Fiesta Art Fair

I'll be showing at the Fiesta Art Fair this weekend in San Antonio!  Hope to see you there!

https://www.swschool.org/fiestaartsfair

Demo Workshop @ Collin College

I'm giving a free workshop next weekend at Collin College in Plano.  If you're in the area come by and say hello!  

Online Sale

Hello blogger world!  If anyone still peruses this page I'm excited to let you know that I'll be having the online version of my fall sale going live today at 12pm CST.  I'll be offering free shipping through Monday night, just use the code FREESHIP at checkout.  The sale will be on my etsy page. 

Cheers! 

New burners, new pots

I made a couple videos about the new burners on my kiln and the new batch of pots.  I haven't fired since October, I had several bad experiences in a row that took me back to the drawing board.  I think I have it figured out and I'm hoping to fire again here in a few weeks.  A lot of these pots are getting sent out as very belated kickstarter rewards, but after that I'd like to get my etsy page up and running again.

 

Cheers!

Employee of the month

I haven't been making a lot of pots this year, I did my last wood firing in October of 2013.  I did make quite a large number of pots this summer but 3 firings worth went straight to the landfill.  I took a part time job at Home Depot in February to help make up the difference for not making and selling pots.  I've been teaching for six and a half years and a carpenter before that, and while I've taken the occasional side job this is the first time I've worked in a structured work environment since 2006.  I think artists tend to be self starters, we're creative thinkers and problem solvers, as well as go-getters.  We (or at least I) work best independently.  I've worked in retail, food service, and construction and I've quickly advanced to some type of leadership/management position in all those jobs.  My motivation has never been just financial, I'm a stubborn, independent problem solver, and being in a position of leadership gives me the opportunity to do things the way I want to do them.  Since starting at the Home Depot I've been named employee of the month twice and have been offered the opportunity for advancement and a new career path, this I politely declined.  It's easy to be enticed by steady income and benefits, I've been down this path before but I know better.  No matter how far you advance and how much freedom you're given the independent spirit will always be stifled and possibly broken.  This is okay for some, but not for me.  I want something that's mine, I control it, it lives and dies with my decisions. 

It's strange to find a meaningful quote in such a strange place as the Gilmore Girls, but nonetheless I think Luke, the grumpy diner owner, said it best when his nephew dropped out of school to work at walmart and then criticized him for working in a diner:

“I own this business, kid! I built it, this is mine! I’m not at the mercy of some boss waiting and hoping to be chosen employee of the month for a couple extra hundred bucks and a plaque. I’m always employee of the month. I’m employee of the year, of the century, of the universe. You should be so lucky to have a job like mine.”

I like that it's not about the money, it's about the freedom and the pride of building something.  "I built it, this is mine!"  Indeed.  I look forward to hitting it hard in 2015.

Cheers!

I think I've made a huge mistake...

I've been blessed with good kiln karma, I've built 14 kilns and they've all worked properly right from the start.  But this kiln...this kiln is a fickle bitch. I've had one semi-successful firing, which I understand now was clearly a taunt from the kiln gods, and many false starts.  I tore down the stack and enlarged it, I'm currently getting the top portion rebuilt.  More air?  That must be what it needs.  That's the only thing left to tweak.  All of karma's unrequited bad kiln fortune is playing it's course and SURELY we must be done with all that by now. 

It's easy to read too much into situations, is the universe telling me I made the wrong choice?  Nah, that's silly talk.  Or is it?  Hmmm. 

6 weeks to my next show and not a single pot made for it, not to mention the more pressing task of fulfilling rewards of all my kickstarter backers who have shown much patience with my kiln fumbles.  Sometimes this job sucks too.  But...the dude abides.  Onward to the studio.

Cheers.

Making

I'm back at it in the studio, making pots and getting ready to fire the new kiln.  My first firing is tentatively scheduled for next Sunday, the 22nd.  I have my electric kiln hooked up, I haven't fired any pots in it yet but I did fire my cast burner ports and it performed admirably.

I mixed up my usual four batches of clay which is about 1300 pounds.  That used to be two firings worth, not sure what it is now.

I'm slowly getting pots made but I'm having trouble getting a rhythm going.  I'm used to making large runs of pots for two wood firings.  30 soup bowls, 20 serving bowls, 60 cups, a dozen teapots, etc. With a smaller kiln it seems ludicrous to make enough to do 3 or 4 back to back firings.  So the cycle will change, 8 cups here, 4 serving bowls there.  That's going to be tough for a workaholic type potter like me.  For me working on pots is an addiction, at the end of the day I need to see boards full of pots, and of course it's never enough.  It's hard to stop at 4 or 6 or 8.  My studio was setup to hold enough pots for two firings with the idea that I would eventually be building a two chamber wood kiln.  For a variety of reasons I decided last year that a larger kiln wasn't in the cards for me.  So, I dunno.  I'll figure it out though.

Cheers!