I bought myself a new tool for Christmas. After a fairly successful year selling my pottery at local farmers’ markets, and off my website, and teaching, I decided to invest in my studio and bought myself a clay extruder. It is exactly like the ones we had with play dough – only made of metal. It can extrude square tubes, hexagonal tubes, round tubes, as well as all those shapes as solids.
Extruded tube with thrown neck, could be used as lotion or soap pump, with added detail.
When I bought it, I wasn’t sure how I was going to put it to use, but, now that I have it, I can’t seem to get out of the studio. So many new projects to explore, so many new creative ideas. For decades, I have described myself as a production potter. Nice functional pottery, but differing from other potters who may spend a day on each piece. I can fill a kiln after an afternoon of throwing at the wheel. With hand building, though, I find myself moving away from production, and focusing more on the individual piece – which actually is a good thing.
One of the tricks with this extruder, though, is keeping the tube straight. It has a tendency to want to twist. There is one artist on line I have seen, who makes the twist even more exaggerated – and it looks really cool.
Here are just a few things I have made over the last few days. They still need to be bisque fired, and then glazed and refired, but each of the more detailed pieces is taking a couple of hours to make, and it seems so much more satisfying. Can’t wait to see how they look when they come out of the kiln after being glazed!
I started working with clay in 5th grade. The summer camp I attended had the best studio space, where I spent most of my time. The ability to take a lump of nothing, and transform it into some thing functional and beautiful is without equal. Maybe you remember the fun of working with clay from your youth?
Because of my love of working with clay, I want to share what I know and experience on a regular basis with others so that they may also reap the benefits of playing with clay. Whether you have played with clay before or not, it is an opportunity not to be missed. It is an amazingly easy way to relax and have a huge sense of accomplishment – in a very little time!
For a detailed listing of what we will be making, click here. Chose an item and contact me to schedule a time. I am retired, so my schedule is wide open.
Here are some pictures of one class that I held recently. Their casseroles have not gone into the kiln, yet, they should be done by the weekend, and I will add those pictures. As novices, each and every one looks beautiful, and has the added benefit of being functional, too…dishwasher, oven, and food safe, as well as microwavable.
Do you have some friends who want to play in the clay, or would you like to stop by? Check out the schedule, or if that is not convenient, contact me directly. I am happy to schedule a time that works for both of us. Also, working with clay makes for a great parent/child activity or even date night!
Working with clay is one of the most satisfying forms of art that is out there. To take a lump of clay, without form , and turn it into a beautiful piece of art, that is also functional, is incredibly satisfying.
Hibiscus Serving Platter – July 16th
Mug or Cylinder – You Decide! July 23
Now you can participate in that activity! Every Monday evening, I will lead a group of 4 people, max, in different hand building projects. The projects will last about 2 hours each, and require absolutely no prior clay experience.
Tree Baking Dish – August 28
(If you can’t make Monday, I am happy to schedule a day/time that works for you)
Butter Dishes – August 13, 6:30 – 8:30
The cost of the workshop ranges from $30 to $50 depending on the size and complexity of the project, and includes all materials.
The following are tentative projects (Links will be added as I complete examples)
Projects will basically be finished in one night, and I will complete with final clear over glaze. Should you have time and desire, you are more than welcome to come back and do the final glazing of your piece when time permits, at no extra charge. It will generally take two weeks for a bisque fire, and then another week for a glaze fire. Firings in the kiln are dependent on having enough pieces for a full load. If any of these ideas are something you would like to do, but can not make Monday nights, please contact me to schedule another time that is more convenient.
As I complete an example of the projects noted, I will post the class on my website, so please stay in touch!
My studio has A/C or heat, or an open door to the woods beyond.
Part of being an artist is learning through experience. Not everything works as it should. These two pieces took hours to make, but in the end, had too many defects to ever sell, so they go into my increasing inventory of rejects.
The oak leaf chip and dip had numerous stress fractures from drying too quickly. I have made a few more, and am changing the way I made them. This time, I have made the leaves and chip and dip, and allowed them to dry together in a plastic bag so they reach the same moisture content. Hoping that when I attach the leaves, they will have a better chance of surviving.
The bird feeder failed because I managed to knock some of the petals off when I was loading it into the kiln. They are fixed now with glaze, but if you look closely you can see the cracks. I like the idea of this bird feeder. It holds a surprising amount of thistle seed, and I can’t wait to see the bright yellow goldfinches sitting among the bright yellow flowers, so I will give it another shot.
If you ever wonder why handmade items cost so much, it is because lots of failures go into the final piece.
Last week, a friend contacted me, saying she was headed to a wedding in Louisiana, and asked if I would make a necklace and earrings to match her dress. Yesterday, I finished the necklace and earrings, and am happy with how they turned out. It was a challenge, I have a really hard time with color coordination, but it was fun, especially knowing that it was for a good friend.
Most children these days get a much better education than I ever did, especially in art. Children are schooled in color theory, and elements of design…the school I went to we had lots of hands on opportunity, but none of the reasons behind it, or ways to make it better. So, when it comes to color, it is hit or miss with me.
Several years ago, I went back to get my masters in education, which then landed me a substitute teaching job in a local school system. I felt like I was finally getting the fifth grade education I never had as a result of teaching. So many holes in my education that were finally explained. The art teacher in the school system was particularly good.
Nothing like learning the things you should have learned in fifth grade at the age of 50, but better late than never. I still have much to learn, but I feel like I am making progress.
Anyway, here is the picture of the dress she sent me, and the necklace and earrings I made.
Do you have a special function coming up for which I can make you a necklace?
For a couple of years, on and off, I have been dabbling in glass as an art form. Mostly, I had been trying to use glass from the dump, uh, transfer station, to make giant catalpa leaf plates. I felt like I was finally making progress understanding glass when my house burned down, and I lost everything. My idea was to melt shards of recycled glass to make giant leaves which I was going to mount and then back light the leaves.
In order to do that. though, there are number of steps. First, you have to get the glass. Luckily, I don’t live far from dump, so one evening, while the dump was closed, I went over and climbed into the bin and scooped up colors of glass I wanted. I ended up taking home one of those giant 5 gallon pails full of glass. Getting in and out of the bin was tricky, and for a minute, I was thinking it would be awfully embarrassing if I got stuck only to spend the night in the bin.
What I learned over the coming months, is that not all glass melts at the same temperature. Even bottles which have the same color may melt at different temperatures. If they melt at different temperatures, you can’t melt them together, or the piece will have cracks. Took me a while to figure out a solution to that. I ended up making melting pots, into which I could put the pieces of glass, and as they melted they would leak out onto a mold below. While I was just beginning to get to the point where I was having some success, I lost my entire studio, including all the melt pots I had made, and molds, and glass…
So, now I am in the process of rebuilding my studio. While I was in the restaurant business, over the last two years, I saved bottles with the color of glass I wanted. I just finished making another melt pot, which is in the kiln waiting to be fired. But, to make the molds for the leaves, I will have to wait until the summer, when the leaves are full grown and I can use them to make the mold form clay.
In the meantime, while I wait for summer to come, I have been trying to figure out other ways to use recycled glass to make plates and bowls. Store bought glass is so expensive, that, in order to make any money, you have to charge an inordinate amount of money. It has the advantage of having the same melting point, so you are less likely to have cracks…but, as I am learning, nothing is fail safe! If you look on the website, you will see one dish I made from store bought glass. That dish uses about $15 worth of glass – not even counting the time to make the dish, or the timer it took to make the design, or electricity, or overhead. It is expensive.
Bortz’s house
My newest idea is to paint pictures, and then melt those pictures between layers of window glass, and then melt it into a form. Attached is a picture I painted of a house I have always loved. It is the most curiously shaped house. Located on the thoroughfare on North Haven, Maine, when I was a kid growing up, it had some great parties. It is my first attempt at this process, and using glass paints in this way. Unfortunately, I did not fire it hot enough, so it needs to go back into the kiln. I fired this to 1500 degrees fahrenheit, I think it needs to be another 100 degrees hotter. All part of the learning process! I think it is going to work, and eventually be really cool. When I was cutting the glass, I managed to break the glass which is why it has a line running through it, but I am fairly certain if I fire it to a higher temperature, it will all melt together. Today, I made a clay soap (or wedge of cheese) dish form , into which I will slump the glass. With a layer of kiln wash, the clay and glass don’t stick together, so I should be able to use the mold over and over.
Working with glass has my brain on overdrive as I think about things I want to make, and then try and figure out how to do it. Having access to clay to make molds, makes it a lot easier, but I am still learning what the glass can and not do. Wait until you see the tree I want to make!
Looking for one of the best ways to relax? Learn to throw on a potter’s wheel! Let me show you how!
I have been throwing for more years than I care to admit. I have gone back and forth between eathenware and stoneware, and am currently working with stoneware clay. As a clay, it is extraordinarily forgiving, and I have found, pretty easy for even beginners to make something nice.
The attached video shows me throwing an oil lamp. I first started making these in college. The inside piece you can fill with lamp oil, and around the outside, you can make a ring of oasis and add flowers and a glass chimney. It makes a stunning table centerpiece. Because I have been working with earthenware, pretty much exclusively for the last decade, I have not been able to make one of these. The oil slowly leaks from the porous earthenware clay. In college, graduation weekend, I realized I needed cash for gas to drive home. Most likely I had drunk most of my budget with days still to go. Being ever resourceful, I took my oil lamps decorated with locally picked flowers, to a local restaurant and sold them, providing enough cash to get home. What I didn’t realize, until years later, was I had filled the rings with apple blossoms, which, when I dropped them off were gorgeous…but, apple blossoms don’t last as a picked flower. I always figured that was one of those karma things that would come back to get me.
Someone asked whether or not I could do “made to order” pieces. I am not sure about the answer to that. It is really hard to do commissioned pieces, and takes away some of the creative spontaneity of what makes doing art fun. My mother, who has always been my most ardent supporter, has asked for several necklaces for her friends. She specifies colors, and I make the necklace. If she likes it, she gets it. In that way, commission work is worth doing. Attached is a the last necklace I created for my mother.
Do you have favorite colors? What colors would you like to see in a handmade lampwork glass beaded necklace?
After about 25 years of being in and out of the restaurant business, I hope I can finally say, “DONE!” Problem is, I have said it before…
The last time I was in the business I ran a restaurant with an art theme. Located in Littleton, MA., the place was half restaurant and half gallery. The gallery featured local artists who were establishing themselves in the art world. We had some amazing artists who did fabric art, pottery, glass, painting, photography, and metal… All so very unique and wonderful. Between managing that and the restaurant, though, it seemed like an extraordinary amount of work.
It was all complicated by my house burning down in the middle of it all, and then going through the rebuilding process.
Despite a crazy year, I am happy to report that life is great! Living tucked into the mighty oak forest of central Ma with my faithful mixed breed adopted companions, Henley a mostly rat terrier and Bubba a mostly chow, I look forward to every day I can get out into my studio. I am experimenting with new media, and hope to bring some of my new work to the store soon.
Thanks for stopping in, and please stop back again.
Part of being an artist is learning through experience. Not everything works as it should. These two pieces took hours to make, but in the end, had too many defects to ever sell, so they go into my increasing inventory of rejects.
