or so, I've got a few things to buy to prepare. Julie gave me some ideas of the few things I'll need. She's a great teacher.

The cone pack is in this pic which shows what's going on in the kiln during the firing.

Here's a pic of the back stack with a few holes of pots that were already taken out. There's good reduction usually in this kiln in all parts except for the front left where oxygen tends to hang out. The oxidation makes my shino pots turn out whitish, which I don't prefer, but I'm confident that some customers will prefer! Nothing wrong with the pots... just a difference in color.

In this firing, the alfred's blue glaze that I used for design on the side of the pot and brushed on turned out light blue-- like a NC blue. I think it's the lighter blue because the glaze was more watery-- and only brushed on lightly once. I like the variation-- the darker blue on top and the lighter on the side. Besides, every firing is different. No two pieces are ever alike when it comes to handmade pottery.

A close-up. This one like the others has some brown iron spots, which is expected with the shino glaze.

I'll be selling these at the sale in mid-June or they're available now. Just email me for size and pricing. There's one in the middle of this pic that is much more blue than the rest... Julie said that it was because it was at the bottom of the kiln-and became hotter than the others. I like it!

This one doesn't do the colors justice... the bottle appears to have black glaze on it; instead it is dark blue. I'll have more pics shortly.

On the teacup on the left, I etched a spiral design onto the cup before I bisque fired it. Some of that shows; I really like the subtle detail.

Four more.... What a great firing!