Sherwood Inn Pottery

It's been a long time since I've came around

2012-01-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time but I'm back in town...

After taking a couple weeks off for the holiday, it's time to get back to it. Here's a peek at some of my recent projects:

A few days before Christmas we got a new German shepherd puppy. Meet Oskar. (this is Oskar at 8 weeks. He's gained @5 lbs since this was taken. heh.)

It's been a long time since we've had a puppy, and wow, he is either all ON or all OFF. There is no in between. So I'm trying to take advantage of the 'off' times, but it's a challenge to get anything done.

Before bringing Oskar home, I installed new vinyl tile in the kitchen, and then we refinished 3 of 4 rooms on the first floor with wood floors. They look great, but I'm still trying to reclaim the house from the dusty mess that caused.

Kitchen (I haven't painted over the yellow yet. Another day.)

Dining room (before the coats of satin, but you get the idea.)

I also did 2 fun commissions for butter dishes. (Wish I'd taken the time to get formal pics of these, but was in a rush to get them shipped out before Christmas.)

Swiss cheese butter dish

HEY COW! 1lb butter dish

These are little skulls for my tween nephew Eliot's birthday. They each have a hole in the top/back of their head, and I included flame-less votives with them. I love these things and might have to make some larger ones for our house for Halloween.

AND, I made birch fireplace logs for my husband for Christmas. I poked holes in them, intending to poke mini christmas lights through the holes to look like embers. But once I saw them lit (which wasn't till after I gave them to Brian), I wasn't satisfied with how the holes work. And Brian wanted them to have little nubs, like where a branch was cut off, so they wouldn't lay so... flat. I've made a couple mods too, and have version 2.0 in the works. THey're going to be put on hold until I can get more white engobe though. I don't have enough to get 2 coats on each one, and my supplier is out. Might have to order some online.

Version 1

Version 2.0 in progress

Left & middle log each have 1 coat of white engobe for the birch bark, but need another. They all need the black detailing.

There's still time!

2011-12-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

Whew! I'm done with shows for the season, but there is still plenty of shopping (and shipping!) time left before the holiday. This is what I've got left (click on images to see them larger. Coloring on wood fired items varies from pair to pair, as it does on the plank earrings. It's a function of the glaze.):

When the weather turns all gray and cold I like to have a little bit of cheer in my windows. These vases are just the right side to sit on your window sill ledge. The base measures @ 3"w x 1-3/4"d. They're @4" tall. Cute with a flower or two. A cluster of them also makes a good centerpiece on a table. They make a good hostess gift too.

Window Sill Vase - $14 each

Left to right Blue (qty - 3), Peacock (qty-6, flower is in different position on each side and from vase to vase), and Redwood (qty-5)

Gingerbread Ornaments -

Shawl pins - $18 each

Top Row - Redwood ring, textured Redwood square

Bottom Row - leafy Peacock square, leafy Blue ring

Bracelets - $28 each

Top Row - 2 textured Blue rings, 2 Blue rings

Row 2 - Blue square, blue ring, 2 forest green rings.

Row 3 - Redwood square, textured redwood square (SOLD), textured spice ring, spice ring

Bottom Row: speckeled ring, jade ring (SOLD)

Snowmen Earrings - $22/pair (qty - 5)

Plank earrings - $20/pair

Top Row - Jade (qty 3), Blue (qty 3), Grape (qty 4), Yellow (qty 2)

Bottom Row - Peacock (qty 3), Redwood w/14k gold hooks (qty 3), Redwood w/silver hooks (qty 2), Forest (qty 3)

Bead Earrings - $20/pair

Top Row - Kiwi columns (qty 1), Cappuccino w/14k gold hooks (qty 1), Plum Columns (qty 1),

Bottom Row - Aqua (qty 1), Plum (qty 1), Olive (qty 1)

Spice/Rafia Salad Bowl 13-1/4" dia x 5-1/2" h SOLD

Spice Mixing Bowl 9-3/4" dia x 6-1/4" h $45 (qty 1)

Redwood Mixing Bowl 9-5/8" dia x 6-1/4" h $45 (qty 1)

Blue Mixing Bowl 10-1/2" dia x 6-3/4" h $45 (qty 1)

Footed Blue Lace 13" Square platter - SOLD

Spice Tray 13-1/8" x 9-1/2" - SOLD

Footed Oatmeal Leaf Platter (1 lg, $20) (1 sm, $16)

Footed Redwood Leaf Platter (1 sm, $16)

Blue plates SOLD

Snowflake Tray 16" x 10" - $35 (qty 1)

Santa hat salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair

Footballs (qty 3) and Buckeye (qty 11) salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair

White bunny salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 3)

Bread salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 1)

Mice salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 1)

Olive salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 1)

Bloodshot Eyeball salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (1 purple, 1 orange, 1 green)

Redwood turtle salt & pepper shakers - $35/pair (qty 1)

Wood fired turtle salt & pepper shakers - $35/pair (qty 2)

Wood fired pine cone salt & pepper shakers - $35/pair (qty 1)

Wood fired turtle salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 2)

Wood fired sheep salt & pepper shakers - SOLD

Wood fired elephant salt & pepper shakers - $35/pair (qty 3)

Wood fired pumpkin salt & pepper shakers - $30/pair (qty 2)

Wood fired wooly mammoth salt & pepper shakers - $35/pair (qty 1)

I still have yarn bowls too! $30 each.

More New Stuff!

2011-11-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

Don't forget the sale this weekend! Check out my previous post or Swan Creek Potters' web site for more info.

Here's some more new stuff:

Bracelets - some assembled, and some parts waiting to be assembled. $28 each.

Gingerbread ornaments. I made 20. $5 each

Plank earrings in test colors. Left to right - Forest, Grape, Jade, and Grape with Forest.

Except for the Grape with Forest, I have several pairs of each color. $20/pair

This is a commissioned salad bowl - 13.5" dia, 9"deep.

Snowflake bowl - $26

Footed peeking Santa platter - $26

Footed peeking snowman platter - $26

Yarn bowls are $30 each. New colors:

Forest

Grape

Jade

It's getting to be that time!

2011-11-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

First, I have a sale this weekend with the Swan Creek Potters:

Saturday, November 19th 9am-4pm

Sunday, November 20th 1-4pm

5727 Weckerly Rd, Whitehouse.

It's cold, so we'll be inside.

Check out Swan Creek Potters web site for details.

Next, I've been invited to be a vendor at the Old West End Tours de Noel on December 4th. I'll be in the Gift Boutique in the Park Lane Luxury Apartments at 142 23rd Street, from 12 -7pm. Check out the Women of the Old West End's web site for details

Here is a preview of what I've got going. Have more in the kiln, I'm hoping to have pics later this week or over the weekend.

Snowmen Salt & Peppers ($30/set)

Sets = Blue & Purple (sold), Dark & Light Yellow, Blue & Orange Stripes

Detail of the yellow pair

Santa hat Salt & Peppers (3 pairs, $30/pair)

Shawl pins come with wood pick ($18/ea)

Top row: Peacock square with leaf texture, Antique Blue round with Leaf, Redwood Square with leaf texture

Middle row: Redwood & Oatmeal round, Green round with blue speckle

Bottom Row: Antique Blue square with leaf texture, Redwood & Oatmeal oval

Snowman earrings - $22 (2 pair - 1 with twig arms [shown], 1 without)

Plank Earrings - $20/pair (silver or 14k gold French hooks)

This isn't for sale, but some of you have heard me talk about it. My nephew has a thing for pi, pie, and boxes, so for his birthday I combined them:

I'm rather pleased with myself

2011-11-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

Mixing plaster is not my favorite thing to do. The humidity, temp of the water, how much plaster I add, how fast I mix, if it's lumpy..... there's just too many things that need to be juuuuuuuuuust right Goldilocks, for the batch to be perfect. It's pretty much a crap shoot every time.

I'll know in about an hour, but I think I just mixed the 2 best batches of plaster I've ever made. Why is that a good thing? Because I had a fun idea for some platters with designs carved in them, and I want to be able to make multiples.

So I made the platters just how I want them, made some boxes that are the same size, and voilà! Platter molds in 2 sizes.

(ok, that shot is a bit of a tease. You can't see the design on the platter, because the mold is made upside down. HA! You'll have to tune back in to see the results.)

So there you have it. I'm rather pleased with myself.

Fall has arrived

2011-10-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

A bit of a rough month here. Without going into details, we unexpectedly lost our 2 beloved dogs within 6 days of each other, so I'm a bit behind.

In happier news, I dropped off a load of pots at Angelwood Gallery last week, in anticipation of Grand Rapid's annual Apple Butter Fest, which is next Sunday (October 9th) .

Early last month I did a wood fired kiln with the Swan Creek Potters, and here's my loot - 21 pairs of Salt & Pepper shakers:

Acorns ($30/pair)

I made 5 pairs, 1 pair is at Angelwood Gallery

Elephants with recycled cone tusks ($35/pair)

I made 3 pairs, 1 pair is at Angelwood Gallery. And yes, they have cute butts.

Sheep ($35/pair)

I made 1 pair.

Pumpkins ($30/pair)

I made 4 pairs, 1 pair is at Angelwood Gallery

Top left pair is on hold for someone.

Turtles ($35/pair)

I made 3 pairs, 1 pair is at Angelwood Gallery

Wooly Mammoths with recycled cone tusks ($35/pair)

I made 2 pairs, 1 pair is at Angelwood Gallery. And yes, they have cute hairy butts too.

Pinecones ($35/pair)

I made 2 pairs, 1 is at Angelwood Gallery.

NEXT UP: after Apple Butter Fest, I'm doing the annual holiday sale with the Swan Creek Potters November 18-20th (I think), and the newest sale, I've been invited to be a vendor at the Women of the Old West End's Tours de Noel sale at the Park Inn Luxury Apartments on 23rd street. More details to come.

Fall is coming

2011-09-01T18:28:00.001-07:00

And I made pine cones!

These are for the wood fire – we load a week from tomorrow.

Grrrrrrranimals!

2011-08-22T18:12:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready for a wood fired kiln in a couple weeks with the Swan Creek Potters.

And I think I'm going to make all salt & pepper shakers for it. Probably mostly animals, but other fallish stuff too. Fran and I shared a box of clay, which is different texture from what I normally use, so it's a bit of an adjustment. You can't tell here, but the clay is actually a buff color, and apparently bisq fires darker. And then in the wood kiln it will get the flashes of color from the ash and flames and all that goodness.

Anyway, here is a very small sample of what I'm making. The ones on the left are going to be wooly mammoth types, and will have red recycled cone tusks. Acorns in the middle, and a turtle on the right. The other turtle is scared. heh.

Other critters are in the works. Stand by.

Another batch

2011-08-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Soap and/or lotion pumps

Footed large & small leaf platters

Bracelets

2011-08-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Got a few more images done:

Olive trays. The olives are clay too, and don't come with the tray.

Footed square platters. They are @ 12-3/4" across. The brown one sold, the blue one is at Angelwood Gallery.

Mixing/serving bowls. These are about 10-1/2" diameter by 7" deep. Brown one sold.

Sheep bank. A rubber plug in his belly holds the change in.

Sometimes I have reasons

2011-08-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have reasons for the things I make. Sometimes, I just..... don't. Sometimes, often times, as I'm sitting here pinching out the base form I just start giggling, because an idea hit me out of the blue.

A few months ago I was talking with some friends about how this part of Ohio, being between 2 certain colleges, goes a bit.... crazy... every fall. That's where these S&P shakers came from. I have one pair of the footballs left, and Angelwood Gallery has a pair. The buckeyes are gone but I have a couple pairs in the works.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Imagine the look on your family & friends faces when they ask for the salt and you hand them a blood shot eyeball. Heh. The brown pair are at Angelwood Gallery; I have the rest.

Antipasto anyone?

I was trying to think of a way to recycle the pile of fired pyrometric cones I have, and saw a commercial for baby elephant (Lucas) born recently at the Zoo. (He's really freaking cute. Click his name to see a video of him.) Anyway, that's where these came from. This particular pair was snatched up before they were finished by a friend who apparently has a thing for elephants.

And yes, they have butts.

Magic 8 balls. I don't know. Never had one when I was a kid.

Lady bugs, inspired by a friend.

I was watching movies with Brian and these popped into my head.

Calico & orange kitty for a friend.

Kitties that need a home.

I have a few more sets still need to shoot. Not sure how I missed them this round, but... did.

Check out the Sherwood Inn Pottery fan page on FaceBook to see more detail pics.

For my entertainment

2011-07-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I've been making a lot of silly salt & pepper shakers lately. Partly because they're good for filling up small spaces in my kiln, partly because they make me giggle while I'm making them, and partly because I can work on them in the living room (as opposed to in my studio) and hang out with my boys.

Been getting ready for the 10th Annual Swan Creek Potters Summer Sale in a couple weeks. I haven't been doing the show for 10 years, but that's when Maggie started it all. These elephant s&p shakers would have been at the Swan Creek sale, but were claimed before they were even fired. I'll take a more formal pic later, but here they are waiting for the epoxy holding on the [pyrometric cone] tusks to dry.

And I'll have more pics of other silliness in a few days.

Recommended Daily Allowance of Fiber

2011-06-13T14:51:00.001-07:00

Focus on Fiber Festival

Sauder Village

Archbold, Ohio

10am - 5pm

Saturday, June 25th

It's been a busy couple months here getting ready for the Sauder Village Focus on Fiber Festival June 25th. When not throwing & trimming bowls or glazing them or firing kilns, I've been building display shelves and updating the studio and working on new knitting patterns.

Because there just isn't enough to do in a day. ;oP

I'm hoping to get some new pics up in the next week... Here is a teaser of what I'll have in my booth at Sauder's...

My regular glazes:

Brown and Almond

Blue and Oatmeal

Purple and Oatmeal

Brown and Rafia

I also have a lovely matt brown, but don't have a pic of it yet.

And I've been testing a few new glazes, but only have a pic of this one:

Chive and Almond

And I've been experimenting with some yarn troughs, for those who like to knit with lots of balls of yarn at one time.

And something new and fun, sheep salt & pepper shakers!

And and and.....

Progress!

2011-05-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

What I started with - 42 balls of clay:

What I ended up with: 42 more yarn bowls.

I finished the bowls on the top left shelf Saturday morning. The not-a-yarn-bowl rectangular thing on the 2nd shelf is a bonsai pot for my cousin.

About 40 bowls left for me to make. Getting there!

Ode to my wheel

2011-05-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

You spin my clay right round

right round like a record, baby
Right round round round
You spin my clay right round,
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round

After a yarn bowl I donated for a door prize at a knitter's retreat weekend at Sauder Village caused a bit of a frenzy, the event organizers invited me to be a vendor at their Focus On Fiber Festival in June. In preparation for that, I spent the weekend throwing yarn bowls.

63 of them. Which looks like this:

I spent pretty much spent both days of the weekend down in my studio. :dreamysigh: Except for 1 quick errand and a call to my mom I didn't talk to anyone except Brian and the boys. And Brian was working and sleeping a lot, so I didn't even talk to him much! We've had so much stuff (of the social variety) going on the last 4-5 weekends it was glorious to just be able to stay home and be a hermit and make pots.

Anyway. I'm going to drop off the last 2 yarn bowls I have at Yarn Cravin' tomorrow, and hopefully will have the first batch of these bowls through the process this weekend.

What a load

2011-04-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

Generally when I order clay it takes a couple months to get to my supplier's studio. I try to time ordering clay so I'm all but out when it arrives because of space constraints. This time, though, the clay came in in about a week. Surprise!

We've had a bit of a full schedule here lately though, so I wasn't able to pick the clay up till yesterday.

20 50lb boxes = 1,000 lbs:

Before I left the house Brian reminded me to back up to the basement back door, which opens to the landing of the basement stairs, so we wouldn't have as many steps to carry the clay down. The thought that the ground might be a little soft from all the rain we've had the last couple days cruised through my mind, but B said to pull right up, so I figured pffththt, it'll be ok.

Well. There were issues in the middle of the yard:

Yeah. Not going to be backing up to the door. Got stuck a good 20ft from it. Heh.

So B carried the 20 50-lb boxes (one at a time) from the jeep to the back door, where I met him on the landing and carried each box downstairs into my studio, and stacked them + the 350lbs I still had under my work table.

Even without the weight of the clay still had to put the jeep in 4-wheel to get unstuck, which left this in the yard...

Brian was standing on the deck looking at it, and I got out of the car and looked at it and looked at him, and we both started laughing. It's annoying, yah, but... we're looking at it from the point that the grass back there had issues anyway, and this will force us to do something about it.

When we got inside someone desperately wanted to be out...

Aaaaaaand he is much happier when he is out sunbathing.

Spring Events

2011-04-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

I have a number of things coming up this spring. Actually, I have something going on every month through August. Here is info about the first few (if you click on the photo it will blow up so you can read it):

Teh kewt

2011-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Just finished pinching these out. I'll bore holes behind the ears for salt & pepper once they firm up a bit.

They make me giggle. And yes, they have tails.

Shelves, Glorious Shelves

2011-04-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

In the beginning.... that sounds like this is going to be really profound, huh? It's really not. But it is a good family story.

When I first got my studio set up, I wasn't doing many shows, so didn't need a lot of space for pots to sit while waiting for the next step or to dry.

Before

Over the last few years I've added on more and more shows and shops and galleries, and started selling online, and wow. Space became a hot commodity, and I could only work on so many pots at a time. Which is really frustrating when I'm in serious production mode and need to crank pots out when I have time to make them.

I've been lusting after the adjustable shelves at The 577 Foundation for years, but kept forgetting to talk about them to the person who could make them happen. Which is where Brian comes in. November or December last year, my dad was asking Brian for gift ideas for my birthday, which is in January. Brian has been listening to me complain about the shelf situation for a long time, and knew that my dad would be the person to do something about it, and suggested shelving for my birthday.

I gave Dad a bunch of pics of 577's shelves, and measurements, and he went at it. Yesterday he and my mom came to set them up:

After

Each shelf board is half the depth of the shelf, so I can adjust to accommodate both height and depth. It needs to be painted, but I made good progress on that today.

Outside of a nap (I'm still sick) I spent the entire day in the basement making pots. And had a big, dopy grin on my face every time I pulled something off the wheel and put it on the shelf. SO much fun to have tools that work.

Lots of little happy dances are going on over here. Big, big thanks to my dad, for all his support and contributions to my studio. I wouldn't be anywhere near as productive without the things he has built for me.

It's Race Day!

2011-03-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, first I'll start with yesterday. We drove over yesterday afternoon. Once I got Gustav settled in Cleveland I drove to Hudson to meet some friends for dinner at Luchitas:

A self portrait with Maria

Self portrait with Andrea

We 3

Outside

The lights below the Valley View Bridge were pretty on the way to Kelly's house

The starting area. In my rush to grab all my stuff (it was very cold so I was layered up like the Michelin man) and meet Maria I forgot the camera, so I don't have the actual start of the race. Pffththt.

The next couple pics are taken from the same position as the flag pic above, I just rotated around. Very hilly.

Gustav came along for the ride and was a bundle of energy.

To (try to) burn off some of that energy, and to kill some time, we hiked around the Kendel Lake trail

As we approached the far side of the lake (Truxell Rd corner) we could see some runners crossing. I was only expecting to see people at the 12 ish mile mark, so I was excited to find another spot to watch. By the time we got to that corner either most everyone had passed, or there was a big gap between runners, so we continued on around the lake & planned to stop here on the 2nd loop around.

Still on the lake trail, something has been chewing on this tree

2nd loop around the lake, Truxell/Kendel lake corner again. Shortly after we arrived the lead runners came through. My camera has a bit of a delay, and these guys were whipping through, so most of my up close pics are mostly of their behinds. (Ok, yes they have nice behinds, but I didn't do it on purpose.) I just couldn't get ready fast enough, and these guys were speedy. They looked like they were having a ton of fun, and made it look so effortless, but if what they were running was anything like my trek around the lake, it was NOT easy going. These runners - all of them, both distances - are really amazing.

Self portrait while we wait for more runners

Maaaaareeeeeeaaaaaaaah! I just saw a girl named Maaareeeeaaaaaaaaah!

Here's our girl!

Posing while she pets the Beastie

An unexpected Maria sighting. I was on my way back to the finish area, and she came around this clump of trees on her way to the Salt Run trail.

There she goes

Standing in the same spot as above, only turned around looking up at the finish area on top of the Sound of Music hill

Lloyd at the finish line, waiting to greet runners

The smilie hats! Kris arrived for her volunteer shift early enough that we could chat for a few minutes.

Here she comes again! (when she's runnin' 'neath the sunny sky) Maria finishing the first loop. I left shortly after she passed through here.

He moved just as I took this pic, but someone's head was filling the rear view mirror for most of the drive.

Poor Jack was severely upset by our absence and wouldn't eat (even peanut butter) or do anything. Dh had to drag him to get him outside to pee. Jack moped the entire time we were gone. Poor pathetic neglected little boy. (can you hear the sarcasm?)

As energetic as he was, someone has crashed.

Fools Runnin'! It's race weekend

2011-03-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

The Fool's 50k run is tomorrow. I dropped the finisher's mugs off last weekend and was able to hang out with Lloyd for a couple hours. He is SO excited about this race & really cares that the runners have a good experience. Makes me want to run something he has organized.

I'm going to drive over this afternoon and meet some Fools runners for dinner, stay the night, and then be at the start of the race tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay the whole day, but I'll be there for a few hours.

Next in the studio: clear space for my dad to install a wall of adjustable shelving he built for me, start making pots for 2 sales in April, and make room for 1,000 lbs of clay.

Two of my favorite things: Pottery and Running

2011-03-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

As many races as I have run, I have never done a trail run. A full marathon, yes, but a trail run? No. I have nothing but great admiration for those who do.

(Ok, and I think you're a little bit crazy. But in a good way. Especially those who run ultras on trails.)

Because I know how much work goes into training for such a run, I was honored when Lloyd Thomas asked me to make a unique finisher's award for those who finish the Fool's Run 50k Trail Run. After a couple very busy months, the last batch is in the bisq kiln right now, and will be glazed over the weekend.

For the overall men's & women's winners:

And for everyone else who finishes:

Each mug has been hand thrown, stamped with a jester hat as a nod to the race, and fired to 2,200°. They are oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe. The glaze is lead free.

Good luck everyone!

For the knitters!

2011-02-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

This weekend there is a knitting retreat out at Sauder Village in Archbold. I hear they are having a wonderful time, and liked the yarn bowl I donated for a door prize so well that we sent a few more over for sale.

While they're knitting some beautiful stuff in class:

I'm building the last finishers awards for the Fools 50k Trail Run. Once I finish those I'll get back to making more yarn bowls, among other things.

I have 2 yarn bowls left, one brown, one blue ($30ea):

I do make other colors, and will get more started probably this week.

Sweets For Your Sweetie

2011-02-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again!

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

You need something for your Sweetie,

What do you do?

Order some hand made jewelry!

All ceramic beads are hand rolled by me and individually brushed with 3 coats of glaze. After firing I match them the best I can and assemble them with the findings.

Necklaces have either a silver chain or black leather cord, sometimes a mix of the two. All necklaces have lobster claw clasps. For whatever reason, I'm having issues with lighting today, so I took the closer up pics so you can see the detail of the glaze a bit better. Since I hiked each one up so it would fit on my display neck, I'll include the chain/cord length and approximately where the beads hit. Each of the following are $60. One of each in stock.

Speckled Kiwi drop necklace with black leather cord. This is a really pretty fresh green with dark & medium blue and white speckles. The cord is 19'', so the bottom 2 beads flirt with the top of your cleavage.

Up close

Plum Jelly drop necklace with silver chain. This is a fruity plum/purple glaze with dark blue-y-purple and white speckles. The chain is 20'', so the beads nestle in your cleavage. WOOHOO!

Up close

Turquoise drop necklace with black leather cord. This is a lovely matte light turquoise with darker turquoise speckles. The speckles are somewhat shiny, and create a cool texture. (See the swatch below.) The cord is 22'', so the beads nestle right between the girls. While it is a light turquoise, the color is more intense than how it is showing here.

Up close

Turquoise drop necklace with silver chain. This one is a bit smaller, 3 beads instead of 5. The chain is 18 inches long. The bottom ofthe longest bead hits just above your cleavage. $45.

Up close

This is a color swatch of what the glaze looks like. It's a lot closer than my photos.

Antique Blue drop bracelet. Pretty blue color, which shows up better in the earrings shown below. 7-1/2 inches around. 1 bracelet in stock. $60.

Now for earrings. If you have metal issues I have sterling and nickel-free surgical steel fish hook ear wires I can swap out. Unless otherwise specified, I have 1 of each pair.

Cappuccino Mint drops. Pretty tan color with chocolate brown and an occasional green speckle; 14k ear fish hook wires. (2 pairs) $20 ea

Caramel drops on gold tone kidney ear wires. Caramel color bead with chocolate brown and green swirls. (3 pairs) $20 ea

Kiwi columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Peacock green drops on silver fish hook ear wires. These are a lovely swirly green with occasional orange and/or blue bits. $20

Plum columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Plum drops on silver fish hook ear wires. (2 pairs) $20 ea

Turquoise columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Turquoise drops on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Mottled Spice cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Olive disks on 14k ear wires. $20

Globe drops on silver fish hook ear wires. (6 pairs) $20 ea

Globe disks on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Globe cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Large Globe cubes on silver kidney ear wires. $20

Oasis/Antique blue drops on silver kidney wires. $20

Antique blue cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Large Antique Blue cubes on silver kidney wires. $20

And now for some crochet'd and knit earrings. These are $30 each.
Pink and purple crochet'd drops on silver fish hook ear wires.

Pea green glass beads knit with silver wire on silver fish hook ear wires.

Orange glass beads knit with silver wire on silver fish hook ear wires.

Gitcher Game On!

2011-01-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year!

Be ready for all your sport oriented parties with the appropriate serving gear.

Super Bowl - February 6

March Madness - March 15 - 20, 24 - 27, April 2, and April 4.

Opening Day - Friday, April 1

The Masters - April 4 - 10

Stanley Cup - June

Agate Chip-n-Dip - 9-1/4'' diameter, 2'' tall. Dip cup holds 1 cup. $35

Antique Blue Chip-n-Dip - 9-1/4'' diameter, 2'' tall. Dip cup holds 1 cup. $35

Mottled Spice Chip-n-Dip - 9-1/4'' diameter, 2'' tall. Dip cup holds 1 cup. $35

Redwood Chip-n-Dip - 9-1/4'' diameter, 2'' tall. Dip cup holds 1 cup. SOLD

Oatmeal (colored) trough. Holds one sleeve of crackers, or a bunch of cookies, or veggies or olives or all kinds of things! Also available in Speckled Moss/Oatmeal, Redwood/Oatmeal, and Agate/Oatmeal. @9-1/2 x 4'' $25

Lovely blueish/olive greenish salad bowl - 11'' diameter, 6-3/4'' tall. $45

Pile up the burgers or brats on one of our trays or platters!

Snowflake Tray - 14-3/8 x 10-3/8''. $30

Almond/Mottled Spice rectangle platter - 13 x 9-1/2''. $30

Footed Speckled Moss oval platter - 15-1/2 x 8-3/8''. $30

Rectangle Snowflake tray - 16-1/4 x 10'' $40

Black & Oatmeal Mice salt & pepper shakers (3 pair) $30

Piggy salt & pepper shakers, complete with tails & butt cracks! $35 SOLD

Porcupine tooth pick holder - $15

Set of 4 Antique Blue soup (or whatever) bowls - 6-1/2'' diameter: $55

(I also have a set of in Almond & Mottled Spice, like the platter above)

Small 4-1/2'' square plates in a variety of colors. $5 each

(Great for dipping oils, condiments, drippy tea bags, cookies, a scoop of ice cream, all kinds of things!)

Call me a Fool!

2011-01-15T05:25:00.001-08:00

I took a few weeks off for the holidays, but it's time to get back to it.

My next big project? The special finisher's award for the Fool's 50k Trail Run. The races winds through the scenic Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Peninsula, Ohio. And it's organized by long-time distance runner & coach Lloyd Thomas, so you know it's going to be a good experience. And when you finish you get one of my pieces.

Click on the logo for more information.

A Smackeral

2010-12-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

A smackeral, according to Winnie the Pooh, is a taste or small amount. Here are a few things I pulled out of the kiln this week.

A nod to the season... Snowflake Ornaments in 3 sizes. Just like in nature, each one is a little bit different.

$5 each:

Small - 2-3/4'' diameter (5)

Med - 3-1/5'' diameter (6)

Large - 4-5/8'' diameter (4)

Also available in lapel pins ($5, not shown):

Small: 2-1/4 diameter (7)

Large: 2-3/4 diameter (3)

Small blue footed oval platter - 11-1/4'' x 5-1/2'' $20

Blue rectangular tray - 13-1/2'' x 9-1/2'' ($30)

Oatmeal cracker (it holds 1 sleeve of fancy crackers) or cookie trough - 9-1/2'' x 4-1/4'' ($25)

Cute little (and I mean little) blue bud vase - 3-1/4'' tall x 2-1/5'' wide at the base ($10)

Set of 4 blue soup (or whatever) bowls - 6-1/2'' diameter ($55)

Small square plates in 3 colors. I love these things. They have a little bitty foot. The 'walls' have an interesting curvy shape. They're light, they stack, and they're the perfect size for dipping oils, condiments, a scoop of ice cream with one of those fancy rolled up cookies poked in, a spent tea bag... They're great for all kinds of things. 4-1/2'' square, $5 each (see below for quantities available.)

I'm testing glazes again, looking for a new green, because I've had it with my olive. It spits, it crawls... it just generally isn't fun to be around. Here are two green possibilities: upper left is Speckled Moss. It's an interesting green & brown combination, with bits of bright green here and there. I'd like to see if I can bring out more of the bright green. In the upper right is Agate. While the sample I looked at was a more green color, it fires more as a blue with brown speckles in my studio. It's gorgeous, but possibly not enough contrast to my regular blue. And of course on the bottom is my Mottled Spice.

Speckled Moss - 4

Agate - 4

Mottled Spice - 3

Necklaces a Bracelet and Earrings, OH MY!

2010-12-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Bunches of stuff to post today. Some new glazes, some new-to-me items, and some good "old" ones. All of the ceramic beads are hand rolled & hand glazed by me. I match them up the best I can, but because of the hand made-ness there are some variances. As always, it's first come first served with everything here.

First up are necklaces. They have either a silver chain or black leather cord, sometimes a mix of the two. All necklaces have lobster claw clasps. For whatever reason, I'm having issues with lighting today, so I took the closer up pics so you can see the detail of the glaze a bit better. Since I hiked each one up so it would fit on my display neck, I'll include the chain/cord length and approximately where the beads hit. Each of the following are $60. One of each in stock.

Plum Jelly drop necklace with silver chain. This is a fruity plum/purple glaze with dark blue-y-purple and white speckles. The chain is 20'', so the beads nestle in your cleavage. WOOHOO!

Turquoise drop necklace with silver chain. This one is a bit smaller, 3 beads instead of 5. The chain is 18 inches long. The bottom of the longest bead hits just above your cleavage. $45.

This is a color swatch of what the glaze looks like. It's a lot closer than my photos.

Antique Blue drop bracelet. Pretty blue color, which shows up better in the earrings shown below. 7-1/2 inches around. 1 bracelet in stock. $60.

Now for earrings. If you have metal issues I have sterling and nickel-free surgical steel fish hook ear wires I can swap out. Unless otherwise specified, I have 1 of each pair.

Cappuccino Mint drops. Pretty tan color with chocolate brown and an occasional green speckle; 14k ear fish hook wires. (2 pairs) $20 ea

Caramel drops on gold tone kidney ear wires. Caramel color bead with chocolate brown and green swirls. (3 pairs) $20 ea

Kiwi columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Peacock green drops on silver fish hook ear wires. These are a lovely swirly green with occasional orange and/or blue bits. $20

Plum columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Plum drops on silver fish hook ear wires. (2 pairs) $20 ea

Turquoise columns on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Turquoise drops on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Mottled Spice drops on gold tone kidney ear wires. SOLD

Mottled Spice cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Olive disks on 14k ear wires. $20

Olive columns on gold tone ear wires. SOLD

Globe drops on silver fish hook ear wires. (6 pairs) $20 ea

Globe disks on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Globe cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Large Globe cubes on silver kidney ear wires. $20

Oasis/Antique blue drops on silver kidney wires. $20

Antique blue cubes on silver fish hook ear wires. $20

Large Antique Blue cubes on silver kidney wires. $20

And now for some crochet'd and knit earrings. These are $30 each.

Pink and purple crochet'd drops on silver fish hook ear wires.

Pea green glass beads knit with silver wire on silver fish hook ear wires.

Orange glass beads knit with silver wire on silver fish hook ear wires.

Teh kewt

2010-11-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

When I'm in the studio and Brian can hear me giggling upstairs he has to come down and see what I'm working on. Lately the cause of my giggles is salt & pepper shakers.

Eek! A pair of mice - @3'' nose to behind, 2'' tall SOLD

Pair of squatty pumpkins - 2-1/2 & 3'' wide, and 2-1/8 & 2-1/2'' tall respectively ($30)

Blue-green cubes - 2'' wide, 2-1/8 & 2-1/2'' tall ($30)

Mouse toothpick holder @3-1/4'' nose to behind, 1-1/2'' tall ($10)

And I have 2 sets of 4 blue coasters (3-3/4 square with clear nubs on the bottom) ($20/set)

And 1 set of 4 redwood coasters (3-3/4 square with clear nubs on the bottom) ($20/set)

Last Chance

2010-11-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

This is your last chance for the following items before they go to the gallery. Let me know if you're interested in anything by Wednesday (11/24) morning because I'll be dropping it all off around 11. Unless otherwise indicated, I have 1 of each item.

Blue Teapot - $50.

Olive Pie Dishes - 1 full size ($30), 2 individual size ($20)

Blue Pie Dishes - 1 full size SOLD, 1 individual size ($20)

Brown Pie Dishes - 1 full size ($30), 1 individual size ($20) (Some glaze dripped from an upper shelf and landed on the inside of the side wall of the individual one, so it has 2 blue 'rabbit ears', which actually look really fun.)

Blue Yarn Bowl - $30 (1)

Brown/Almond Yarn Bowl - $30 (2)

Olive boats - $10 (3)

Small footed Snowflake Platter - $20 SOLD

Large footed Snowflake Platter - $30 (1)

Small Blue Brie Baker - $15

Small Lidded Blue Jar - $15

Small Lidded Olive Jar - $15 (2 - one has this nub handle, the other has a flatter lid with a knob handle)

Set of 4 dessert bowls in blue (1 set) or olive (2 sets, see pie dish above) - $28

And pigs. There is one of these at the gallery, so I won't take more. Until they find forever homes they are lined up on my shelves and watch me make other pots.

EARRINGS!

2010-11-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

I made all the ceramic beads. When assembling the hooks & beads I match pairs up the best I can, but because they are hand-formed and hand brushed with glaze, there are some irregularities. It's part of their charm.

All the ceramic bead earrings are $20. Measurements are the entire length - from the top of the hook to the bottom of the beads. If I have more than one pair I'll list the quantity at the end of the description.

First come, first served. I'll try to mark them when they're no longer available.

Large peacock cubes on kidney wires. 1-5/8'' long SOLD

Mottled Spice drops from 14k gold kidney wires. 2'' long

Mottled Spice planets. 1-5/8'' long SOLD

Mottled Spice drops. 1-5/8'' long

Mottled Spice cubes. 1-1/2'' long

Green Tweed disks on 14k gold wires. 1-1/8'' long

Green Tweed Columns on 14k kidney wires. 2-1/2'' long

Globe drops (these look like abstract mini-Earths). 1-3/8'' long, 7 pair.

Globe Disks. 1-1/4'' long, 1 pair

Globe cubes. 1-3/8'' long, 1 pair

Large Globe cubes on kidney wires. 1-5/8'' long, 2 pair

Dutch Sprinkle Drops (these are white with some pale blue spots). 1-1/2'' long

Dutch Sprinkle disks. 1-1/4'' long

Antique-Oasis drops. 1-3/8'' long SOLD

Antique Blue drops. 1-5/8'' long SOLD

Large Antique-Oasis drops on kidney wires. 1-3/4'' long

Antique Blue disks. 1-3/8'' long

Antique Blue cubes. 1-3/8'' long

Large Antique Blue cubes on kidney wires. 1-3/4'' long

This pair is crochet'd silver wire with glass beads. 2-3/4'' long. $20.

The following earrings are knit silver wire with glass beads in the bottom row. I knit them, but didn't make the beads. They are $30/pair.

Orange knit. 2-3/8'' long.

Blue knit. 2-5/8'' long - SOLD

Green knit. 2-3/4'' long

New Pots! New Pots! New Pots!

2010-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

New pots for the sale this weekend with the Swan Creek Potters.

Friday, Nov. 19, 6-9pm

Saturday, Nov 20, 9am-4pm

Sunday, Nov. 21, 1-4pm

5737 Weckerly Road, Whitehouse. Check the website linked above for directions.

Coasters! They have clear nubs on the bottom, and are 4-1/8'' square, & would make a great hostess gift. I made them in Antique Blue and Redwood (shown below).

Blue salad/mixing bowl; 11'' diameter at the rim x 6'' tall.

Set of 4 dessert bowls; 4-3/4'' diameter, 2'' tall. (the brown set sold, but they're available in Antique Blue/Oatmeal and Green Tweed/Almond Spice. )

Small footed oval platter; 11-1/2'' x 5-1/2''.

Oval tray; 14-1/4'' x 10-3/4''.

Large footed snowflake platter; 15-1/2 x 8-1/4. (This glaze has tan speckles. The smoodge on the right edge is a concentrated glop of the speckles where the glaze drained off.)

Nesting bowls; 6-1/4'' dia x 4-1/8'' tall, 7-3/4'' dia x 5-1/8'' tall, 9-1/2'' dia x 5-1/8'' tall.

Pumpkin salt and pepper shakers; 2-1/4"w x 2-3/4"t (The matt brown is a new glaze.)

Small purple container. 4-1/4"w x 3-1/2"t

Small footed snowflake oval platter; 11-1/2'' x 5-1/2''.

Square snowflake platter; 13'' x 13''.

HEY!

2010-10-29T19:02:00.001-07:00

Yarn bowls are now available at Yarn Cravin' (146 East 2nd Street) in Perrysburg.

Speaking of, I have a bunch of them waiting to be trimmed:

Some trays and a small platter. The bowl-like thing on the left is an experiment I'll tell you about in the future.

A set of nesting bowls waiting to be trimmed

And a mixing bowl

We have a couple events next month, a small art fair on 11/14 and the annual Holiday Sale with the Swan Creek Potters Friday 11/19 (6-9pm), Saturday 11/20 9am-4pm and Sunday 11/21 1-4pm. See the SCP web site for details and directions.

More yarn bowls

2010-09-22T18:11:00.001-07:00

The Stitch Sisterz are at it again in Michigan. They will have yarn bowls at the North Michigan Lamb & Wool Festival at the Ogemaw County Fairgrounds this weekend.

Vendor booths are open:

9am - 5pm, Saturday, September 25

10am - 5pm Sunday, September 26

Yarn Bowls! Yarn Bowls! Yarn Bowls!

2010-09-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

The Stitch Sisterz are at A Wool Gathering in Yellowspring, Ohio this weekend, and will be featuring yarn bowls!

I've been testing a couple new glazes. First, the good. A new purple which I am really digging. It ranges from lavender to a dark inky-blue-y purple. Really, really pretty.

And the not so great, a new green. While I really like the pea green & it actually fired perfectly, it's just a flat color. There isn't any variation or floating or anything. I'm going to try layering it differently and with other glazes to see if anything interesting will happen.

Meet & Greet continued, and Satisfaction

2010-09-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

I drove out to my sister-in-law Angie's cottage Friday afternoon, and after a short stop at her brother's cottage to say hi, we went to the gallery. And were the first ones there. Which was actually good, because it gave us a chance to walk around and look at everything with an unobstructed view. The gallery is really a neat building. It used to be a Post Office, and has a lot of nice architectural details.

The gallery:

One of the artists makes metal fish like this one. He also made the fish on the side of the building in the pic above, and smaller ones for wall hangings. You can see part of one of the smaller ones in the background of this pic:

Angie makes decorative bird baths from recycled glass & ceramic objects. Each one is different, and each has something quirky/fun going on. Here are some samples...

Somehow I didn't take any pics of the display of my work. Oops. It was a fun night though, and we met some lovely people.

On to the Satisfaction bit... I fired a bisq kiln Sunday/Monday, and just unloaded it. I have a major cold spot in the bottom of my kiln, and was trying to figure out a way I could use the space. Answer? Lower fire glazes. I tried firing some buttons and beads on the lowest shelf, and it worked! YEEHAW. Needs a bit of tweaking - of course - but I am mostly pleased. Except for the tan ones, I'm not so into the texture of these. They were the only buttons I had ready to fire though, so that isn't a big deal. I think they need 1 more coat of glaze, and no texture. And I need to be more careful about getting more crystals on each piece so there is more variation in the color:

textured front. I like the tan one on the upper left, but the others... meh.

Smooth backs, which I prefer.

See how the top bead has that bright glob of color? I want more of those, which just means paying more attention when I brush the glaze on.

All in all, it was a good experiment. :o)

Meet & Greet

2010-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Friday night the Old Mill Shoppes & Art Gallery are having a Meet & Greet with the artists from 5-8pm. Margaret will be serving wine and cheese and there will be musicians playing too. My sister-in-law also has work in the gallery, so we will be heading over together around 5. Hope to see you there!

And, I've made some progress. Got the yarn bowls and wedding bowl trimmed, and another 10 yarn bowls thrown...

I'm hoping to get the last 10 trimmed and dried so I can fire a bisq kiln Monday. Maybe I'll make some mice too.

A number of things

2010-08-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

One of my projects over the last couple weeks has been to make some 10'' square bats. I bought a half sheet of 1/2'' plywood and had the Home Depot guy cut it in to manageable strips for me. When I got home Brian set up the big saw while I sanded the strips, and then donning goggles I cut the strips into squares. After making a template from the pins on my wheel head, I marked & drilled 2 holes on the underside of each square. Then came a couple coats of sealer, and since that raised the grain, another sanding and a bunch of coats of polycrylic. These will work, but I think next time I would sand them more or put even more coats of polycrylic so the surface is smoother. That will be easier on my hands.

A stack of finished bats. The one standing up show the holes on the underside.

The holes in the underside fit over pins on the wheel head.

Since they're square I can cram a lot more stuff on a shelf more easily. I won't be able to use then for anything big, but they're great for yarn bowls.

Speaking of, my friend Bonnie, who is half of the Stitch Sisterz is interested in taking yarn bowls to fiber shows to sell. So in preparation for that and for winter holidays, I'm going into production mode:

10 yarn bowls. The large bowl in the back is part of a wedding gift.

And last, I have an idea about how to take advantage of the cold spots in my kiln. Next time I fire I'm going to experiment a bit.

Swan Creek Potters Annual Summer Sale

2010-08-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Our annual sale is this Saturday!

Please come see us at 5737 Weckerly Rd, Whitehouse from 9am-4pm. Go to swancreekpotters.com for information on the potters and location details.

Now Available!

2010-08-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce I'm the featured potter at the Old Mill Shoppes & Art Gallery for the month of August. Please stop out any Friday, Saturday or Sunday this month!

Busy

2010-07-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Fell behind in posting again. I've been making a lot of pots but having glaze issues; I think because of uneven temps during firing. My kiln either needs a major overhaul, or I just need a new one.

Anyway, some of the successful stuff:

Mouse tooth pick holder

Small footed oval platter

Dessert size bowls

I've been playing with slabs a lot... Couple more are in the kiln right now, but I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out.

Large vase. Really pretty mixing/mottling/dripping of the glazes in this one.

Snowflake trays

Brie/small baking dish (2-person size). I also made 3 others that are oval, 2 of those are green/oatmeal

Rectangle platter

Another oval tray

Small container

WIPs

2010-06-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

First, the opening at Angelwood Gallery was fun. We had a wedding to go to first, so missed the first hour, but still got to see lots of people and really cool artwork.

Been working on a variety of things this week.... giant vases, small baking dishes, a couple big covered bake/serve dishes, and a bunch of small pots to experiment with horse hair.

Have a few things coming up:

- a weekend sale at the Old Mill Shoppes & Art Gallery in Fremont, Indiana.

- featured potter at the Old Mill Art Gallery for the month of August

- Annual Summer Sale with the Swan Creek Potters the first weekend in August

I better get cracking!

Solstice

2010-05-29T12:47:00.001-07:00

I just dropped a bunch of stuff off at Angelwood Gallery for the big summer opening Solstice, which is Saturday, June 12, 6:30-9pm. Here is a small sample of what will be available...

Butter dish

Cheese dish

Another butter dish in green

Blue platter

Julie (the owner) also has several of my pie dishes, yarn bowls, other platters, condiment/candy bowls, a piggy bank and other stuff. Please stop out!

Angelwood Gallery

24195 Front Street

Grand Rapids, OH

I'm behind

2010-05-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

I'm behind in posting pics.

These salad scoops were an experiment & an exercise in stilting. Most of them worked, but a few got fused to the stilts. Oops. At least now I know which stilts work for this, and how to position the scoops on the stilts. (I made some blue ones also.)

Leaf platter

Square platter

tray

another tray

Half round condiment/candy/dip dishes

I thought it might be fun to start shooting pots with props, so...

Pie dish complete with pie. I made the pie a couple years ago (it's clay) to use as a prop, and for whatever reason I'm only getting around to using it now. I think it's fun. :o)

Olive boats. These olives might be slightly misleading... they are giant as far as olives go.

Giant lobster on a tray...

Now available on Etsy!!!

2010-05-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished setting up shop on Etsy. Just earrings for now, but as I get some smaller things finished I plan to get some other stuff up there too.

YAY!

Pass it on!

I'm A Hog For You

2010-05-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

Jack's turn

2010-05-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

Are you bacon?

Nope, not bacon.

They're multiplying...

Are you bacon?

They're staring at me. Not sure what to think about this...

SOOOOOOO-EEEEEEEEEE!

2010-05-03T18:44:00.001-07:00

This little piggie went to the market, this little piggie stayed home... These three are waiting for something to happen.

3 of the 14. All of them came out perfectly. (WOOHOO!!!!) I have photos of each individually, but the pink came out really saturated so I have a bit of touching up to do on them. I'll post more pics as I get them done.

eta: Ok, I couldn't resist doing a couple.

Guarding the front...

Someone is not as entertained by this as I am. The photo is a little blurry because someone was heaving heavy sighs and I couldn't stop laughing.

:sigh: This is so not dignified Mom...

Another Sale Today

2010-05-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

Doing another sale today - an open house at a neighbor's. There are 6 of us showing jewelry, pottery, soy candles and fused glass.

1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

3225 Island Ave.

It's around the corner from my house & two blocks down. Come out and see us! There will be food!

Spring Lawn Sale

2010-04-30T19:45:00.001-07:00

(I know it isn't Saturday quite yet, but by the time anyone reads this it probably will be.)

Come out and see me! I have yarn bowls and pie dishes (full and individual size) and trays and earrings and Pigs and other stuff. Check the Swan Creek Potters' web site for location details.

5 down, 9 to go

2010-04-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Got the first 5 pigs glazed tonight with a pretty matt pale pink glaze, and black features. I know the colors look rather dull in the photo, but once fired the colors will be a lot richer. I'm hoping to get the other 9 glazed tomorrow so I can fire them Wednesday.

ps. the weird shadows inside the pigs are because there are 5 lights over head shining through the money slots.

Now available in the Sauder Village Gift Shop

2010-04-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

I dropped off a dozen pairs of earrings to the Gift Shop this morning. Some ceramic bead ones (sorry, these are in packaging)

And some knit silver wire with glass beads

Tweaky tweaky tweaky

2010-04-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

YAY!!! So it seems the tweaks to the glaze worked, although I still have issues with glaze being too thick on big stuff. Everything made it through this kiln except 1 large bowl. The glaze ran on the foot. I can probably grind it off, but a chunk of the foot is stuck to my kiln shelf. Grrr. Need to figure out a better process for that.

Anyway.

Long skinny footed tray:

Full and individual size pie dishes.

Also did some in the blue/oatmeal combo.

Tray

Earrings

The bowl that ran. The glaze is GORGEOUS. So much that I'd like to rub my face on it. And then chew off the puddle stuck to the foot. Grrrrr.

OH!!! And one more thing. I'm taking some earrings in to the gift shop at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio to see if they'll sell them. It's pretty much a yes, but I need to go meet with them.

And I'm working on setting up an Etsy page. But I need to get through the sale with the Swan Creek Potters first.

I have some glazing to do

2010-04-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

Unloaded a bisq kiln this afternoon. The pile of small bits on the lower middle left are beads. The flat square things above the beads will be magnets. Both those will take a while to glaze since I have to brush each one (instead of dipping them). I was hoping to get everything glazed so I can fire a glaze kiln tomorrow, but I probably won't get around to glazing until tomorrow.

Pie, anyone?

2010-04-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Individual pie dishes.... for singles and couples who want some pie, but don't want the temptation of scarfing down an entire full size pie by themselves.

After shrinkage they should be @5.5'' in diameter, and use 1, 8-9'' crust recipe.

Today's project

2010-04-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

I didn't expect finishing these to take all day, but it did take the entire day. Only 4 more to make, and then I'll have a kiln full of pigs. And I'll be pigged out for a while.

Inspired by Lopez

2010-03-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

I never thought about making jewelry until my friend Sara Lopez suggested making pendants.

"Dude, you could make that."

Huh. Ok, I'll try.

This first one is a tile hung from brown leather cording:

A variation. Long skinny tile hung from a silver collar:

Blue-green loop pendant hung from a silver collar:

Close up so you can see the glaze a little better:

Blue-green square (cube) bead drops:

I have more colors, this is just what I quickly assembled this morning.

WIPs

2010-03-20T16:54:00.001-07:00

Finished up a few things today... trimmed a large bowl (it's 16'' in diameter at the moment) and then trimmed and finished the hand work on 2 more piggy banks.

Of course the pigs have crazy tails and butt cracks. Heh.

Huh. The bowl isn't nearly as impressive in that pic as it is in person. Partly it's the perspective - the pigs are slightly in front, and partly it's because the pigs are just large.

This Little Piggie...

2010-03-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

Started working on stuff for the Swan Creek Potters Spring Sale today....

Still have some finishing work to do, and they still have to survive bisq & glaze fire, but I'm pleased with them so far.

And one more thing

2010-03-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

The annual Swan Creek Potters Spring Sale is the first Saturday in May. May 1st, I believe. Same place as usual, in Whitehouse, OH. Hope to see you there!

Is it Spring yet?

2010-03-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm ready. And waiting.

Been a quiet couple months here. After the mass production before Christmas, I took a few weeks off. And then because those 2 gift pots were screwed up (see previous post), I had to re-make those and enough other stuff (mostly yarn bowls) to fill the kiln so I could get the gifts to people. That's finally done.

Anyway, one thing that I learned (well, re-learned) is that I am not a production potter. That just takes the fun out of it for me. So I'm just going to make what I want when I want to make it. :o) If that means a ton of stuff at once because I'm in a groove, great. I just don't want to HAVE do to that.

That said, I just realized I have 2 months to get ready for a sale. Good thing I'm not working now. ;oP

Today I started some new piggy banks, to replace the ones from last week that fell victim to my distractedness. Tomorrow I'll probably throw more yarn bowls. Oh, and I have some ideas for some Springie thingies. But I'm not telling what that is yet.

Stay tuned.

Last kiln before Christmas!

2009-12-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

I'm torn with this kiln. Most things turned out, but a couple things - Christmas gifts no less - did not. Grrr.

The good:

Single yarn bowl

Pie Dish

Another Pie Dish

A Mixing Bowl

A Quad Yarn Bowl filled

A tray

The Bad:

These were Christmas gifts for people to give to people. Were being the operative word. I'm ANNOYED with these.

A Chip-n-Dip. Nice, right?....

until you see the back side of the bowl. Grrr.

And a mixing/serving bowl. Pretty shape, beautiful glaze inside.....

But then you look at the outside........

This will teach me to glaze when I'm tired.

What's next

2009-11-23T07:38:00.001-08:00

The sale this weekend was our best yet!! Thanks to everyone who came out.

Next I'm getting pots ready to take to the Angelwood Gallery in Grand Rapids, OH Wednesday. And making a bunch of pots for Christmas. Weeeeee!

SALE THIS WEEKEND!!!

2009-11-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

Been having stupid kiln issues as of late... Need to replace a couple parts, but am able to limp along to get through the next 2 weeks.

This weekend is another sale with the Swan Creek Potters. Check out the web site for details.

I'll have a new color combination there... Green and Almond. I'm really excited about how they look together, especially where they overlap. A very happy accident indeed.

Here is a sneak peek:

Pie dish

Yarn Bowl

The glaze up close

Better late than never

2009-07-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've been getting ready for the 5th Annual Swan Creek Potters Summer Lawn Sale. Here're some pieces I'll have in the booth:

Medium Mixing Bowl

Inside

Yarn Bowls

More Yarn Bowls

Beverage Pot

Wave Platter

Large Mixing Bowl

Inside

Platter/Tray

Another Platter/Tray

And Another Platter/Tray

Napkin Rings

Pie dish

Ready, Set, GO!

2009-05-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

I am a terrible blogger.

Terrible.

A couple weeks after the Swan Creek Potters sale November last year I cut the tip of my index finger rather seriously. Couldn't put any pressure on it for a log time, which kind of poses a problem when throwing pots. I can throw now, but still have a dead spot on the tip of my finger, which is weird.

As my finger healed, I started training for the Glass City Marathon, and it was all I could do to keep up with work and all the miles I was running.

Anyway. The marathon was a little over a week ago, and I'm ready to get back to making more pots.

Finally.

Swan Creek Potters Sale

2008-11-02T14:19:00.001-08:00

I'm doing another sale with the Swan Creek Potters next weekend, Nov. 8-9. Same location as last time, only it will be an indoor show. Please check the Swan Creek Potters web site for details, and come out and see us!

Tray

Teapot

Small Ramekins

Pie Dish

Chip-n-dip

Another Chip-n-dip

new glaze

2008-10-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

I've mixed up a couple new glazes - Oatmeal and Antique Blue. These all have a drizzle of Agate.

soup bowls

inside

ramekins

tray

It's almost time

2008-07-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

This Saturday is the 3rd Annual Swan Creek Potters Lawn Sale. Still have a few things left to finish up, but I'm looking forward to it!

Large bowl

Teapot with tray

Pedestal cake plate

Pie dish