Levitating Planter

Forget about the bowl magically floating upside down....or the plastic table in mid-air.  If you're still standing on your head after reading the last post this one will not look right....stand up.

Look....No Plastic!

Well....almost no plastic.  I had to put as few planters under the influence the other night so that I could slip them yesterday.  

We've had a beautiful couple of days here so my pots have been enjoying some quick-dry time in the backyard.  I guess I better start practicing for Austin....I won't be able to get away with making mugs one day and getting handles on them a week later.

Here are some slipped and incised planters.
These are a couple of fluted hanging planters....I may make a few more of these today.  I can't decide what I think of the cone shape....stand on your head and imagine them hanging to get a sense of what they'll look like finished.  I guess I could have flipped it in iPhoto....sorry.
Some earthenware bowls...made 'em this morning and will trim 'em shortly....how about that?Some bone-dry planters are in the background.  Yep...made them yesterday and they're bone dry already!

Back To Work....

First of all, I apologize for the typos in any posts from vacation.  My iPhone typing skills are apparently not quite as good as I thought they were.

Anyways, I should have spent the day mixing a celadon and glazing what's left to get into the next firing.  I was going to....and it was even a beautiful spring day to mix glazes outside.  We don't get many of them on the Cape.

I put that off but instead of wasting the day studio-wise I actually made a few pots in that dirty red stuff again.  I don't think that I've thrown with it since last summer.  I was actually forced to make new pots.  When I dropped of Ale at school today her teacher asked me if this week was going to work out as we had planned.  I hope I hid my surprise at that question as I tried to remember what we were planning for the week.  Oh yeah....they have a fundraiser coming up and I told the school that I would make something for the 4 year olds to decorate.  I figured earthenware would be best for this project so I threw a couple of large bowls that will get some slip and some kid's handprints all over it that will be sold at the school auction coming up next month.  

While I was dirty and red I decided to make a few planters since it's spring and it seems as though the planter theme has been going through the pottery blogging world.  I made a bunch of 3lb. planters (squared and not squared).  I'm not quite sure what kind of deco they'll get...or if they'll even get any.  Tomorrow I'll make a few larger ones and then get back to glazing.  I've been putting off this firing for long enough and I have a few orders that need to get to their homes.  

Pics of red stuff down below...more on the trip and Austin studio thoughts later....

Heading Back Home

We just boarded our JetBkue flight and Javi is already watching the little tv. Nothin clay related happened this trip but the point of this trip was to find a neighborhood and maybe a nice rental. I fully envisioned having to come back down next month to keep looking for a place. We lucked out because we found a place better than we could have ever imagined and can't wait to get back down to live. Although the July and august heat will be quite a shock.

Now it's back to spring at home and figuring out the process of moving. What part of the studio is coming, what is staying and what is getting sold. Pretty soon I'll be putting some equipment on the market....stay tuned.

There wiki probably be a few more vacation related posts before it's back to the studio. Well...time to pretend I don't know the single mom sitting next to me with 3 kids who look just like me.

School

Here's Javi checking out the organic garden at his future school.  We're moving to the city and Javi gets to learn about organic gardening at school.  I wonder if he'll learn to eat anything other than green beans for his veggie at dinner.

Hey Cupcake: The Sequel

This time they brought the KIDS!!! (cue creepy music)

I think I may have to buy an Airstream. It seems as though to have a successful business all you need is an Airstream and a parking spot in South Congress. If I remember correctly the lineup was: Pizza, Crepes, Popcorn, Cupcakes.

All of the major food groups are accounted for in the area.

Besides the cupcakes the good news is that we found a house!  We signed a lease and are actually moving here this summer.  We found a ridiculously beautiful home.  The owners built it and moved in six months ago but have to head to Paris for work.  I'll get some pics up later.  It's in a great neighborhood within the area for the school that we wanted the kids to go to.  And it's walking to Magnolia Cafe which I haven't been to yet but my parents checked out yesterday.  

Pontoon Boat Fun

Well...Clarita wasn't exactly a fan of the boat ride. Luckily she
ended up falling asleep in Evangelina's arms and enjoyed her dreams
more than the ride.

The plus side of a pontoon boat is there is plenty of floor space to
cry and roll around on.

Austin: Day 1

We got here yesterday mid-day but this is our first full day. We're
starting our trip on Lake Travis and this is our morning view from our
condo balcony. I'll take it. This morning we're off on a pontoon boat
rental to explore the lake with the kids.

I was hoping to blog often from the trip but I left my computer at
home by mistake. Something I discovered at the security check at JFK.
Whoops. We'll see how detailed the blog gets from my iPhone.

Ready for Austin

Evangelina has gotten all of our summer clothes out as we get packing for Saturday's trip to Austin.

This is what Clarita has picked out to wear today. Diaper, check.  Hat, check. Ladybug raincoat, check. Ladybug boots, check. Ready to go!!!

She should fit it just fine when we move to Austin.

Keep Austin Weird, right?

Glaze Tong Fail

I knew there was a reason why I didn't use glaze tongs very often....

The Porcelain Bowl/Faceting/Glaze Tong combo will not be occurring again anytime soon.

It seems as though almost everything is getting a coat or two of celadon glaze on it.  It's going on 3 different clay bodies with a variety of slip/design combos underneath so hopefully it's not too overwhelming to see that much of one glaze in a kiln.  

I was hoping to fire tomorrow but it looks like I may have to put it off until after school vacation week.  We're off to Austin on Saturday via NY on Friday.  

We begin our house search on Monday! 

Spring

It's April, right?

With the heat off this is how cold my studio (and glazes) were this
morning.

? ? ? ?

I'm not sure what happened but it's back on. I am currently backing up
the 47gb of photos and using time machine to back up the entire drive.

I hadn't connected my external drive for a while so I hadn't backed up
for I don't know how long. That's not happening again. This was a
scary morning....plus, I put too much salt in my oatmeal. Rough start!

When you're done reading this post you may backup your computer.

Uh oh!

iMac Fail

Thanks Katie & Brandon!

Last night our good friends Katie & Brandon dropped off a cake for the kids...obviously no cookie Cutter cake as it was one of a kind...well...maybe two of a kind. They may have used another half of a cake for themselves.

Regardless....Thanks Guys! It was a big hit with the kids...and the adults as well!

Next year you're going to have to find a way to ship or hand-deliver it as we're starting to get used to this.

Honk Honk!

Photo Shoot Devolution

The Hunt Begins

Waxing and Glazing....

Sort of....

Popovers for Passover

Technically, I should be having these:

But, they weren't opened yet so I made these instead:

And they were very good with a little bit of strawberry jam.

Mugs

Much to Brandon's dismay a lot of my work spends a good deal of time under plastic.  Here's a typical journey.  

1-After being thrown, live under plastic....these actually only spent 1 day being asphyxiated.  Sometimes 3-4 days is needed.

2-Let them breathe.

3-Pick one perfectly leather-hard specimen.
4-Miraculously attach a handle to porcelain.

5-Is a hidden step...they went back under plastic for a day...come on....it's porcelain and a handle...I had to.

6-Get some black slip and design away....

Copan

I found some old pictures of our trip to Copan, Honduras from 2004. I had mentioned it in a post a long time ago. The museum store is where I got the two pieces that have inspired much of my recent work.  It was a motorcycle trip from San Salvador across 3 borders and finally Copan.  I wasn't riding myself at that point so I had to, with much humility, ride on the back of my father-in-law's bike.

Here's the crew that took the trip in front of the temple.
Here's an inside wall...it was actually hard to tell what was original and what was a reproduction....a lot of the most valuable pieces reside in Boston at the Peabody Museum at Harvard.  That museum, by the way, is a definite must-see if you're in town. 

Free...

I commented on my friend Abigail's blog so I guess I need to keep this moving:

"The 1st three people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during this year, a handmade gift from me. If I don't have your email address either leave it in the comments or email me so I know how to get in touch when your gift is ready. 

What the gift will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back and let me know you are going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift. Remember only the 1st three will qualify."

Pots?

I've been using the black version of these potter's pens from Axner for a little while.  I've liked the fine lines that I can get.  They make different gauge tips for each.  I thought that I would try the Blue and Red versions and see how well they hold up in a Cone 10 Reduction firing.

Perhaps things will get finished up here soon and I can stop hiding in shame or on Twitter and get back to blogging.  

What a Mess!

After reading this article in the New York Times last week I decided to go ahead and try to tackle my office.  It is taking a while but my piling system is slowly turning into a filing system.  We have an almost official moving date to Austin during the first week in August.  We're slowly purging our house and my studio of stuff we don't need to bring with us.  I've got 12 years of studio piles that make my office look like a simple endeavor....That's probably why I'm working on the office so I can put off that truly horrifying job.

I'm trying to turn this....

and these.....
into something somewhat organized that looks like this....

And, I've just gone paperless billing with everything that will let me.  Now hopefully I read those emailed bills before my ISP cancels service!