brrrr, baby it's cold outside

Memorial Day weekend in northern Wisc. Last night we moved all the planted grapevine baskets in the back of the studio, all the potted annuals too. I think it was 26 or 28 degs at 6am. Course I observed this from my warm bed as I drank a first cup of coffee (from beans I've been getting from Backroads Coffee Roastery of Hayward). I am praying that the weather warms since it has been very chilly out in the studio in the mornings. My hands go numb when I try to work out there, even with hot water in my throwing bucket. I try to find alternative things to do while watching the studio. But, soon it will warm up, right? For now, it's a bowl of cereal and another cup of Scandinavian Blend.

If you are out on the roads this holiday time, keep an "umbrella" of protection over you, and if you are up north, come visit Tall Pines Studio!!

glaze fun?

It is nice to do different glaze colors. But difficult at times to get what you want. I was blessed years ago by being gifted by a Minnesota potter named Mae, who gave me some starter glazes. This was when I was just starting out and needed a palette of glazes. Since then I attended a Ron Roy workshop with my friend Pam (up at Canadore College in North Bay Ont) on glaze manipulation. Then I converted most of my glazes to use frits instead of GB. I fire at cone 6 in oxidation.
So, now I want a shiny brown, with depth and that breaks nice over the rim. Not runny, but can be thick. I took Ron Roy's Raw Sienna and increased the RIO (red iron oxide) and made up a 200 gram batch. Using Continental Clay's mid fire white stoneware I did some samples. I did a bowl with just the new brown, one with navy and the new brown, one with butterscotch and the new brown. The new brown looked beautiful on the outside, but a bit "orange peeled"on the inside. Not quite a matt, but close on just the inside. Not bad looking, but for dinnerware, I prefer the durability of a shinier surface.
Then I glazed a Paoli clay co. MTM stoneware (brown) with navy and the new brown. Good results on this but again orange peel inside. I wondered if the inside atmosphere of the bowl resulted in the duller affect with a mid fire white (not as much ocher in the clay body)as the brown stoneware, but no.
Any ideas?

It might be May but this morning it was 28 degrees up here, and I have moved my wheel and pottery stuff out to the studio workarea. Now we have a rather open air setup here so it has been a bit chilly out there. This morning instead of freezing I setup my picture taking area and took photos of new items to list on ETSY. Here are a few of the new listings, and more to come. After lunch it's back out to the studio to paint on greenware and possibly reload the kiln. Enjoy the day!

Moving out to the studio

Wow, the weather is windy but warm in the sun, so it is time to move my wheel, wedging table, bats, tools, clay and etc etc out there. Thank goodness for a strong husband! The process takes hours, the wheel alone is 100 lbs plus, and I still had 700 lbs of clay left to haul up. Never easy, but time to do it. The workarea in the studio is still quite chilly, so I will have to be creative in the mornings until the ground really warms up. This way I can open the studio everyday and still work. The fun never ends!

Selling a house

My daughter Amanda and her husband are facing a move to a different Wisconsin city, which is a difficult task to deal with. Especially the prospect of selling their home in Neenah. Cause it is such a beautiful house, actually it is the place they moved to 8 years ago, got a big puppy, and ended up becoming a family with the births of their 2 children. It's a home with a great backyard, lots of landscaping done both by professionals and by them. A home where Jeremy, under the guidance of "Troy" their fix-guy, discovered he can tile a bathroom! Where Amanda dug a big pond for her big goldfish, and learned about planting purple coneflowers and brown-eyed susans. It's a great home, now waiting to be discovered by a new family. Won't you take a look?
I know you would just love to live there, as much as they have. It's listed under Coldwellhomes.com, with a multiple listing number of MLS# (50027945)

Mother's Day

A perfect day in the northwoods. I reloaded the kiln, and had fun playing around with some terra cotta clay, making toad houses. Tomorrow I'll get back to the task of working on the 20 dozen mug order!! Today it was nice to relax and have fun. I hope everyone enjoyed the day.