Now for something completely different

There are times when I kick myself for making work that's so much work to make.   When I started
the dahlhaus collection, I wanted the work to stand out, to be recognized without having to turn over the bottom to see the stamp.  Using a complex glaze method (that I thought no one would be crazy enough to copy), I developed patterns and a glaze style that was uniquely my own.  All that to say that on the 3rd-4th day of glazing a kiln-load of work, my hands are tired and I wish I hadn't made it so complicated and hard on myself.  And then I pull out a glaze full of lovely patterns and I'm back to seeing why my work has stood out and is in demand and I love what I do.  I truly believe that work that is hard to make is worth making and really forges new ground within the history of a craft. 

All this to say, however, that there are times when I long for 'simple' and when I wish that that mere form and colour could inform the work.  Also the busyness of all the patterns all together can get a little overwhelming for me, and there are times when I think it would be nice to have a hit of simple colour in the midst of the patterns when they are all grouped together. 

So here it is, my slowly evolving colour-fade line of ceramics.  It's a small collection of work that I've been mulling over, occasionally deciding to glaze one or 2 pieces in a kiln load, just to see what I think.  This year I decided to be a bit more deliberate with this work.  I am in the process of thinking about a Rothco-inspired vase series with some taller cylinder vases, just trying to sort out how the lines and edges will over-lap to best create this work. With the images above, the bottom bowls are the first 'dipped' edges that I worked on back in 2010, and then last year for the blue and white show, I made the mugs, then before my last photoshoot, I worked on the vases and large bowl.  There are slight variations to how the white glaze meets the colour glaze that I was testing out.  Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think!

*Thank you to all those who have purchased teapots from my shop over the past couple of weeks that the Bon Appetit article has been out! I am glazing more teapots this week (and making more) and I very much appreciate the support of my work!

green to yellow

I'm trying to get myself geared up for my 2 up-coming shows, and I must admit that it's hard to think about Christmas and holidays with this kind of weather. We are probably due in for a bunch of rain soon, but in the meantime, it's been lovely during the days, colder at night, with only a hint of frost.  The apples are starting to turn sweet, and we are going to have to get a hold of some more soon. 

I always find that fall feels like a good time to hash out new designs and ideas that have been stirring while all the other production has been going on.  Although this year my designs are getting more complicated and less efficient in the glazing department.  Glazing a kiln-load of work is taking me a whole week, when it used to take about 3 days, partly because I'm working through design ideas, but also because my process is just that- slow.  This does not bode well for me when it comes to wholesale orders.  I feel the pressure of needing to get the work out faster and smarter, and even cheaper.  It's an interesting thing to think through- how much wholesale (ie double the amount of work) can my business sustain.  I'm sure there are some good formulas out there for how much direct sales/wholesale/e-sales is a good mix- it would be interesting to know what that should look like. I guess finding the 'perfect formula' is somewhat subjective, but it would be at least nice to know.

Something fresh

Hello!  It's been a busy few weeks at the studio and I'm at the stage where I've just had to put my head down and 'get 'er' done (sooo close!!)  Things are coming along, but to be honest, I'm tired.  I got hit with a cold this week and it's taken the wind out of my sails.  I haven't had time to take photos or blog lately, mostly because things have just been all about getting back into the routine of fall, packing up orders, finishing up new orders, trying to complete old orders, and wondering how a day can go by so fast with so much left to do. 

For fun I thought I'd switch up the stripes on my vase in the last firing, just to see what I thought.  It might be something I work with a few of my glazes- I also thought I might work on some colour pairing instead of the white.  That's the one thing that's great about my glazing method- I'm never limited to things being one way, even though I admit that once I find a way and a combination that works, it can take me a while before I'll be willing to try something new.  After pulling out hundreds of these vases from the kiln this summer I've been ready for something 'fresh' to lay my eyes on!

We are heading out of town for a wedding this weekend.  It's up in the mountains, about an 8 hour drive from Vancouver.  We won't be taking the boys (thank you Grandparents!!), but Dean is involved in the wedding so it will be busy but possibly a good little break for both of us.  I'm hoping to get some much needed rest so I can start feeling like I have the energy to get back to finishing all the work I've started all summer. What a good feeling it will be when it's all finished!

Keeping motivated

 It's my birthday this week and things are being kept pretty low-key around here.  My boys are at my folk's place all week while work continues on the largest order I've ever filled.  It's not for the faint of heart these large orders.  It's a whole lot of intensely physical work and I've been going to bed with sore muscles from all the lifting and pouring of molds in my little studio. I'm so grateful to have Sarah with me in the studio this summer- her energy and enthusiasm is certainly helping me stay motivated to keep at it.  At the rate we are going, we'll only have 1 more week of slip-casting, and the rest of the summer will be glazing, glazing and more glazing.  If all goes as planned, the bulk of the order will be finished by the end of the summer (and by the time Sarah has to go back to school), so I'm just finishing up the last bits in time to send it off early October.  By then I'll be full-on in Holiday mode.  Phew, what a year!!

photos:  The waterlilies at the studio are blooming again!
I remembered I had this photo kicking around- circa 1981 or 82.  Love the wallpaper, and clearly, I am ready to party!!

New work: Cups & short mugs

Hello!  Well it was the last 1.5 hours of school today- just enough time for me to unload the kiln with the last of what's heading down to San Fransisco for Renegade!  I'm really excited to show you my new cups and mugs- a slip-cast design that I've been working on over the last couple of months.  I designed this based on my wheel-thrown cups and shorter mugs, however wanted the mold to be as versatile as possible: it's a one part mold that can be a cup, or if I add a handle, can be a short mug that works a little better with the size of my teapots.  I have been working on a couple of collaborations with it already, so haven't had the time to play with my existing glaze designs or get too creative with any new ones, however, I guarantee there will be more to come.  Holding about 12 oz of liquid, the handle is a good 2 finger hold, and as cups, they stack pretty good.

I will have a very limited selection of these available at Renegade- they will be up on my shop soon!

Oh, and I saw this on Pinterest the other day.  Had to chuckle... ceramic paint or pens, heh?  Let me know how that goes for you...

**The process of creating stripes (or any glaze design of mine) on my handmade mugs, teapots and vases are tediously created by use of hand-cut 'stencils' on my bisqued ware allowing the coloured glaze to sit right next to and only slightly overlap the white glaze.  Each stripe is glazed with food-safe, microwave and dishwasher safe glazes that won't ever fade or chip off.  They are made with the utmost care on my part with many steps taken to get the stripes and designs looking seamless. 

I'll be here...

photo taken in 2009 by Sherri Koop

Things will be a little busy in the studio this week: a few more shop orders to get out the door, some custom work being made, and a group of visitors attending this conference want to come by to see my studio.  In the midst of glazing all my work, the studio will need to be cleaned up- a daunting task to say the least.  Glazing never looks pretty- buckets and bisqued pots everywhere, glaze drips on the floor.   And since I went to pick up shipping supplies last week, there are stacks of boxes and packing peanuts (the earth-friendly ones;) taking up a fair bit of square footy.  Not to mention my painting supplies. 
Anyways, I have a couple of posts planned for this week, but things might be a wee bit quiet.  I hope you are having a great week! 

In the kiln

After a summer of pumping out work for my galleries, I've finally had the chance to sit down and come up with some new designs for the fall!  Here's a sneak peek before the kiln firing that I did yesterday.  It is a pretty remarkable process to have the glazes transform from a thin powdery layer to a smooth hard glossy layer of glaze in 2300 degrees.
I love glazing. For me, it's where the magic happens.  I glaze each piece with a method that took me a few years to develop, where I cut out each 'stencil' that masks out parts of my pot while I glaze other parts.  After waxing around the stencils I can then glaze the in-between spaces with a different glaze.  I've worked really hard on making this process simple enough that I can re-create my designs. At the same time, this process is labour intensive and takes me 4-6 different glazes with the right combination of colours and design, with about 9 different steps (with drying time in between) to get each piece in the kiln. 
I've lost sleep over the last few nights trying to come up with good glaze combos for my new designs.  Glazing a mug is not like painting a picture- you don't see the colours until they've gone through a kiln firing, and you can't really glaze over something that didn't quite turn out. You can try to re-fire, but for the most part, it is what it is when you pull it out of the kiln.  There are any number of things that could go wrong here: bad application, hot spots in the kiln, or just a bad combo of colours. Sometimes I marvel at the patience and persistence that goes along with being a potter.  The amount of bad pots a person has to make before the glimmer of a good pot keeps a person going.  It really is a labour of love. 
 

Why I do what I do

I've had my head to the grindstone the past few weeks, madly working away on a number of large wholesale orders for Galleries before we go on holidays.  It hasn't been the easiest of weeks- long hours, glazing problems with my one and only commercial glaze (the red glaze on my poppies has been crawling), re-firing and re-making in order to fill the large orders for my galleries.  Ceramics is such a labour-intensive and often frustrating process- pulling out 'almost perfect but not quite' pots from the kiln time and time again can really get to a person after a while. 
In between the wholesale orders, I've had some smaller orders from clients who came to me with special requests- a 13th birthday gift for a budding young artist, a custom order from a bride for her wedding party, a wedding gift for a repeat customer, and a special birthday gift for a daughter who is generally hard to buy for.  In the midst of the wholesale orders that I feel pretty bogged down about, I feel like the whole reason I do what I do and I make what I make is for these customers that come my way, tell me their story, and ask me to make something beautiful for them to give to someone special in their life.  What a huge honour it is to be able to use my hands every day to create something that someone out there will use everyday!

A little hand-made lovin' for Valentines Day!

I've worked hard for the past 3 weeks renewing my 'stock' and am in the midst of firing my first glaze load of the New Year! So one of the things I've worked on again are these bottle vases, which would make a really great Valentines gift, by the way!
Here is a little demonstration on how bottle vases get made: first I throw these bottle forms without a bottom on the wheel, and then, after they have dried over night and after making the bottom part oval, I attach a new base onto the bottom. I use this super-high-tech tool that I made myself out of a yogurt container, with a little cut for the shape of the base (see photo above! Nifty- hey? Works like a charm, and pretty cheap!) So the big question here would be: Why go through that much work to oval it off? Well, because I really like glazing, and I have more room to glaze the vases if there are some flatter sides!
So once the forms have been finished, dried out- slowly, fired in the kiln for their first firing, I get to glazing them!
Heather's Glaze Demo 101:
Day 1: pour glaze inside bottle forms and wax the bottom of the pot (so it doesn't stick to the kiln shelf), let dry over night.
Day 2: hand-cut my resist design, place on pot, paint glaze on parts, wax, let dry, dip one side into one glaze, dip other side into other glaze, paint stems, wax around resist, let dry over night.
Day 3: peel off resist, wipe with sponge and touch up funny spots, paint 2 different glazes on design (ie paint the poppies red or peach!), clean up bottom again, load into kiln.
Day 4: fire in kiln for 10-12 hours.
Day 5: let cool. Open lid and see what turned out!
So think about it.. wouldn't the love of your life deserve a little hand-made love at Valentines Day this year!

Before & After

If you ask me what part of the ceramic process I like best, I would instantly say- glazing! I confess- I am a painter at heart and my canvas just takes on different forms as far as clay is concerned. I find it fascinated how mixing up different powdered minerals from the earth, adding water to make a creamy consistency, and then dipping in a bisque fired pot can create such amazing, smooth and beautiful results after it's been fired to 2200 degrees. Granted, there are a lot of variables that people have been figuring out for thousands of years... let's just say, hundreds and thousands of pots had to be made that didn't turn out to finally get the combination of glaze materials and clay that would eventually work well. I myself have thrown out my fair share into the shard pile. Recently I was cleaning out my parent's shed with all my ol' pottery from art school stuffed into boxes. I started pulling out pot after pot that had it's place in my development as an artist, but which really needed to be thrown out for obvious reasons- 90% of the time the glazes hadn't turned out well.
So here are some before and afters. I just spent a week glazing all those pots I had made over the past 3 weeks- I'm still at it this week with one last load, but there are definitely some gems to be had out of the pile! Some is already spoken for, but for those of you starting to think about Christmas: my advice is to get your orders in early!