It's Cold!

We had an ice storm, followed by a snow storm, last weekend, and lost a lot of branches. Others did too, and we went without electricity for several days.  Things got pretty cold!  Work in the studio slowed wa-a-ay down.  We put on all the clothes we could and still move around.  The cats complained! My hands were so cold they turned blue....... But after a day or so, I could ski around the yard, and it really was beautiful  (though destructive.)  

scroll to the Very Bottom to see another photo of the ice on the sumac  :)

the Show at the Clay Gallery in Ann Arbor, MI

Monica and Shirley, to the left and right of me

Just before the start of February I took my work in to the Clay Gallery in Ann Arbor to set up for the month-long show I was having  (Jan 30 - Feb 28th).  I'll continue to be in the gallery through March, but the show in their 'gallery space' was February.  Monica Wilson and Shirley White-Black helped me set up, with shelf-hanging expertise from Yiu-Keung Lee, and post card help from Donna Williams.   In addition, Marcia Polenberg introduced me at my talk on Sunday, and will be writing an article for Ceramics Monthly.   Lots of expert help!

Monica  looks for holes in the wall to spackle

Fletcher's Dream--a porcelain clay notebook

 Here are some photos of the setting up---Monica contemplates the next hole in the wall that needs filling, spatula in hand, and Monica, Shirley and I discuss how to handle the numbering of work on the wall.  No job is ever done alone, and it's always great to have good advise and help!  I decided to take in two of my clay notebooks, and the porcelain one is pictured, here "Fletcher's Dream".  For those of you who heard me say that I was going to have more masks done  (Randy..)  I apologize.  I just didn't have time.  I'm thinking, though, that I will get two more masks made in time for the Toledo "Art-O-Matic", in late March!  Hope springs eternal.....!!

the compost pile in winter

Last year I did a set of yunomi  (every-day tea bowls) which had a compost pile theme   (they were chronicled in an earlier blog entry).  This year we have a visitor to the compost:  a young opossum.  I think he/she's eating the birdseed, as well as the compost.  Here is North America's only marsupial!  A slow and thoughtful creature.  I have been packing pots for a delivery up to the Clay Gallery in Ann Arbor tomorrow morning, and will be helping to set up for a show of my work in February.  It's the second to last month that I will be showing there--and it has been an energetic six months of work!

fixing the defects

Maiolica glaze does not move and heal during the firing process, and , in addition, because there is such a clear difference between glaze color (white), and clay body (red), things such as finger marks are very obvious and not well integrated into the whole after the glaze has been fired. Part of this is the fact that I fire in an electric kiln.  I've often thought that firing in an electric kiln is a lot like cooking vegetarian.  As an omnivore, it seems that one could  simply throw a chunk of meat, along with veggies, into a pot and put it into the oven for an hour or so, and have a tasty meal, one whose flavorings were enhanced by the meat and its fat and juices.  Being vegetarian (or using an electric kiln) means you have to be smart up front.  Everything is in the preparation before the work goes into the oven (kiln). I remember Richard Zakin telling us about how to fire electric kilns and get good effects.  You had to know about the clay body, and the glaze, and the colorants, and you had to use that knowledge before you ever got to the firing process.  So, here are some examples of potential surface problems which, if left, would turn up, again, after the firing:  pinholes (on the edge of a yunomi), and fingermarks--you can see the whorls of my fingerprint, and drips--on the waxed foot, and a small area that escaped being glazed.  I will take the back of my fingernail and flatten the pinhole, then paint more glaze over it.  The glaze for repair has been thinned somewhat with a mixture of cmc gum (helps with the flow) and macloid (keeps it from settling)--- (this is a Walter Ostrom technique which I also use to mix the colorants).  Then I will smooth the edge of the platter that has my fingerprints, and paint more glaze over the bare spaces, feathering the 'patching' glaze into the main body of glaze.  I'll then take a sponge and wipe the drips off of the waxed foot, and fill in the unglazed area (which shows the red of the clay body).  It will take me several days to re-finish all of the pots that I want to decorate for the next kiln load.  Sometimes the best time to see all the defects is late in the day when the sun is coming in the west windows of the studio---and lays long shadows over the glazed pots I'm working on.  The defects--drips, and pinholes, sometimes hard to see in direct light--show up better. 

winter snow

The white snow outside and the white glaze inside the studio --- a sympathetic, seasonal coloration.  I've unloaded one bisque kiln and am loading up another.  The pieces from the first kiln have been dipped into water, and then glaze, and now need to be gone over in detail to fix the pinholes and fingermarks and drips.  It's probably my least favorite of all of the processes and I often find other jobs to do, just to get out of the studio and avoid the fixing part.  This afternoon, after I went skiing, I pruned some of the sucker branches from an old crab apple tree.  I have an idea for a plate holder, and I think I can use the branches as side pieces, instead of dowels. And, now, in another clever avoidance technique, I'm working on the blog instead of on the glaze.

spouted pouring jars

As I work towards the delivery date for the next show, which is the end of January, (for a Feb. show), I am trying to take time to re-visit forms that I have done in the past, liked, and now want to try, again, to see how they will change. The initial ones are usually a reconstruction of the earlier shapes.  I usually save several from a grouping so that I have visual reference for the future.  Then I combine ideas I've had, doing other like forms, and sometimes end up simplifying the shapes. 

upcoming issue from Studio Potter:

---

 

yunomi by Ann Tubbs

from Earth's Body,

in the winter issue

Greetings of the Season

Winter Solstice is December 21, 6:38 pm ET in the northern hemisphere. Time to celebrate light! The full moon is also that day, and, to round out the energy, a total lunar eclipse will take place early in the morning, mid-eclipse at 3:17 am  ET in the northern hemisphere.

Winter Issue:  Vol. 39, No. 1 SUSTENANCE
Look for your issue of The Studio Potter in your mailbox soon. It is now at the printer and will be mailed in early January.
Three broad categories of sustenance covered in the winter issue are:
      * What sustains us in the studio
      * Sustaining and being sustained by community
      * Teaching and the connection between clay and sustenance

Here are some excerpts from the forthcoming issue:
“I felt privileged to be able to handle the few remaining pieces in her booth (she was in the enviable situation of having almost sold out). Her work was beautifully designed. The surfaces and colors were rich; the patterns, complex. We talked briefly while I studied the work, my hands and eyes learning as much as I could from every piece of visual and tactile information.”                              

-from Support and Sustenance by Frank Ozereko

photo:  JJ McCracken

"The world he knew brimmed with endless discouragement. It was not that they hadn’t wanted to help those less fortunate, but cash-poor and incessantly worried about their own plight, they just couldn’t process the needs of others while barely meeting their own. The Hunger project allowed them to give in the only way they could—in a non-cash form."

          - from Teach Them to Fish by JJ McCracken

.

Annual Appeal Letter
Our annual appeal letter went out recently and you should receive it soon. While membership fees underwrite much of the cost of publishing The Studio Potter, we appreciate any and all additional support. Contributions are tax-deductible. The Studio Potter thanks you!

Your Thoughts
Mary Barringer, editor of The Studio Potter, is always interested in what our members think: about the latest issue, the newsletter, and the world of clay in general. Send your thoughts to editor@StudioPotter.org.
www.StudioPotter.org

Thank You

http://www.vegetarianrecord.com/

Thank you to everyone who helped make the studio/house tour and sale so successful!  Both the holiday sale in the house, and, the following weekend,  the studio and gallery tour (part of Sylvania Arts Commission's brainstorm) went very well, and we missed the snowstorm!  which came along the day after the tour was over.  Indigo Fleming-Powers did the wonderful baked 'finger food' delicacies for our Holiday sale---here are some photos of her display, and of her parents helping with the last minute details of set-up.  (Her mom, Denise, used to help Marcia Derse and me set up for our holiday sales---and, believe me, I always need all the help I can get!  For some reason, I seem to think it's quite enough simply to make all the pots, and get them from the studio into the house -- after having cleaned everything out of the downstairs.....)

after the sale is over

I can never believe how much time shoots by--in clumps, seemingly.  Max is waiting in the studio for me to finish the next glaze kiln load.  The sale is over, and went well, and Indigo's "Goodies" were wonderful.  More photos to come.  Meanwhile, I have orders to complete before the holidays are over. 

honey pots

I have an order for honey pots.  They are due by the middle of December, so I make double the amount needed, since the time is short; that way there will be enough of a choice---   Here they are drying, and then bisqued, waiting for me to unload the kiln, wax the bottoms and the lid area, and then glaze and decorate.  (yeah, yeah, I know, the top coil of the kiln needs rewiring.  I'm just hoping it fires another 4 firings; then I'll do it....)

Help in the Studio

Pat Ligibel, a long-time potter and friend from our days at the Toledo Potters' Guild came over, today, to help me work on some tiles for metal trays.  The trays - and baskets - had to be measured out, and then patterns made for the tiles that took into account the shrinkage of the clay.  It's a job I've been putting off for a while, but having a friend in the studio working with me is great motivation!

Postcards are ready for the holiday sale:

burning the midnight oil

I have a big delivery for the Ann Arbor Clay Gallery on Sunday---so I've been working late the past few months...

One day it's there; the next, it's gone!

All summer we live with corn surrounding our 2 acres.  It grows, green and dark, and surrounds us in a green-walled outdoor room, providing both privacy and isolation.  In the fall, as the leaves yellow and dry, we anticipate the cutting.  We know that our now golden-walled room is soon to be opened up to reveal where we really are, and what has, all along, been around us.  Just before the corn was cut, Anna Gale came over to visit, on her brief trip back from Portland, OR, to visit her family.  We decorated some little hands  (like the ones on the banner of the blogsite), and talked for a while.  The wind rustled the corn leaves, and the sun lit them like golden shafts, and Anna said it was like a magic space.  But like all magic places, it soon disappeared. And now, I go back to work decorating the final glazed forms, and I must start planning what comes next:  tests of a new clay (more in the next blog) and re-organization of the studio space as Peter takes the shelving that I was borrowing and stores his belongings while he makes the move to Chicago.  I have work to prepare for an ongoing sale in Ann Arbor and the Clay Gallery. 

What Really Happened This Summer:

 

I know it looks like I haven't been working in the studio very much this summer. But the truth is, I have had a different schedule. I decided to eliminate several fairs, most of which took place in July. I did this because of the fact that my back and hip, by the end of a regular season, are compromised to the extent that, in October, after the fairs, I walk with a roll somewhat like a drunken sailor (my apologies to the sailing industry). I also added several gallery contracts. Providentially, this was also the year that Bruce retired and began tearing apart all of his work and storage studios for french horn repair. More importantly, our son, Peter, was free only on the weekends, and could help Bruce. The two of them work together very well, and it's always good to pass on information from one generation to the next! Together, they built the twin shedlet on the back of the shed, so that the shed itself would be more efficient for Bruce to work in during warmer weather.

Once I began to do fairs, again, in August, I found it much more difficult, because I had semi-unloaded things (tools, pots, chairs, etc) from the van, and I then had to find them again, and re-organize myself for the weekly run to another fair. Has anyone written about the artist on the fair circuit? It's grueling, with the punctuated reward, on the actual weekend, of getting to talk with your customers, and to talk about the work that you do, and how much you love doing it! As soon as I return home from a fair, however, either Sunday evening or Monday at noon or so, I begin working in the studio, again. There is the kiln to unload, pots to wax and wet and glaze, glaze to fix (prepare by eliminating pin holes and finger marks), a final thinner coat to be layered over the original, after having sponged the first efforts off. All must be timed according to the weather and humidity. Then each pot must be decorated. If the colorants are in need of reworking (sieving, replenishing), that must also be done. The kiln has to be reloaded by Wednesday at 2 pm in order for me to be able to fire it, and have it cool in time for unloading Friday morning as I pack for the next fair. Thursday is the day I do laundry, repack the suitcase, buy food for the next fair, clean the cat litters, do some cleaning, pick flowers for the next fair, and attempt to finish any other jobs before I leave for another fair. There's barely any time to think during this schedule. We're lucky to have had Pete close enough to take care of the cats while we are away. We also now have the Bieber family, who live just west of us, who can help---Sheri has been working with me several hours a week, and her three sons are also very good workers! I try to make enough work for another bisque during the middle of the summer, so I can then continue to do glaze kilns into the fall. This year, for the first time, I am completely out of clay, and have not had time to make more, so will purchase ready-made clay, and will try out several other brands, to see how they might work with my glaze at cone 2.

So---during July, I though I might actually enjoy the summer and get much needed exercise---thus you saw me out at Juliana's, swimming in her pool before she went to Russia. I also rode my bike, and walked more regularly---hard to do with the weekly work schedule I have when I am doing a fair every week. I know that my summers are not very different from all the other artists whom I see at the fairs; it's sort of like the life of a circus roustabout.
Oh, wait!  Did I mention????  I can't REALLY get a large Skutt kiln loaded in 2 and 1/2 days............but I do.  (though, clearly, I can't go filming dancing plush chickens any more, just to amuse my niece, Becca....)(see below, in case you missed it...)

Indigo's pepper jellies!

While my kiln is cooling, I can still keep hot with a bite of Indigo's pepper jellies--here on spreadable yoghurt and toast.  Bruce and I think that the red is hotter (at first),

 but that the green is hotter, later.....

See Indigo's veggie blog for recipes! :   http://vegetarianrecord.indigoflemingpowers.us/

Sunday, and the studio is really hot!

While the kiln is "cooling"  (it just shut off around 1 pm, so it seems to be hot as ever....), and the paint on the little tables is drying, I'll post some watercolors I've done, and which were used, this kiln decorating session, as inspiration.  Watercolor is closest to the process of decorating for maiolica as any type of painting;  I have heard maiolica decoration described as painting with watercolors on dusty blotter paper.  In addition, the colors are dustier and paler than they will be after the glaze firing, so it's sometimes difficult to know exactly how something is going to look (back at the beginning of the blog, 1 1/2 years ago, I posted some before and after pix of my intern student, Meghan's work---as an example).  Here are two of the watercolors:  daylillies, and the pool at Julliana's where I have been swimming this summer---

It's Saturday Night in the Provinces, (with an apology to Utah Phillips.....

where ever he might be--I loved his music and humor!)   I have loaded my kiln, and am working on tables which will be tiled,  eventually.  I have an oak one, which I stripped and am painting yellow  (prime coats by Sheri Bieber and her sons!), and some metal ones, which don't get stripped, but which have their durock panel glued into the center, and are being painted.  While the paint dries, I am inspired to get out the fuzzy chicken which we are going to send to our niece, Becca, now starting college in Sterling, Colorado.  She needed a little work ---the chicken, not Becca!  (new batteries), and some stitching maintenance--a well-loved gift from Bruce's students, now finding a new home!

I'm back from the Woodland Fair in Lexington, KY, and---

after a day of doing office work, am ready to start decorating more of the pottery that's ready for me out in the studio.  I have orders of pie plates, pasta bowls, mugs, and casseroles, most of which are waiting for the final stage:  decoration.  Last week the wild cherries outside my studio window were my inspiration---here are some early stages of the decoration process. 

yikes, it's August!

So------hmmm, time flies!  and It's been hot---and stray kitties are on the roam--Here's Fritzie, on the left, who is temporarily staying with us while we get him 'fixed' up, (with the help of Pete and Amy), and find a permanent home for him!  We're also a refuge to many little bugs; Bruce photographed one resting on the drying laundry.  (see sidebar on right, top)  Out in the studio, I'm working on another glaze kiln----with some new shapes to keep me happy.  I received a large oval wooden dish from Edith, and am using it for a footed pasta dish!

Fair season begins for the Tubbs Studio

The Old West End Fair was this last weekend, with the art fair section taking a stand on the grassy grounds surrounding the TMA Glass Building.  Saturday night's weather was devastating for some  (rain and high winds, and several people killed on the east side of Toledo! and locally:  tents at the art fair destroyed), but we opened up the booths on Sunday, and straightened things out as best we could.  Here are Molly and Kelly Savino, and Edith Franklin, on Saturday, in my booth.

thie fired version of the mask

Here is the fired mask, with maiolica additions.  Some of the images on the bottom right are from sketches I made in Italy several years ago.  The clay body is a high fire stoneware which I would have rakued, or cold smoked, but  decided to save for other possibilities. 

Tomorrow  I am off to set up at the Old West End Fair for this weekend; Sheri Bieber is helping me set up tomorrow, and I will be at the fair Saturday and Sunday.  It's the first fair of the season.  I think I would rather be in the studio decorating bowls for the next kiln firing......but I love being able to talk to people at the fair!  I have gotten all the pots into boxes, with Sheri's help, and now have the boxes loaded into the van.  (along with the tent, shelves, tool kit, tent weights and stakes, merchant services paperwork, newspaper and sacks for wrapping all those sales!. display aids. signage, etc., etc.   Meanwhile, I listen to the latest efforts of BP oil to cap or control the oil gushing in the Gulf.  My job is miniscule compared to that.

diversionary tactics

When I have a particularly problematic deadline, I sometimes procrastinate (for my helpful editors, no,I didn't really mean to type the word, prevaricate, instead---just a slip of the tongue, and thanks for reading the blog!  Let me know if there are any other slips!)  (you could say I was experimenting artistically, while putting various constraints on the production process).  Recently, while recovering from a procedure on my right leg, which was supposed to be kept elevated, I received an order for an award platter, due within a week.  I had also read the Ceramic Arts Daily email which showed a short, fairly explicit video of Kristina Bogdanov showing how to make a photo lithograph which could be transferred to a softer leatherhard surface.  Since my background was in printmaking, I was intrigued.  I took some drawings I'd done in pen and pencil to Kinko's,make Xeroxes, and mixed up the cmc gum, and the linseed oil and mason stain (peacock--I have a lot of it and don't use it very much).  I also mixed up vegetable oil and stain---pretty similar.  Then I gummed the Xerox, got out the brayer, and inked the print of the drawing.  I wanted to try it on a glazed surface as well as a leatherhard one, so I sprayed water on the surface of a mask I'd done, and tried doing a transfer of the bird drawings.  Here are photos of one of the birds, as well as of the transfer image onto the mask, with the bird on the left side of the photo.  It was harder to get the transfer to work on the glazed areas, since the glaze is pretty dry.  The final photo shows the drawing I did of trees on the hill above the Vatican in Rome, and the tile, covered with white slip, since my clay is dark, with the transfer of the image in the peacock stain.  When the mask is fired, I'll slip in an image of it, as well.