Love of the Clay

09/17/2024

It's here!! Our shop re-opens for the season with our annual fall open house event.

Stop on by to see what's new and enjoy a cozy autumnal atmosphere, featuring decor, refreshments, music, and more! 🍂🎃☕️🥧

05/07/2024

Special thanks to those who came out to the Spring winery event Saturday in the dreary weather! We greatly appreciate your support!! 💜
We tried a new display and setup at this show...
one of my favs ever!

04/27/2024

COMING SOON!

Handpainted grape motif on wine cups 🍇
Ready in time for summer relaxing and the upcoming spring winery event

04/23/2024

More NEW Pieces...
including sponge holders that also make perfect business card holders. Plus, new wall planters and botanical dangles. Transfer patterns are shown and available on limited pieces.
Stop by the gift shop this Thursday 12:00-6:00pm to check out all the seasonal spring items in stock 💛🌱🌼

03/29/2024

...just as Jesus has given to us ❤️

03/22/2024

Springy Things WIP 🌿🍄

Just a few pics of some of the latest work in progress!
It was fun experimenting with a new technique to me... "carving" out vine designs in greenware.

You'll see this on select mushroom chimes, both regular and new mini sized. Plus a new piece this spring...wall planters! These pieces are currently drying and awaiting the bisque kiln. Now to consider glazes...hmmm
Any Suggestions?! Comment below!

03/19/2024

Newest Spring Releases 🪺

Here's a little peek at some of the new products now available at the pottery shop!

- Mini tart dishes...perfect for well, tarts, plus individual desserts, snacks, egg dishes, and more
- Egg cups...for those that enjoy a soft boiled egg for breakfast ;)
- Patterned and painted plates...all unique & individually made

Stop in to see these and all our Easter items this month!

03/06/2024

It was a BUSY glazing day!!

Organizing groupings of bisqueware based on the specific color they will be glazed, helps me keep focused and move through the process a LITTLE bit faster.

Some fun new trial pieces were included this firing so I'm really excited to open it up tomorrow!! Several new products are on the way this week 💙🤎🤍💚

02/28/2024

A great FREE wellness/nutrition event for kiddos 5-12 at our local gym...
So proud of you Emma! 💙

01/11/2024

PART 2...A " Real" Day in the Life of a potter

Another studio task just briefly mentioned in my last post was "FLIPPING" (or flipping pots).
I like to throw my pieces on bats (the green & brown plastic squares seen in photo 1). I personally find it much easier to make a piece and simply remove the bat to a shelf rather than trying to take it right off the wheel head.

Once all pieces harden up (called leather hard) so as not to be distorted when gently touched, they can be flipped. This ensures the bottoms of the pieces dry a bit too and the tops don't overdry. This can be several hours or overnight (when tented) all depending on season, temperature, and humidity in the studio.

Basically the technique is to use a wire tool to cut the piece off the bat (releasing the bottom), then carefully flipping it over onto a board. If trimming right away, I will let the pieces dry open air and, if not, will wrap the board in plastic until I get to the trimming process.

1. Pots ready to flip
2. A board of flipped pots
3. All the bats used and need scraped of excess clay
4. Clay that was left on bats when pieces were wire cut. This excess clay will go into recycling bucket!

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of these lesser known studio duties. Although not near as exciting, they all are necessary to get to the final product 🤎🤎

01/10/2024

A "Real" Day in the Life of a potter 🤎

Here it is...the unexciting and ugly part of the daily goings on in a pottery studio. And it doesn't include the iconic throwing session in a calming studio with chill music and relaxed, happy vibes all around (well, sometimes it does ;) ).

Most days, there is tons of dirty work to do. Lots of prepping & lots of cleanup! Depending on the day, it may take an hour or nearly two just to get ready to "work". Maybe an hour to clean up. And if I want to save time tomorrow...I'll prep too.
Yesterday, I took some very uninteresting pics. But each has a purpose...so I'll explain!

1. Cutting Clay-- this is actually the most time consumming task on a throwing day. Deciding what pieces are going to be made and cutting & weighing them out for accuracy. I am pretty seasoned at determining approx weights by look and feel, but I still measure...

2. Hanging &/or Cleaning Plastic-- every clay log is double wrapped in plastic to keep it from drying out. After unwrapping to weigh, the plastic is hung to dry out. Then shaken out outside (to remove dry clay), folded and returned to pugging area to be reused.

3. Heating Water-- my handy dandy electric kettle is a great tool to heat water in the studio! I only have cold running water and in the chilly months, far too cold to use to throw or clean hands with. So a kettles worth or more is warmed ea session for my buckets at wheel & sink.

4. Wheel Prep-- time to move all that cut clay and water to the wheel along w my favorite tools right at hand so I can keep going without stopping to look for something.

5. Recycling-- an unintersting but cool part of this setup is a vast amount of repurposing clay. Trimmings are reconstituted w water and added to a bucket or plaster vessel. Once it reaches a good consistency, it is rolled in plastic & stored until pugging day.

6.Recycling Boat--just an up close look ;)

7. Tented Shelves--holding thrown pieces from previous day. They were too wet to flip that eve so plastic is set up to keep from drying out. This needs tended too as well. Watch for PART 2 post on this process, called "flipping".

01/02/2024