Finishing up the weeks pots....and off to Llano Wine and Clay Festival in Lubbock, TX

Well, I'm all packed up and ready to hit the road down to Lubbock, TX for the annual Llano Wine and Clay Festival. I have my booth packing down to a science now. In the past taken me days to pack for a show but yesterday I was done in about 4 hours. I think bubble wrap is always the key.....and the pedestals that are packable. Anyways enough of that.........The show this weekend is always a lot of fun, usually about 40 potters there so if you like pottery you know where you need to go! Brandon Phillips (www.supportyourlocalpotter.com) will be there so it will definitely be a good time.

I have talked my friend Lance into going down to Lubbock with me for the weekend to help out. Lance is a Firefighter here in Amarillo. I talked with him around midnight last night to make sure we were still on for the trip....and he had just returned to the station from an apartment fire.....so he probably didn't sleep much last night.

Some of the pots I finished yesterday morning...............Ocher, and White Slipped Tankards.....I love the way the slip looks when it is soaking in to the clay.

Tall Foot Bowls

Chattered Slip Platter Bowl

See you in Lubbock............Kent

Moving along........

The pots are moving long and starting to fill up the racks in the studio. I had a really good finish to last week and I felt good about the progress around the pottery. Here are some bowls from Saturday that I have made for a dinnerware commission. I left more clay to trim near the base in hopes to cut a more robust foot. I feel like it worked out really well.

These are some big platter bowls that I made at the beginning of the week. I am feeling some shino with marshall green trailing on these guys. I also made a strong line just underneath the rim to stop the eye from flying off the pot.....after all it is the curve that makes it beautiful.

Mugs......need I say more....

I've been working on my faceting for some time now. I have found that for me, if I cut them at medium leather hard it works the best. When I used to make them I cut them on the wheel wet, but I always had to make them a little to robust for what I was really after.

Hakeme, Pine Ash, Ame rim, on this bowl....I also really like the way the ash glazes worked over the swags near the rim.

Porcelain Yunomi, Birch Ash Glaze

Oak Ash Nuka Yunomi

Ame Glaze applied over an ocher slip

All for now, I have pots to make today! Kent

And the work train rolls on...................

Well things are moving along nicely. Pots are getting made. I got quite a few mugs and faceted yunomi made this morning, and in the afternoon made a start on some big pots. I haven't had the time to work on the big vases and planters for a while and something told me it was time to make some again. I guess with all of the flower planting that has been going on around my place that is most likley why I am wanting to make so flower pots. So we will see how they go. Usually when I start out making the big planters I begin with about 20-30 lbs for the first section, let it stand overnight and coil and throw the rest in the morning. I am excited to be working on these pots again!

As for the glaze testing, that is moving along as well. I have decided that I will devote at least an hour each day to the testing, so it doesn't all pile up at the end......and so I can make more thought out decisions. Currently I have a number of different glazes that I am working on. The Shinos....of course, but also a number of different Nuka's, a Teadust, Hare's Fur Tenmoku, some new Ash Matte's, and Ame's. All of these being for the reduction kiln. I have also been kicking around the idea of doing some Kaki's and a Seiji Glaze in an oxidation atmosphere. But the recipes are still in the works, with a ways to go. The clay is my concern at this point. I think for the oxidation firing I want a high iron body to keep the clay from getting that pasty look. The kaki's that we fired in Hamada's kiln were oxidized, I think it was chambers 3 and 4 the five chamber kiln. I think that the oxidation of a high amount of iron in the glaze it is what can give the green crystals and depth the the kaki.....and also maybe the limestone glaze underneath. But if I use a limestone underneath I think I will trail wax resist instead of aiming for brushwork. Just suits me better. But then again who knows?

All for now..................Kent

New pots........

Plates with Shino glazes
Double Shino Covered Jar

Big platter with New Shino and locust ash

This one is a new shinos that I have continually been changing feldspars in. The greyish part is where I sprinkled a bit of Black Locust Ash that my friend Doug Ricketts(http://www.dougricketts.com/) burned for me. This Shino probably worked the best that I have ever seen it in my kiln. I layered the glaze on fairly thick and it began to develop beautiful layers of white with pinks and oranges showing through. I have been spending a lot of time working on some new shino glazes that fit what I am after. I am really not interested in trapping carbon so much, but I do love good pinholing that some types of shinos can produce. I am also attempting (as usual) to simplify the recipes down to only a few ingredients. For the new shinos it has been mainly different feldspars in large proportions and additions of wood ash and clay....and occasionally a little soda ash. The firing was even different, I reduced heavier over a longer period of time (14 hours) with a crash cool at the top. The firing length and the crash cool certainly helped with the milky quality that the glaze achieved....I was a very happy potter...that wants to do many more shino tests!( and the longer firing was also good for the ash glazes as well) Oh and I almost forgot this is a new clay body. It has quite a bit more silica in it than my previous body. I decided that the clay I have been using for a couple years just didn't have enough silica to really work with my glazes. With the extra silica in the body I was anticipating a few drying issues but I had no problems at all. I even attempted to make my big platters put them in the full Texas sun for an hour or so and trim them in the same day......and of course fan dry them overnight to fire the next day!!!! No Cracks!!!! Now that is good clay.

Off to it...............Kent

Progress.................

Tall Jug with Pellets

Fluted Side-Handled Teapot

footed bottles hakeme bowl with incising

Just wanted to show a work update! Here a few pots from this cycle. I have been working on a bunch of pots and things are going well! I hope to fire twice in the new few weeks so the pressure is on. Gotta run, going back to the studio tonight.......................Kent

One of those days.......

My coffee cup from today

So today was one of those days......yes, the kind where the rythmn just never really takes a hold. It seems as my pottery career moves forward there are fewer and fewer days that I struggle with the work rythmn. I guess what I am saying is that I have learned and probably still learning honestly to not be impatient with my work. The problem is that I expect to make more pots than I am actually able to make well.....I think it is called rushing. And obviously when I get impatient I start rushing and the pots show it! So that happened this morning and I went and had a good coffee break with myself and got back on track the best I could. I always remember the words of Michael Cardew when I start rushing, " good pots are not made by rushing but by skill." But enough of that. After lunch I did make some nice wide rimmed bowls and some bottles to finish up tomorrow. Tomorrow is always better! Oh and by the way remember in my last post I talked about the great weather........tonight we are under BLIZZARD WATCH!!!! they have forcasted white out tomorrow and Saturday to be back to the 70's. I am ready to drink beer and make some wood ash tonight! Cheers, Kent

Beautiful weather and good pots!

Guinomi drying up

Teapots drying slowly

Freshly thrown Baluster Jugs

Shelves starting to fill up again

Cord textured large bowl

First of all, let me say that the weather here in the Texas Panhandle has been spectacular! We have had days in the 70's and 80's and I am already going to the studio in shorts. I have completely cured my drying problem with a humidifier and the pots are drying evenly now. I really enjoy coming into the studio in the morning and the atmosphere feeling a bit moist. Over the last few days I have made a bunch of espresso/tea mugs, big baluster jugs, fluted covered jars and quite a few other pots as well. I think tomorrow I am going to make some tall bottles in two pieces and plates and platters in the afternoon. Leaving all of the weeks pots to finish on Friday and Saturday. I have got to get my slips made up by Friday and my Hakeme slip for the plates on Saturday morning. I am thinking on Saturday afternoon Meg and I are going to fire the prototype soda/salt kiln with a weed burner that I have purchased so that will be interesting. I picked the weed burner up from Harbor Freight Tools for 19.99! It can adjust up to a screaming 500,000 BTU's!!! Here are some shots of the progress! Later, Kent