Bookish

I am slowly getting obsessed with making books. And like usual, I'm playing with different sizes, from mini to (eventually) maxi. I made these tiny ones first, partly to work out the different elements that make up a book. My plan was to create a book as a pedestal  for the birds, using titles that might even suggest that irony ensues. 

These are petite...and solid. Up to 3"

Now I'm building them bigger, from slabs, with internal structure to keep the shape from sagging.

This is the first slab built (as in hollow) book. I showed it previously, before adding the bird.

Once I looked at the two together, I felt that I had to cut an opening and make the bird a lid. I guess that makes it an inkwell?

There is a classic photo of a German (or is it Belgian?) salt glazed flask that I have long admired. Like most of my best ideas, it starts in medieval Europe. I've had it in mind to make some for years. That's the great thing about a long career in clay, plenty of time to get to most of the intriguing ideas that tickle one's fancy.

Here's the newest one. Even bigger.

There are butterflies and dragonflies everywhere, even by my wheel.

A Little Handle Tutorial

Last week I posted photos of these serving dishes and Ron wrote asking for more details. I do love finding ways to add handles to my pots and I'm particularly interested in the seams that result by not blending them in. This type of handle exaggerates that idea.

So, first make yourself a plate...or platter...or bowl. Wide rim optional.

Get some handle clay.

Pull a handle. I usually pull enough to get a bunch at a time. I didn't this time. (It's just a demo, y'know). 

My thumb makes the groove. This is 4" long.  

The handle is fatter where it meets the rim and tapers on the outside edge.

As I push down I am forcing the clay to divide equally on the front and backside of the rim.
(My other hand is usually supporting the backside but it's holding the camera here!)

First it looks like this...

...and then I refine it like this.

This is the backside.

There is no reason that you couldn't blend all these seams in and get just as nice a piece. Just different!

400 Little Ideas

Who doesn't like a rainbow? This being my 400th blog entry, it seemed appropriate. We get some fierce-some thunder and lightening storms here in steamy Ol' Virginny and it's not unusual to see a rainbow...even double rainbows! Always a sign to stop and take a slow breath. Or drive into a parking lot, dash out of the car and take a quick snap...

I just finished a series of 11 bird vases...these are the silliest. 

I've been planning to make vases for a while but got my motivation to start after seeing a pot on Jenny Mendes's blog. 

 It was an interesting (and colorful) spark.

I have been slowly finding my way into making books out of clay. I've made a bunch of very small ones which i'll show you another time. This one is about the size of a fat paperback and is hollow. My idea is to have a bird or two sitting on a book as a base...even stacking 'books' for a taller base. I have cot a nice size hole in the bottom half of the cover and I'll make a bird lid to fit. I guess it becomes an inkwell?! This is a case of an idea that comes as I develop an original thought...I hadn't thought of the book as a vessel. My original plan was to attach a bird to it permanently.

I used to have a slip I called 'old leather book'...I'm hoping that I can recreate it.

Green Grass, Pet Peeve and Urban Agriculture

 I couldn't resist trying to capture the 'green-ness' out at the studio. This is remarkable in August. In spite of some crazy heat and humidity, we have had sufficient rain to keep the grass from turning brown. It makes it a tiny bit more bearable to be spending the summer here. 

from my notebook of 'lists, etc.'

I carved some new stamps, small ones for small pots. I am always mystified that so many potters mark their work in ways that are difficult to read...or impossible to read...or they use some random symbol...or an illegible signature. I have used a tiny sprig for my own stamp for a long time, but I have changed it over the years and I've tried to keep track of those changes and when  they changed. I made a special stamp for the year 2000 and since then I have returned to lower case letters...I carved djf into the very first pot that I made. I was reading e.e. cummings back in those days! I have different sizes to go with the scale of the pots.

Urban Agriculture

I have this tiny side yard and for reasons unknown, corn sprouted in the midst of grass, heat pumps and lumber. I think that I remember my friend growing corn here more than a dozen years ago...could it be self sowing after all these years?!

An Homage to the Other DF

A couple of cool candlesticks flanking "Doug's Jug"( tallest is 17")

In case you think that all I do is make beaks, bird feet and turn thousands of little balls of clay into feathers, I submit the following pots to calm you down and provide some balance for anyone who has had enough of my avian flu. I'm still making the birds (over 100 now!) but it feels great to fill up boards with wheel thrown pots. I was thinking of Doug and Hannah's visit when I made the 'jug' in the middle. I grabbed a few leaves from around the studio and learned that it takes more patience than I had today to really cover the pot. Still,  I'm hoping that this new blue/black slip will be a winner.

I haven't made these serving dishes in a few years. They used to be a standard  part of any making cycle.

I've made a bunch of these, with plans to stack 'em even higher.

Rimshot

If two is good then doesn't it follow that four is better?!

Still picking blackberries!

The Next Big Idea (bird department)

Click on photo to enlarge

Thinking about birdbaths...

Mongolia...or Bust!

My godson, Hugh (Toff and Georgie's son), is leaving today on a rally with a few pals for the next 10 weeks or so. They've bought a used ambulance, retrofitted it for the journey, raised thousands for charity and now today is the day to make it real. The lads will be writing a blog if you're curious to follow their adventure. Safe travels!

Catching Up

The summer is flying by and the best I can say about the weather is...it's not as bad as it could be! I famously despise the heat (what would you expect from a boy from Buffalo, NY?) and I continue to imagine myself picking plums in England. Still, I am getting out to the studio early when I can and the pedestaled bowls here are some of the fruits of that labor. I'd like to make some giant ones, but I may wait until I've put these through a firing. I worry about them warping.

You can also see a bird on a pot that hopefully looks like a silo..I'm going to play with a series of birds in/on architectural forms. I've been putting feathers on a batch of wee ones while watching the women's World Cup...fantastic competition!

peaches and blackberries...m-m-m-m-m

The summer bounty of produce is wonderful. I took Jason, Beth and Lucy to visit with Warren Frederick and Catherine White and joined them for the beautiful lunch you see below. A beautiful country home and studio, stimulating conversation and a very warm welcome made for a lovely day. Our pots and aesthetics couldn't be different, but how great is it that pottery can be so diverse and inclusive at the same time. Lots of food for thought.

lunch at Warren and Catherine's

I continue to be be amazed at the mentality that is still fighting a war that ended 150 years ago. The losers never let it go!

only in Virginia...

If you are following this here blog in North Carolina you might get a visit from Jason Hartsoe, my assistant, and Lucy Bresson, his friend from France via Ireland. They are both keen young potters and I'm sure that they will find a warm welcome.

A Hatful of Blackberry Goodness

My studio is in the far corner of a 65 acre country property and blackberries might just be the biggest crop that we harvest every year. They have become my favorites of all the berries (including Chuck and Halle).  Bright pink smoothies and blackberry crumble or blackberry jam with bay leaf - m-m-m-! And corn and tomatoes are on the cusp!

After some frantic months I am finding a little time to get back to the studio. Last time I started a making cycle I was overexcited about making birds. They were new and unknown. I still find them interesting and I will continue to make them for a while, but some of the bloom is off the rose. It's working out the 'problems' of a new idea that get me most excited...now it's time to refine and push some of the things I've explored. It is a different energy. 

All that is a long way to say that I haven't quite wrapped my brain around a master plan for firing #11...I've made a list of the usual suspects to make and I know that birds will be in the mix (I'm making a bunch of wee ones at the moment) but I don't have an overarching plan/theme yet. It leaves me a bit uncertain at the wheel. 

This is not an unusual state for me to be in. I like a good plan. Years ago I used to try and (like the old Communist Party) have a five year plan.  Sometimes it just takes a few days on the wheel for a path to be revealed. Meanwhile, it is a certain act of faith that takes me out to the studio these days. Waiting for illumination...