100 Mugs Concluded

One of the benefits of making so many mugs is the having the opportunity to slip and decorate a lot of work in a brief time. Throwing the second 50 mugs was a breeze...combing the second 50 was just the same... confidence grows and everything happens with a surer hand. That's one of the great pleasures of repeating forms... mind and hand really get in synch, although, the truth is, the less my mind is involved the better the result. There are almost 100 decoration variations on a couple of themes here. I resist repeating precisely, but like the comfort of exploring the familiar, adapting to different shapes and sizes. 

All of this combing started with white slip over red clay hundreds of years ago. One of Ray Finch's contributions to the pottery world was converting Winchcombe from earthenware to stoneware and adapting the decoration techniques from one to the other. Mostly he uses iron slips with celedon/ash glazes on top. I'm using a kaolin slip mixture these days and letting the salt do the the glazing. Check out Michael Kline's blog this evening. He has a mug quiz and I'm one of the answers! (That's a big hint!)

Slip with drip.

 I add the liner glaze shortly after the handles...everything rehydrates and equalizes. Handles don't crack that way.

Racked and ready.

A tableful.

aerial view

A Week of 100 Mugs

    I spent the last week in near total immersion, making mugs for the masses! When I worked at Winchcombe everything was produced in big numbers, production being how the pottery survived all these years (200+). Eddie Hopkins could make and handle 500 small mugs in a week!!! Sid Tustin made a million pots in his 51 years at the pottery! I'm sure that Ray has done the same. Where do they all go?

    100 has been my number for many years but it is rare that I reach it anymore. When I first made pots here in Fredericksburg I was retailing mugs for $4.50 and wholesaling them for half of that! I had to make a lot of pots to get by. It was great training.

    So, during a week of fantastic autumn weather I hunkered down and did it. 105 mugs thrown in a couple of days and then handled, glazed, slipped and decorated. Raw glazing means that they are ready for the fire now, still a month away, but nice to have them 'in the bank'.  

I've mentioned here before that I reckon that I've made many, many thousands of mugs in the last 30+ years and I'm of two minds about that these days. For the most part I am grateful for all the bills that I've paid by selling them and I genuinely enjoy how much pleasure that they give to folks. The 'but' here is that I sometimes wish that we collected something besides mugs. Everyone collects mugs. I do. You do. We all do. But I wish that there were more teapot collectors and bottle collectors and jug collectors et al.

 Just saying...

And that being said, I still continue to find them interesting to make and explore. If I have a methodology for my pottery endeavors it is to take an old idea and make it new. More on that soon. 

Barrel shaped and little round ones.  3/4 pound o' clay.

 Variations on a theme. Nice shadows. Smooth surfaces are for future combing. 1 1/2 pounds.

My one loss. Mug fatigue

More atmosphere.

Hunkering Down

I cross a little creek each day on my way to the studio and I often pause to check out all the turtles sunning themselves on fallen logs. Now, in what seems like an instant, we are into seriously cooler weather (at last!) and these guys will all be heading underground soon for a long winter's snooze. I stopped the car to check him out and he sped away. They can really motor if necessary. 

Why did the turtle cross the road...?

I aim to be making plenty of pots in October with a firing in mid-November. My favorite way to spend a month! That means avoiding distractions, staying focused and drinking even more cups of tea. I need hundreds of pots to fill the two chambers of my kiln, although some of the big birds will fill some space. Like this beverage dispenser below...

I couldn't help myself....

 I love a round pot, don't you? If you look closely you can see that the handles are a different color clay...I use several and under certain light conditions in my studio I have a hard time telling them apart. I do it all the time. No one knows...

A 'classic' vase of mine on the left and knob I'm still not sure of on the right.

6" x 6" x 6"

I just returned from an exhausting and exhilarating evening at LibertyTown as we opened this month's exhibition. Well over 600 people came out to view the 195 pieces(!) that were submitted. Elizabeth and Beth did an heroic job of hanging the show. It is wonderful to see how strongly this scale appeals...both to artists and to the public. Sales were brisk throughout the evening and there are still plenty of treasures available.

25% of the show (and a few pots)

Ed King

Elizabeth Seaver

Rob Landeck

Jenna Anderson

Wet Work

We have finally gotten some desperately needed rain, which also means pots are drying slower. Both of these suit me...I hate 'chasing plastic', uncovering and covering pots all day long.

7 lbs. of clay

Yesterday we pressed pears and apples for cider...today is getting ready for tonight's opening at LibertyTown. Tomorrow I'll get back to these pots.

Brenda's Question Answered

Brenda inquired about the rectangular baking dishes in the last post. They are indeed made without a base, reshaped shortly after throwing, and then attached to slabs that can be thrown or rolled out by hand. I do both, depending on my mood! Today I'm pressing apples to make more 'scrumpy'!

Casseroles

Some say jugs...others say pitchers.

"Clay and Blogs : Telling a Story"

If you put your ear to the ground the rumble that you are beginning to hear is made by the potter/blogger fellowship as we make our way from near and far to North Carolina and the exhibition organized by Meredith Heywood that opens this weekend. Hollis and Dee visited this morning for breakfast as they wend their way south from Cape Cod. They might get the prize for coming the furthest?!

     I won't be there myself, but it will be a terrific show with the work of 50 potters who also write. Perhaps some are writers who also make pots?

The exhibition is titled: "Clay and Blogs : Telling a Story" and will be held at Campbell House Gallery in Southern Pines, NC for the month of October.

    I also spent some time today on a project that I'm now calling the British Invasion (part II). We are bringing Hannah and Doug to the US next spring (!) for a series of workshops and there are lots of bits and pieces that need attending for it to be a success.

I've been passing this sign on the way to the studio for a week or two.  

Sounds painful...

A while ago I showed one half of the mural that covers most of my old shop on Hanover Street. Here's the other half for your viewing pleasure.

I love how it is eroding...sorry about that, Warren!

from l. to r.  Mick Casson, Maria Martinez, Warren McKenzie, Beatrice Woods, Elijah Comfort 

You've seen this right hand side already...if you're really paying attention...

POTTER DISCOVERS GOLD!

    As more and more lumber mills add chippers to their production, finding wood for my kiln has become trickier than I'd like. My fuel of choice: soft wood offcuts with plenty of bark...but I end up using all kinds of things. The lack of a consistent source is maddening because it means that each firing has yet another variable to deal with.

    When Rudi mentioned the chance to visit an old lumber yard I was a bit skeptical, and maybe I should still be, but I think he discovered the holy grail of fuel for me! Beck lumber was a big, sprawling mill producing hardwood flooring and frames for box spring mattresses with the lower grade woods. Mr Beck passed away and his wife has sold off most of the equipment and inventory, but no one wants these pine 'stickers' and there are mountains of them!!! 'Stickers' are used as spacers between all the boards as they were cut to allow them to dry evenly. They are all cut to length (4' x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2") and should be perfect for my use. I will see for sure in November when I fire, but mostly I'm trying to figure out how to move a substantial amount of this to my place. I got two trailer loads, which is close to a firing (I think), but if it works there is years worth of wood here!!!  My only complaint is that it is still TOO BLOODY HOT!!! The evenings are nice, though. 

Lifetime supply...

All these gears for an old table saw.

A hell of a saw...

I have been moving along in the studio as well, making baking dishes and small jugs and lidded casseroles...more of the basics if you will.

Getting ready to pour slip over a baking dish.

Slipped and combed.

(Re)Quest for Fire!

My friend Ashraf Hanna is studying for a Master's degree at the Royal College in London this year and he has asked me to ask you to send him any "interesting and dramatic photos of fire and firings along with a brief description" that he might include in his dissertation. Here's a good chance to show off some of those great shots you've taken over the years.

Please send them to Ashraf at 

ashrafhanna.ceramics@btinternet.com

Thanks! 

Jennifer Dyson stoking the kiln at Muchelney Pottery.

The start of a 24 hour fire.

Big slabs in the firebox.

My kiln at the start.

Underway

This has been a quiet week, mostly getting some rhythm going on the wheel. It always seems to take a while to get my mind and body on the same page and keep out the distractions that life brings.

   Sadly, a quiet week is still busier than I'd prefer...this week's list included visiting my surgeon for a check-up, a farewell party for Anna Branner, picking apples in preparation for this year's cider making, testing soil on the farm for next year's garden, and spending a bit more time with my chainsaw. Imagine the pots a man could make as a hermit! 

    Why is it that as much as I enjoy throwing, I have to work myself up to begin?  It is always useful to start with something old and comfortable, and I have been making these oversized pie dishes for more than 30 years. They just about make themselves, they are fun to comb, and I love pie. But then, you know that by now. And if you are going to make a pie, a standard 9" is hardly worth the effort, so bigger, in this case, is better. They also make a helluva quiche...I use a grated potato crust that is tasty...

    I always think of Eddie Hopkins when I make jugs...and Ray Finch...and, added to that list now is Doug Fitch. I think of my belly when I make a pie dish...

'1/2 gallon jugs'

pie dishes

I know that I promised to leave the birds out of this for now, but they keep happening even as I get back to 'honest pots'. The two with handles are also jugs with a stopper on the top for filling and beaks for pouring, I know not how well. There are also some bowls happening now, but honest, I'm getting over this 'avian' flu!

'Yaz' and 'Zeke'

'Agnes' and 'Xavier'


It is always flattering when a new follower joins up here at blog central. I recently lost one, though, and I'm not sure what to make of that.