My Experiments with the Donut

Speaking of teapots, I made two new teapots last month. I decided to try to throw a closed in ring on the potters wheel and was successful on my first try. I couldn't think of what to do with the ring, so decided to make a teapot. It turned out so well, I decided to make another to be it's friend. Now they can dance around in my studio all day:>)

PS: If you click on the teapots you can see them on my etsy site with more views at differant angles.

My Teapots are taking a Trip.

Well, I just finished packing up my favorite three teapot sets for their trip to Steamboat Springs, CO. They are going for the Steamboat Invitational Teapot Exhibit on December 5, through January 31, 2009 put on by the Steamboat Springs Arts Council.

This is my very first exhibit, and I am very excited and honered.

As I understand. lots of exciting events are being planned around the event. The Japanese Consulate is working on a Tea Ceremony event as well as an Ikibana flower arranging demonstration and Silk Weaving Demonstration .

There will also be a tea tasting and a couple of local potters will be putting on a teapot making demonstration.

There are over 75 teapots from national & international ceramic artists being displayed and my three little teapots will be there :>).

Espresso Inspiration

Last month I was contacted by someone that saw my pottery on Etsy. She was looking for someone to make six espresso cups for her to give to her fiancé, Chris Deferio, for his birthday. It seems Chris is famous in the barista world on the east coast and has started his own coffee training school,(thecoffeeinstitute.com) so, you could say that he's really serious about his coffee. She sent me the photo (above) of him that was in the paper in New York during one of his competitions.

He wanted handmade cups without handles height 2 1/2 inches, width 2 1/4 inches with straight sides. She also wanted them by his birthday, which was really pushing the limits on pottery. I said I would like to try and if I couldn't get them done on time, would refund her money.

This photo is of the six completed espresso cups which were finished on time.

She sent me the email below after giving him his gift:

"These are awesome, pat. seriously!!! This is the best money I've spent in a long time. just wanted to let you know that Chris just loved your cups. He couldn't believe how they were just what he's been wanting. We can't wait to use them!Thanks again, and I'll keep you in mind the next time I want some pottery. Blessings to you,
Thanks again for getting them here before his birthday!!!"

After receiving that great feedback, I decided to make some more for sale on Etsy.

The photo of the espresso cups and pitcher are on etsy and if you click on this link you will see more views.

What Goes Into Making a Mug

Sometimes people will say, can you give me a discount on that mug?

Here is my answer:

1) Drive to C & F Wholesale Ceramics and pick up the clay - 3 hour trip round trip.
2 Unload clay into garage.
3 Weigh out amount needed for the mug.
4 Wedge (knead) clay.
5 Center clay on wheel and throw the mug shape.
6 Remove from wheel and let dry 24 - 48 hours; depending on humidity.
7 Put mug back on wheel and trim.
8 Hand create handle.
9 Let handle dry 1 to 5 hours; depending on humidity.
10 Attach handle to trimmed mug.
11 Cover handle in hot wax to slow drying on very dry days.
12 Let mug dry 1 week minimum. If mug cracks at this point, re-cycle clay and start over at step 3.
13 Place mug in kiln and fire to 1850 F - about 18-20 hours.
14 Unload mug from the kiln. If mug has cracked during first firing, discard, write-off and start over at step 1.
15 Mix glaze(s). Each glaze requires approximately 3 hours to mix and sieve.
16 Put hot wax on the bottom of mug so it will not stick to kiln shelf.
17 Choose design and glaze mug. This can take anywhere from several minutes to upwards of an hour, depending on the design.
18 Let mug dry thoroughly.
19 Load glazed mug back into kiln. If glaze scratches or gets bumped, wash with hot water and start back at step 13.
20 Fire glazed mug to 2250 F. This takes 14-16 hours depending on electricity demands.
21 Hold at 2250 F for approximately 20 minutes. Make sure all shelves reach the exact same temperature.
22 Wait approximately 14 hours for kiln to cool to under 350F before opening.
23 Remove and check mug. If cracked, discard, write-off and start over at step 1.
24 If mug has miraculously survived to this point, clean sharp bits off bottom with grinding stone by hand, and put out for sale.
25 Last, but certainly not least instruction; try not to attack the foolish person who innocently asks "Why does this mug cost so much?"
AND, let us not forget all the hidden steps NOT numbered in here.
* Answer phone
* Sell pots
* Pay FPL (electric)
* Develop new glazes and slips
* Create new designs
* Pay FPL
* Re-cycle clay
* Clean studio, tools and wheel
* Pay FPL

* Not to mention the time, effort, gas and other expenses involved in getting into a show in the first place, and then traveling to it, setting up, selling all day, braking down, driving home, unpacking... I guess that's a list all by itself...
Thank you for your time and attention. - Patspottery

Pet Urns

I recently sold two urns on my Etsy shop. I was very surprised and thrilled to get these two different emails below from the buyers. To think that my urns have meant that much to people that they would place their beloved pets in them, means so much to me.

Green Covered Urn

This is perfect to hold the ashes of a cat of mine that just passed. Beautiful work. tagscats (this is a link to tagscats etsy shop where she has wonderful cat artwork)

Large Lidded Urn

We recently lost our lovely dog, Tahlula. We searched and searched for the proper way to respect her remains and were at quite a loss until we found your urn. The subtle grass pattern on the urn was a perfect match to our favorite photo of Tahlula. We cannot thank you enough for sharing your talents with us. kellydeen (above is a photo of Tahlula which kellydeen was kind enough to send me)

I hope I can continue to make a difference in the lives of my customers. They are the best!!!

Oh Happy Day!!

I want to share something with all of you, that was a very special moment this week. A customer with a shop on etsy called HummingbirdEyes had bought a few things from me a while ago. She sent me an email last week with the photos above. She had taken the fish tile she bought from me and used it as the centerpiece in her kitchen tiled backsplash.
Only another artist will understand how much this meant to me. Not only is my art being used and appreciated for many years to come, but the buyer cared enough to send me an update and photos, months later. She has no idea I am writing this, or even that I have a blog, but I am putting the link to her etsy shop here in appreciation for her thoughtfulness.

Lots of Sales this Month:>)

Finally finished the set of four Butterfly plates and bowls. (you can see the whole set here) Made eight plates and one broke as greenware, one broke in the bisque firing and two developed cracks in the glaze firing. I don't know why I always have so much trouble with the custom orders:>(

I am very much pleased with how they turned out though, so it was worth it. The lady that ordered them, doesn't want them till the end of the month, so I am entering them in an Art Contest next week.

I also got a custom order for six small mugs with names, for the customers six children. At first she wanted seven, but then realized they hadn't picked a name out yet for the, as yet, unborn #7 child:>)

I have another custom order for six espresso cups from a lady whose fiancée is a famous barista. It seems he collects handmade espresso cups, and she ordered them for his birthday. I just glazed ten and will post a photo when they are done.

I have also been very busy making personalized special order mugs. If any of you want some for Christmas for your friends and family, now is the time to order, because they can take 6 to 8 weeks to make, and the orders are starting to pour in. I can put any name or saying on them you wish. You can see them here: Personalized Mugs

Well, back to work, on a very busy week!

Busy on Etsy

I have been trying to do my pottery, do my diet business and have also been in charge of the treasuries on The Interior Design Team. For those of you that are not familiar with treasuries, I have posted one above. This one was on the front page of Etsy and had one of my bowls on it. It is considered very desirable to get on the front page.

I have also been very busy wrapping and mailing. I have had quite a few sales this month:>) One of the sales was a custom order for a set of four Butterfly Dinner Plates and Bowls. I made the bowls with no problems, but after making eight plates, I have six left to glaze and fire. I hope at least four make it in good condition. I don't know why plates are so hard to keep from cracking:>(

I made the glazes yesterday and am glazing tomorrow.

Back from Alaska

Well , we are back from our vacation to Alaska and I am ready to make pots:>)
Alaska was awesome, too awesome to describe. I have put up a few photos, but we toke 500 and ended up keeping 300. We are now busy scrapbooking our adventure and the scrapbooking is taking up a lot of room in my pottery/craft room. I had to clear off all my pots from the table and my husband says there still is not enough room!!

Have been working on a set of butterfly dishes and bowls that an etsy customer ordered. Will post photos when done. Also sold a teapot, some platters and quite a few personalized mugs. The best part of a sale, is when the customer emails me about how much they love my pottery. It feels sooo good:>)

Happy Memorial day

Spent the day catching up on my internet work:>(

My husband had to work, so just lazed around:>)

I am soooo excited, sold my teapot yesterday. Photo above. I am busy making some more. Have one finished and two more ready to be glazed. I have been invited to show my teapots in an International Teapot Show in Steamboat Springs, CO on December 1 – 30, 2008. I am going to send three of my teapots. It is such an honer to be asked.

Added two more bowls to the coyote glaze tests (the link is below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patspottery/sets/72157605127775552/

I really like the way the one landscaped bowl turned out. Will put it up for sale next week on Etsy.

My Coyote Glaze Tests

Well I finally found the time to post some of my Coyote Glaze pieces on flicker. Here is the link. http://flickr.com/photos/patspottery/sets/72157605127775552/

If you click the photo above, you can see more shots of the dish and goblet on my etsy store.

I like the copper, but I was hoping the glazes would run together more. Let me know what you think?

I just did some large bowls, and will post them when they are fired.

Till next time,

Pat

Coyote Glazes Tests

A few weeks ago, I mentioned I ordered 24 test bottles of Coyote glazes. Well, a very nice man, by the name of Simon was doing a Google search to find users of Coyote glazes and found me. He was kind enough to send me his photos of his test tiles and said I could publish them on this blog. Below are his words about the photos above.
PS. I have not gotten my glazed pieces back from the kiln yet, but will publish them as soon as I do:>)

As Simon says:
Pat, Enjoy your website!
Like you, I ordered a sample pack of the new Coyote glazes. I just got the pack of 12 new Shino glazes and a pint each of Gunmetal green and Croc Blue. I tried layering each in various combinations on a white porcelain slip cast form (quick to turn out and I'm not emotionally attached to them if the glaze is a failure) and on cut slices of the buff clay I use for throwing.
The glazes and combinations are given below. One or two were quite interesting; the Croc blue seems to give that mocha crystaline flowers effect when overlaid on (only) the Leopard shino.
Front rows: Cone 6 white porcelain slip cast vases.
Back rows: Aardvark buff cone 6 clay test forms.
Bisque fired to cone 04
Single dip glazed (3 second immersion) down to foot in first Coyote cone 6 glaze. Rims/necks of vases then dipped in a Coyote second glaze.
Glaze firing: cone 6 oxidation in electric kiln.
Key:
Main body Second glaze Comments
1. Smokey shino Gun-metal green
2. Sunrise shino Gun-metal green
3. Sandstone Shino Croc Blue
4. Mocha Shino Croc Blue
5. Cedar Shino Gun-metal green
6. Goldenrod Shino Gun-metal green Croc blue would probably been better
7. Pistachio Shino Gun-metal green
8. Steel-grey Shino Croc Blue
9. Plum Shino Gun-metal green
10. Leopard Shino Croc Blue Interesting mocha effect… croc blue acidic?
11. Peachy Shino Gun-metal green
12. Butterscotch Shino Croc Blue
13. Gun-metal green Croc Blue The green glaze crazed;bad fit to clay body
14. Croc Blue Gun-metal green
15 Goldenrod Shino Cedar Shino
16 Leopard Shino Cedar Shino

MY MOMMY and ME SALE EVENT

MY MOMMY and ME SALE EVENT STARTS ON MAY 1st and ENDS ON MAY 11th (Mother's Day
Below are the links of participating stores:
trpottery.etsy.com
mepottery.etsy.com
nicoleraephotos.etsy.com
quiltswithheart.etsy.com
CoconutPalmDesigns.etsy.com
Feeldesign.etsy.com
citrustree.etsy.com
Floradorainc.etsy.com
Straythreads.etsy.com
matechuk.etsy.com
Dianeclancy.etsy.com
Kathannah.etsy.com
Chaanda.etsy.com
Artenzie.etsy.com
Shadedmemories.etsy.com
Lightleak.etsy.com
Susannahtucker.etsy.com
TiffanyTeske.etsy.com
patspottery.etsy.com
Kristinalaw.etsy.com

More new pottery waiting to be glazed

Just some photos of the latest to come out of the kiln. Ordered some new shino glazes and am waiting for them to come. I usually make my own, but wanted to try the new coyote glazes so ordered a sample pack of 24 to try out. I am excited to see them on my pots:>)

Etsy Interior Design Team Sale

I am very excited to tell you about our new Etsy Interior Design Team Sale. It is for Mothers Day and all the participating teams will be offering a sale on certain of their products. I will be adding a list of the etsy stores and their products later, but wanted to start by adding the banner above.

I have also added a MOM, very large mug to my etsy shop. It would make a wonderful Mothers Day gift for any mother that likes a large helping of coffee, tea or hot chocolate:>)

The Finished Butter Dish and more!

Above is the butter-dish I was working on. It has been sent out to the person that ordered it, but no feedback yet.

Speaking of the person that ordered it, it was ordered on Etsy, a website I have been showing and selling some of my pottery on. They have a neat little addition to the shops called "Request Custom Item". Potential customers can ask you to make them something that is not in your shop. That was how I got the butter dish order.

I also joined two teams on Etsy, The Etsy Mud Team, and The Interior Design Team. They are both very supportive and have contests and other promotional events. The websites and blogs are listed on the right. I am posting some of my pottery that is for sale on Etsy. It is also on sale on my website, so choose the place you are the most comfortable:>)

In the future, I will be posting some of the contests and promotions on this blog, so ya all keep in touch, ya hear!

Butter Dish Order

Yesterday someone asked me to make them a rectangular butter-dish for one stick of butter. I said I would try, as I usually make round pottery on the wheel. I decided to try to make it on the wheel instead of hand building it from slabs of clay. I measured the butter and then threw two round dishes the right width. After they were soft leather hard, I cut a wedge from the center and squished the sides to make the pieces oblong. I filled in the cracks and let dry some more. Today I carved the pieces down and smoothed and textured and added a handle.

I hope she likes it♥

Another Busy Day.

I am posting some photos of a teapot and cheese bell in the making.

The first is all the pieces after I threw them on the wheel.

Today I trimmed and then assembled them and covered them in plastic to slow dry.

The teapot will have a cane handle if it makes it through the two firings:>)

I also made an Espresso cup, a large cup for my son Randy and a bowl with the words joy, love, dance, and sing pressed into the clay. Something different.

A Very Fruitful Day:>)

Above is the promised Val's Turquoise bowl and my newest teapot. I have glazed so many new Espresso Sunrise pieces, I had to mix more glaze today. I glazed four more dinner plates and trimmed a new landscape platter and a spoon-rest for my son and his wife. My sister requested a bowl with silver handles like I gave my brother for Christmas. so I made that too. A very satisfying day, making pottery for others.

Friends for Dessert

Had company last night for dessert and coffee.

Used all Espresso Sunrise to serve strawberry shortcake and hot and iced coffee. Had a great time away from the wheel. Forgot to take pictures until we had finished eating, so you get to see the mess:>)

Today I glazed another teapot and bowl. Decided to glaze the bowl in turquoise with some kiwi dribbled down the sides. Will post a photo on how it turns out.

Finally back

My son came to visit and then I got the flu, but finally feel human again. Spent the day throwing plates to replace the ones I sold. Almost all the Espresso Sunrise pottery I made last month has been taken. I guess you all like it as much as I do :>)

I got the Butterfly cup back from the kiln, and it turned out better then I had hoped for. The fingers fit just perfectly in the mug handles with the thumb on the butterfly. I made it for the clayart mug exchange, but I just might keep it.

Hot from the kiln

I am so excited about the new line of Espresso Sunrise pottery. Just a peek of all the goodies that came out of the kiln last night. Will be posting them on my website as soon as I have the time. Keep in touch:>)

Three Mugs

Worked all day getting new pottery ready for the kiln. Finished up three mugs (one with a butterfly) and some more glazed pieces and then took them to the kiln. Should be able to pick up most of them on Friday night. It is so exciting to see what comes out of the kiln. Just like Christmas and your Birthday rolled into one:>)

Still Glazing

Spent the day glazing the new Espresso Sunrise pots. Did three more after the photo was taken. Ran out of glaze. Will need to make some more before the kiln is fired again. Nelson helped me again today, so I guess all the glazing yesterday didn't scare him off. Its kind of nice having company in the studio. Pottery is a lonely craft.

Espresso Sunrise

We are excited to announce our new line of hand-built wheel-thrown pottery called Espresso Sunrise. My husband and I thought of many names for this new line, but decided Espresso Sunrise was descriptive of the colors and design. We have put the first few pieces up on our website and spent the day glazing many more. Stay tuned for many more pieces to come.

A little about how we glazed the pots.

My husband is not a potter, but he came into my studio today and asked if he could help glaze. I have about 30 pieces I want to do in the Espresso Sunrise colors. I decided the easiest way to glaze them would be to cut out circles from contact paper, stick them on the pots, glaze in the black licorice take off the contact paper and then fill in the circles with Albany slip. I can't pour or dip as the contact paper will let in the glaze if it is not thick enough. Anyway, he did a wonderful job on helping me.

Busy, Busy

Got my bisque (first firing) back last night and a few glazed pieces. Have a lot of glazing to do. Took photos of the kilns at my pottery studio and of all the bisque. Thought you all might be interested in the process of making the finished pieces. Will post some more photos tomorrow.

Lots of green-ware waiting to be fired.

Here are some of the pots I made while the kiln was closed. This is only a few. On top are some with glaze and the next two shelves have green-ware. All in all I took over 30 pots to the kiln. The large casserole on the bottom shelf cracked on the bottom. Took the handle off the top and made it into a bowl. Very disappointing. Really liked that casserole. Oh well, as my professor, Mr D says, just make another:>)

Will find out tomorrow if they were all fired. Can't wait. If the glaze turns out the way I am hoping, I will glaze this batch to go with the Temmoku and Albany slip tea pot below.