thePatientPotter

Book Review - Carolina Clay

2011-08-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

'Carolina Clay by Leonard Todd is a must for anyone wishing to learn of the great enslaved potter, Dave Drake.' G. Dexter

Carolina Clay: The Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave
By Leonard Todd - a decendent of Dave's "owner"

The life of the slave potter Dave unfolds against a backdrop of cruelty, repression, war and unexpected tenderness in this intimate history. Little is known about Dave, whose stunning stoneware vessels are made more exceptional by the fact that he often inscribed verses, usually rhymed couplets, into their wet clay during the era when literacy among blacks was illegal and brutally punished.

My take on the book:
Loved it! Although, not quite what I expected. I expected this to be about Dave and how he made his large, stoneware pots. Actually, very little was said about his or the potteries' processes of which they made their pots - although it does go a little bit into the kiln they used, but at this point, who cares! I learned so much more than I would have imagined. I was gently guided into the life of a slave who broke the rules by writing on his pots! Rules? I mean Laws!

This potter also made pots with only one leg on a kick-wheel, and you'll never guess how. Because he wanted to? Maybe. Because he had to? Yes. This book gives you a rare glimpse into the life of a slave before, during and after the Civil War. A slave under several different owners. It is also a rare glimpse into the world of the potteries of Edgefield, NC, which I loved reading about. Makes me want to go there to check out the place. This book also gives you a little glimpse into the politics of the Civil War and Slavery, which will leave you wondering why most 'Blacks' these days are Democrats instead of Republican.

For the potter, this is a great historical read, for the collector, this is a must read, and for all the other readers, this is an interesting read that you will learn something from.

Book Review - Dirt for Making Things

2011-07-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

Dirt for Making Things: An Apprenticeship in Maricopa Pottery
As told to Janet Stoeppelmann by Mary Fernald
Publisher: Northland Publishing
ISBN: 0-87358-599-2
Price: $14.95

This is my favorite pottery book right now. I've read it 3 times - it is a quick read, and each time I pick it up to read something I am inspired to pinch some pots; to sit back, relax and create a pot with my hands. I highly recommend this book to potters interested in processing their native clay, and hand-building as well as collectors interested in Maricopa pottery and their history.

Theme: This book centers around the Maricopa Indian Potters and their processes for making clay and pottery. The intent of the author was to document the processes that she learned while apprenticing with the Maricopa for future reference should their processes die out.

Character: You get to know Ida Redbird and her cousin Mary Juan, two of the original potters from the 1937-1940 revival period, and Elizabeth Hart who helped them and 18 other Maricopa potters start the Maricopa Pottery Cooperative. You meet Mabel Sunn and her daughter Barbara Johnson, potters who taught the author Maricopa processes.

Content: Full of black & white photos of potters making clay, potters making pottery, potters firing pots and the potters themselves. Full color photos of early and revival period pottery. Illustrated Maricopa designs. And detailed instructions of Maricopa pottery processes.

Writing Style: This book is written in a very personable manner and is only 98 pages (including index). Light reading that packs a powerful punch.

All in all this is a great little book for your pottery library and in my opinion, worth every penny.

2011-07-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

It Exploded! What do I do now?!?

Yesterday my kiln exploded, died, bit the dust, use whatever descriptive word you want, just make it catastrophic. I like exploded because that’s how it felt.

My kiln didn’t actually explode, but the devastation I saw upon opening the lid hit me like a ton of bricks. Like an explosion.

One of the greatest joys a potter can have is the opening of a kiln after a good fire. It’s like Christmas morning, only better.

Not this time.

This time my kiln wasn’t full of pretty pottery but was empty running a test fire. It was not firing properly and after months of troubleshooting, patching and installing new elements - several times, my kiln was finally running its first test fire. Woo Hoo!

The empty kiln, all patched up with shiny new parts, was going to be the revival of my studio. Coming back to life after 3 years in a coma state. It was going to start living again. I was going to start creating again. 3 years I have waited patiently.

Now what.

My kiln is dead. The automatic shut-off did not work. It way over-fired. It destroyed itself.

Kind of like me 3 years ago when I tore the tendons in both elbows creating pottery. Repeating a process over and over again without rest, until I broke.

I cried yesterday. Soul searching tears. Like a moth to a flame I kept walking back to the garage to take another look. It was true. Still dead. Writing this down today is helping me sort through the questions my mind is relentlessly asking.

Is this karma for not going to church yesterday? Is this a sign I should not go back into pottery? If so then why do I have such passion for it? Does it mean I need to go in another direction with my pottery? Do I save up and buy a new kiln? Do I try and repair this one? What does this mean? Where do I go from here????

Any suggestions?

Photo above by Michelle Rivera

So How do you Clean Native Clay Anyway?

2011-07-03T20:07:00.001-05:00

This is a question I get asked a lot.

Let me show you the process I use and then at the end of this post I will include a link to someone else's process. The two different processes should give you a good idea of what needs to be done.

This is what my native clay looks like fresh oprocessff the pile my husband made. Besides your normal pebbles, sand, and impurities, I have crabgrass, bugs and anything else that might find itself on top of a pile of dirt outside.

So What is the Process for Cleaning this Mess?
The first thing I do is dry the clay completely. I have two methods for doing this: Either I spread a wagon-full directly onto my garage floor where the cement will soak up the moisture as it sits underneath my car

or, I keep it parked in the wagon I loaded up for a week or so, breaking up large clumps into smaller clumps as it dries, pulling out the weeds and large pieces of whatever.

I want to end up with a 5 gallon bucket half full of dried clay that looks like this

In another 5 gallon bucket I fill it half full with water and slowly pour the first bucket of dried clay into the second bucket of water. I do not stir the two together but instead let it settle on its own to slake for a few days.

This is what the mixture will end up looking like; silky, sandy, pebbly, muddy, beautiful, slimy clay. Sometimes this mixture can stink if it has a lot of organic material in it. Even though the organic material will burn out in the kiln, you don’t want too much of it in your clay.

Next, I take the first 5 gallon bucket, which is empty now, and put a 80 mesh sieve which is designed to sit on top of a 5 gallon bucket, then scoop in enough slaked clay to fill the screen about ¼ of the way. I fill up a smaller, regular bucket with clean water and set that next to this bucket. I grab a seat and settle in for some soul-searching cleaning time.

Add clean water to the slaked clay and take a rib and scrape the sand from the top of the screen back and forth, so the clay can be washed through the screen. Back and forth, back and forth adding clean water as it flows through the screen. Keep adding clean water until you think all of the clay has been washed out.

This is what I have left in my sieve when I am done washing. Sand, pebbles and debri. This I set aside to be used as grog on hand-built projects (I'll post about this later).

Let the washed clay set for several days so that the clay settles and the water becomes clear on top. Then pour that water back into the small bucket to be used next time. Pour off this water slowly so as not to disturb the settled clay.

Stir up your clean clay and then pour into some plaster bats.The bats will remove the excess water and leave you with wonderful native clay.

The bats will remove the excess water and leave you with wonderful native clay.

The only item I needed to purchase to wash my clay was the sieve. I had tried the window screen as others have mentioned but did not like using it. The screen I used also let too much sand pass through. I have a lot of sand in my clay so I spent some time researching trying to figure out what size mesh I should use to get the right amount of sand removal. I finally decided to try 3 sizes; 60, 80 and 100 mesh. The eighty works well for my needs.

That's it. That's my process. I have each phase of this process going at any given time so that I always have clay available when I need it. Now here is the link to the other process that I promised you. Have fun!

How to Rework Clay and Fire without a Kiln

If you have a different process for cleaning your native clay, mind sharing?

My Indian Phase

2011-06-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

Looking through archived photos of my Indian pottery, memories of a simple lesson learned came flooding back.

My ‘Indian Phase’ was a time that was full of learning, enthusiasm and excitement. We had been in Oklahoma for about 2 years; so we were settled in but still exploring. By this time my studio was up and running and my husband had already discovered my red clay and I was using it in my studio. Above is the first pot I ever made with my new clay. Notice the Indian motifs.

Oklahoma is Indian country, rich in Indian history and my surroundings started to influence my pottery.

Between the ‘Trail of Tears’ and the Indian war with the United States, this part of the country was actually Indian Territory before it became a state in 1907. Not having lived among Indians before, Indian history naturally became something I wanted to explore - and what better way to explore then with my pottery.

Wanting to honor the local Indians by including their designs on my pots, I started looking for pottery that the local Sac and Fox tribe had made. I searched and searched and wasn’t able to find anything. I found this rather odd since didn’t all Indians make pottery back in the day? Well, yes and no.

Volunteering at the Lincoln County Museum around this time, I met a woman who was very knowledgeable in the local Indian history and she explained why I couldn’t find any pottery made by the Sac and Fox tribe.

The Sac and Fox is a Woodland tribe from the North. Pottery was never their thing.

Yes, they are in Oklahoma now, but they were originally from the Wisconsin-Michigan area and became transplants to Oklahoma as a result of wars with the United States. They were hunters and gatherers, and although they made some pottery, they considered it a liability because it was heavy and cumbersome to carry.

All foods are displayed in historically based containers - wooden bowls, bark containers, turtle shells, baskets, gourd containers, pottery, and/or trade brass, copper, and iron kettles.

She directed me to a poster that showed some of the designs the Sac and Fox tribe used on clothing and shoes. As you can see their designs incorporated the flowers and foliage that they associated with in the northern woodlands.

As I learned the history of the local Indian tribe, as well as other tribes transplanted to Oklahoma, my Indian pottery naturally took on a whole new look and feel.

Like anything else creative, pottery is a way to express whatever feeling we are experiencing in the space of time that we allow those feelings to exist. In writing this post I was amazed to see how much my Indian pottery had changed once I had explored my subject. Knowledge is quite powerful.

mission: to explore, create and inspire!

Why I like digging my own clay

2011-06-03T11:01:00.031-05:00

In the past I have had trouble explaining, in a condensed version, why I enjoy digging my own clay. There were just so many reasons for it and I found it very hard to describe the feelings that come from the process of mining one's own clay.

Until one day...

... when I joined a blog community challeng e that forced me to write a blog post containing a list.

Perfect!

A list allows me to pinpoint specific reasons, one-by-one. And, the timing could not be better. This topic recently came up in a pottery group I belong to so the question is out there and it needs to be answered.

So, Here Goes.

10 Reasons I Like Digging My Own Clay

1. I feel one with nature: the process of digging, cleaning, shaping, firing, and using the end product brings me closer to mother nature and her contributions to life.

2. There is great satisfaction knowing that if the whole industrialized nation around me collapsed, I would still be able to make pots.

3. I feel honored that I am able to give a tangible piece of Oklahoma to someone who cherishes the piece as a memento.

4. I love the fact that I can make something beautiful and useful out of something that is normally a 'sticky, staining, red, messy, pain in the butt!'.

5. The whole process of digging, cleaning and pulverizing the clay is soothing to my soul. It's very rythmic and sends my mind wandering to all sorts of different places.

6. Designing my own clay from scratch gives me a built-in niche that no one else can duplicate unless I want them to.

7. I can design my clay to meet my specifications. I can make simple versions, complex versions, and many in-between versions.

8. My pottery has a story to tell. Everyone loves a good story.

9. I feel a special kinship with the potters of long ago, who knew no other way than to dig their own clay.

10. And, last but not least, I love that my husband is the one who found my clay and saved every last ounce of it for me.

Have I left any out? If so, let me know.

Channel 4 Came and Went

2008-04-16T10:06:00.019-05:00

Last week was crazy! Tuesday Galen Culver from Channel 4's 'Is this a great state or what!' news segment called to do a story on my pottery. We set a date of Thursday for the interview. I had 1 day to get ready. I spent that day cleaning my studio and throwing some vases to have inventory on my shelf.

He came on Thursday and filmed and talked for about 2 hours. On Friday the segment aired and those 2 hours were condensed into 2 minutes! Galen did a great job! You can see a video of the segment at kfor.com. Go down to the middle of the page to the 4th video and I'll be in that group. I have had a lot of activity on my website and emails because of this show. Thank you Channel 4 and Galen Culver!

This week I've been mainly focused on designing the vases I threw for the show. Vases are my favorite things to make in the studio. I love the shapes and how they fit in my hands when working on them.

This vase I carved in my 'Trapped Vines' design. It is now sitting on a shelf waiting to dry enough for me to brush off all those little clay blobs. Then I can clean it up.

This is a design I call 'Whispering Wheat'. It will be a serving dish that I hope a current customer can add to her growing dinnerware set.

These two vases are designs I just made up. I think the one with the leaves is my favorite at the moment.

This one I decided to test a porcelain slip on. I plan on carving a design in the white slip area that will allow the red clay to peek through.

Friday

2008-04-07T10:59:00.006-05:00

I woke up Friday morning with my stomach feeling queasy and my head pounding. I went down to my studio, looked at the clay blobs around my potters wheel and decided I just wasn't in the mood to throw. So I went in the garage and loaded my kiln for a glaze fire. The rest of my workday was spent in the office catching up on paperwork. It's amazing how far behind you can get when you take a vacation.

***OBSERVATION***When you have your own business, every hour of every day is occupied; there is always something to do. I took a 4 day vacation recently and while I certainly enjoyed myself while I was gone, coming back to work has been quite stressful. With no assistant or co-worker to do my work while I was gone I have been struggling all week to try and catch up. Something or several things will have to be put on the backburner to make up for the missing hours. It's a huge juggling of priorities act. ***END OF OBSERVATION***

On Saturday, I was finally able to unload the kiln around noon (I started the kiln at 5:30 am the previous day). Here are my favorite pieces from this load.

Great Box for Shipping Pottery!

2008-04-07T10:24:00.009-05:00

One of the most asked questions potters ask other potters is 'how do you ship your pottery?'. I have always had great success wrapping my pottery in bubble wrap, placing it in a box that has about 3 inches of space between the pottery and the box and then packing it tight with peanuts. Most potters will tell you that you must double box your pottery. The reason I bring this up is because of a package I recently received from Axner.

My husband is building a ball mill for me (I will blog on this later). I ordered 2 porcelain jars that will fit the base that he is building. The box that these porcelain jars came in I thought was a piece of art. Simply made but built to protect. The box was about 3 inches larger than the jar and had 3 inserts that the jar sat in. A carboard surrounding the jar and a top and bottom that closes the jar in. The cardboard that surrounds the jar has about a 1" flap on each side that keeps the jar from hitting the outside box. This box is something anyone could make and I know it works because one of the boxes came damaged (see photo) but the jar was not. These jars are very heavy yet those 1" flaps kept the jar safely away from the damaged area.

Thursday

2008-04-03T19:41:00.009-05:00

I walked into the studio this morning with empty workstations. My goal was to change that as soon as possible.

What I started working on first is a small refrigerator magnet of a Route 66 historical building here in town. I have sculpted this piece twice so far in my quest to get one that I like. I'm getting tired of remaking it. This is my third one. I am going to make a mold of this one before I do the detail work. Then if I screw up or just don't like it, I can make a new one like this real quick.

What I did today was clean it up. I also made sure there were no undercuts.

This is pretty much ready to make a mold of except that after I saw this picture I decided to trim off some of the left side. Now it's ready to make a mold.

Next on my list was to clean up some crosses that I made yesterday on the slab roller.

These crosses have become such a staple in my studio that I can pratically do them with my eyes closed. It is so much quicker making 10 of one thing than one thing 10 different times.

I needed to throw something today. My drying shelves are completely bare and that just can't be. According to my schedule I need to throw mugs. It's been about a month since I threw some mugs so I decided to throw some stoneware mugs first to get in the swing of things before using my red clay.

After throwing the 3rd flop, I decided the clay was too plastic and would never give me a good mug. This is recycled clay. What I'll have to do is wedge it with some new stoneware and try again. I gathered all of the clay and covered it in plastic. I'll wedge it tomorrow.

Wednesday

2008-04-03T17:13:00.007-05:00

It was hard waking up this morning. I literally stumbled into my studio. Once I began surveying the different stages of production I had going, I became jazzed. I want to fire a cone 6 kiln load tomorrow so today's goal will be to finish up everything I want included in the load.

I stained 10 crosses with black iron oxide which finished these up. Messy job. Have to wear gloves.

Decided the letters on these hearts needed to be filled in with stain to make the letters pop. We'll see how they turn out. These are the first to get finished. They'll go to Sara to be designed into keychains. If they look good and work good (not sure the holes are big enough), then I can put them through to be finished for the Brownie Troop coming in April.

And loaded the kiln. Included in this load are 4 ice cream bowls, 1 herb planter, the mini vases I glazed yesterday, 10 crosses and about that many hearts. I also threw in some test porcelain beads for Sara to design with.

Tuesday

2008-04-01T13:58:00.006-05:00

Today I spent 5 hours in the studio. I am surprised that I was only able to finish a few pieces in that time. You would think that with 5 hours I would have accomplished a lot more but I was doing detail work on one ups and that's a slower process.

What I'm working on are some mini vases using Linda Spalding's designs. Linda contacted me through my Etsy store and asked if I would make some small vases using her designs. When she emailed me the designs I was thrilled. I thought I could have some fun with these and so far I'm right. These little things are a hoot! She wanted them to be 3-5" tall. I am limited to the colors I have in my studio so I can't follow her color scheme exactly. What I am ending up with are her designs with my flair added in. This is what I did today.

I also stained some crosses today.

Monday

2008-04-01T11:57:00.013-05:00

It felt good to get in the studio and start working again. Empty shelves greeted me as I strolled in at 5 am with a warm cup of tea in my hand. Hopefully by the end of the week these shelves will be full of glazed pieces ready for the kiln.

I could only work for 2 hours today so I decided to finish up some small projects. There were 2 small pieces that I wanted to wax and a mini vase that I needed to finish glazing.

I also went over my production list to see what I needed to concentrate on for the week. It looks like I need to throw some more mugs in both stoneware and red clay and roll out some more crosses and heart key chains.

Tour Bus Update

2008-03-30T18:30:00.003-05:00

The barn has been built and Guy is almost finished laying down the gravel drive to it. This gravel will become a semi-hard surface after it has been wet a few times. Every night he brings home a truck load from work and unloads it before dinner. He has it all inside the barn too because this is where our vehicles will be parked. Once the vehicles can park in the barn then I get to transform the garage into an easy accessible studio. Can't wait!

Quick Tool

2008-03-30T18:15:00.002-05:00

I saw a 3"x5" rubber stamp at Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago that was not glued to any wood or holder and was on clearance. Because I liked the design, I bought it knowing I could use it on my pottery somehow. After playing with it for a few days, this is what I came up with.

A stamp tool that will put a neat round design anywhere I want one. All I did was cut a circle from the rubber design that fit perfectly on top of a 1" dowel I had laying around. I then glued it using Elmer's glue (which is my favorite glue in the studio) to the top of the dowel.

You'll start seeing this stamp show up on my pieces here and there.

Fresh from vacation and a new routine!

2008-03-28T07:38:00.013-05:00

Fresh from vacation, I am anxious to work in my studio. I don't know about you, but vacations always make me creative.

Working at home, with distractions and too much accessibility for the family, becoming diligent in my work is a constant quest. I have found over the years that the best time to work in my studio is when the family, animals and the world is sleeping. Yes, sleeping. So, this week I adjusted my routine to start my workday at 5:00 am Monday - Friday. I get up, throw on some work clothes, grab a cup of hot tea and work in the studio until 9:00 am. That gives me 4 hours of uninterrupted production time. Nice. Going to bed at 9:30 pm is fast becoming my other routine. The next routine I want to incorporate into my work week is this blog. I am thinking that maybe once a week, at the end of the week, would be a good time to sit down and analyze the week.

I made a discovery this week. For the past 10 or so years I have used faithfully, glass Starbucks mugs to drink my hot tea from. In my studio, I have one of those electric hot plates for mugs that you plug in to keep your beverage hot. Although my tea when using this has never been hot, it will keep it warm throughout the day. Two weeks ago, I started using some of my stoneware mugs to drink my tea out of. Side note: In my home I use my reject pieces daily to test them out. I can't believe the difference in the temperature of my tea when using the stoneware versus the glass mug! My tea stays hot, not warm, but hot - all day long when sitting on the hot plate. What a treat!

I started this week on Tuesday instead of Monday so production was minimal. I also didn't have any red clay to throw so I mainly worked on the slab roller. I needed to add more crosses to my inventory and I wanted to come up with a small piece that would appeal to a Brownie Troop that is coming to tour my studio in April.

This is my slab roller setup. It includes a Northstar slab roller and a table with a drying rack. On the right side I have a shelf where my stamps and texture tools reside. It's a nice setup although the lighting is bad. When I move upstairs to the garage, lighting will hopefully improve.

This is what I came up with for the Brownie Troop. My daughter who makes jewelry said these would make nice key chains. I made a few batches stamping 4 of each letter up to 'm'. The last batch I forgot to add the hole, so this morning was spent using a dremel tool. When these are finished I will give them to my daughter to work up as she sees fit. We want to keep them under $5 a piece if we can.

We have had wonderful Spring weather this week which makes for speedy drying of my pieces. The best place to dry outside is in my East courtyard on the patio table. Perfect drying conditions.
Last but not least, I am trying a new drying method for my mug handles. Bonnie Staffel, one of my favorite potters, applies wax resist to her mug handles when leather hard. This slows the process of the drying on the handle letting the rest of the mug catch up. I am trying it for the first time and will let you know how it goes. This is what I managed to get out of the studio this week. Mugs, crosses, hearts and two test bowls for next weeks production.

Evaluating 2007: part 4

2008-02-16T10:31:00.015-06:00

In order to process my hand-dug clay efficiently, I will need $12,250 to drop out of the sky and into my grateful little hands. Until that time though, I think I will start saving up for the one piece of equipment I think is most important, the Ball Mill. I believe the Ball Mill will make my clay more plastic and easier to work with. This would be a great starting point for me. I’m thinking I might be able to use it to mix my clay as well, which will also improve the plasticity. I’m excited about that because my red clay, at times, can be quite stiff to work with and better clay makes for better product.

Bailey Pottery has the best price at $702 for the unit, $95 per each 1 gallon jar (need 2), and $9.79 per lb of pebbles (need 16lbs). Total $1048. plus shipping.

---------------------

Up to this point, inefficient methods of processing my clay have been reasons I was tempted to purchase outside clay for my studio. What I would like to do now is analyze the aesthetic reasons why I'm tempted and then figure out how I can overcome them.

The first one is color. My hand-dug clay is RED. Oklahoma Red to be exact. Red clay means lots and lots of iron. Lots of iron in clay overpowers whatever color glaze you apply to your pots. Most colors applied to my red clay come out brown. So far I have found only 2 glazes that look good on my red clay; midnight blue and a satiny, metallic brown. To get pretty colors you need a light colored clay. The clay I purchase is a nice light tan, color works well on it and I can get whatever look I want. What potter doesn’t like to play with pretty colors?

In my research I have come up with a few things I could do to remedy the color issue with my red clay.

- Send samples of my clay to a laboratory to have it analyzed. This will allow me to experiment with making my own glazes using a glaze software program that I got for Christmas. I need to know exactly what my clay is made out of in order to make a glaze that will fit well and maybe have color. To have my clay analyzed it will cost me approx. $100.

- Run my clay under a magnetic field to remove some of the iron. I have wanted to try this to see if this is possible. The one thing I don’t want to do though is change the color of my clay. The fact that my red clay is Oklahoma Red is a huge selling point in this neck of the woods.

- Use a Majolica glaze. Majolica is an opaque white glaze that covers dark clay. You can then paint your design in colors onto the white glaze background. Typical Majolica pottery looks like this.

- Use a Slip. Slip is clay, water and pigment. When mixed to a consistency of melted ice cream it is possible to change the surface color of a pot with one application. In this way, it provides a solid colored background for paint or glaze and is an inexpensive way of making dark clay appear white or another color. What I would do is make porcelain slip - porcelain is a white clay, and cover my red pot with it. That would give me a white base. The trick here is to make sure the porcelain slip will adhere well to my red clay through application and firing. Once that is accomplished then there are lots of things I could do with this slip. I could paint on it, brush it on the pot like paint, dip the pot in it, cover the pot entirely and then carve a design into it down to the dark clay underneath, etc.

All of these methods of coloring my clay is feasible and would be fun. I especially like the slip method and have already tested it on a few pots. To be good at any one method though will take time and will require patience on my part. I also really want to get my clay analyzed. I think this would speed up my testing and give me the security of knowing my product.

Evalutating 2007: part 3

2008-02-15T13:58:00.001-06:00

The second bottle neck, which would quickly follow the first, is the mixing of the clay body. Right now I mix 3 batches by hand, over the course of 3 days, to give me my 25 lbs per week. I use a bucket and a spoon. The mixture is rather thick, and hard to mix, so I know I’m not mixing it thoroughly. I justify poor mixing by wedging the heck out of it when I use it. Wedging is both time consuming and the reason I have Carpel Tunnel so it would be beneficial to not have to do it.

To remove this bottleneck I would need:
- Commercial Mixer ($1500)*
- Pug Mill ($3500)*

*They make a new Pug Mill now that combines the mixing and the pugging for $4300.

Evaluating 2007: part 2

2008-02-14T11:08:00.003-06:00

Evaluating 2007: part 2

Will I get bored? Will I still be able to do everything I’m doing now?

Right off the bat I need to throw these two questions out the window. What was I thinking? Clay is clay. I will just need to adapt my clay to suit my needs as I go along. So, let’s start analyzing the reasons I bring purchased stoneware into my studio. I want to adapt my red clay so there will be no need to bring in purchased clay.

#1
Purchased clay is all bagged up and ready to go, as much as I need, when I need it at $9 for a 25lb bag. My red clay goes through a cleaning, drying, pulverizing, mixing and then an excess water removal process before I can use it. In one week I normally process about 25lbs. My biggest obstacle in processing my clay is the pulverizing of the dry, clean, clay chunks. I do it by hand using a wooden hammer. It creates a lot of dust and needs to be done outdoors. It can’t be windy outside because the fine dust particles that we cherish so much blow away. It also can’t be really cold outside because I’m a wimp. I can handle about 2 hours of pounding before my hands cramp and give out. 2 hours gives me enough clay powder to make 25 lbs of clay.

To rid myself of this bottle neck, Michael Cardew in his book, Pioneer Pottery, says that I need 3 pieces of equipment:

- Laboratory-size Jaw Crusher ($4500)
- Plate Mill or Pulverizer ($1750)
- Ball Mill ($1000)

What this equipment would do is take my 1-1.5” size hard clay pieces and bring them down to powder form. The Jaw Crusher takes the initial pieces down to ¼”. The Plate Mill will take the ¼” pieces down to a fine sand size (which is the size my hammer gives me). The Ball Mill will take the sand size down to an impalpable grade. It would be wonderful to have these. My clay would be better because the particles would be finer making it more plastic. But, we are talking about a lot of money. There has got to be a better way to take chunks of dried clay and reduce it down to sand size. Any suggestions?

Evaluating 2007: part 1

2008-02-12T22:23:00.001-06:00

I usually spend the month of January evaluating the previous year. How close did I stick to my business plan, where did I grow, where did I slide, what did I accomplish, what do I have yet to accomplish, etc. etc. etc… By February I usually have a new, slightly revised business plan and know exactly which direction I want to take in the new year.

This year was no different although it is taking me longer. I should be done with this by now. But this year is different. I’m tired of not making money so something has to change, but what? I spent all of January thinking about this pottery business and what I need it to do for me and what I need to change in order for it to do what I needed it to do. The bottom line is, I need the business to make money now. Up to this point, I needed a business that could be flexible for my family; I wanted family first, business second. Now that my youngest is 16, and managing life on her own pretty much, flexibility is not a priority, but money is. I need this business to step up and give me an income.

Now, how do I take the business that I have, which only brings in petty cash here and there, to the next level where it actually pays me an income? I read in a book once, that in order to be successful in business, you need to become an expert in what you do. At the moment, in pottery, I do a little bit of everything. I dig my own clay, I purchase clay, I make functional ware, art pieces, sculpture, I do wheel work, slab roller, I do special commission work, I do production work, etc… There are so many things you can do with pottery and of course I want to do it all. Obviously I can’t become an expert in all things pottery so I need to choose one area and focus on becoming really good at it.

My one area of expertise could be my Rt 66 Oklahoma Red Clay. It is hand dug from my property and not too many potters actually hand dig their own clay. It makes me unique. It has also proven to be the area of interest to the local media and other potters. This would be the most obvious choice, but will I get bored. Will I still be able to do everything I’m doing now? Stay tuned as I analyze this.

Back to producing...

2007-12-28T14:34:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday was my first day back in the studio after a whole week. It felt good. The last time I was in the studio was 3 days before Christmas. I was finishing up a special order that I delivered today - forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it away though... this picture is after the bisque fire. You may have seen this photo on my flickr site.

It is always interesting going back into the studio after a rush of producing and then the necessary 'days off' that come after. I don't know about you, but by the end of a particularly busy production run, you're not really into cleaning up the final messes you made. So, when you walk into your studio after a hiatus, you instantly get hit with the emotions of that last run. You see evidence of the frantic pace that you kept, and you shiver. But then you smile because you don't feel like that now. You are relaxed and ready to start again.

On this next wave of production, I have two commitments I need to produce for; Trade Days on January 4-6th and the gallery in Claremore that is down to only 1 red clay piece in stock.

What I want to produce is:
Bread Bakers
$20-25 Red Clay pieces
Crosses

Everything has to be created in the next day or two in order for me to complete pieces in time for Trade Days in 7 days. So here we go...

The first thing I did yesterday was to clean up the studio! Start fresh.

My studio is in the basement and it has no piped in heat. I noticed that it was much colder than a week ago. Time to get the heater out. I had to let it run for several hours before I could comfortably be in my studio. I also do not have any hot water so the water is extremely cold coming out of the faucet. It is one of the things I do not like about this studio. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I dislike being cold. Last winter I used a coffee maker to heat up water for cleaning up but by Spring it had quick working. I will need to find something else.

After cleaning I wedged up some stoneware and threw 10 bread bakers. I will trim these today as well as throw some red clay pieces. I also want to start designing the 4 pots I have in the leatherhard stage.

I love being in the studio! It's good to be back!

Tour Bus

2007-12-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

Something good happened to me the other day that will no doubt change my life forever.

A charter tour bus company called me and wanted to know if I was capable of being a regular stop for some of their tours. My first reaction was 'yes!' but once we got to talking it was obvious that my place was not equipped to handle 35-40 people (some senior citizens) coming to visit on a huge charter bus. We ended the converstation with me saying 'don't forget about me, I'll call you when I'm ready'.

Wow! This is better than the vision I've had in my head for so long. Since the day I moved into this house I have wanted to make it into a Bed & Breakfast for Route 66 travelers and fellow potters. I wanted a full studio built off to the side of the property and a sidewalk leading from my house to the studio. The studio would have its own separate drive and parking area. My dream also included my daughter serving fancy coffee and pastries to my visitors.

I immediately went and told my husband about the phone call I received and at first it was 'that's a shame we can't accomodate them. oh well.' Not satisfied that he saw the potential of tour busses coming to my studio, I called my son Nick, who I knew would be as jazzed as I was. Sure enough he was and he told me not to give up on this. An hour later my husband comes into my office with this brillant idea on how we could make this a reality. Yeah! It's a great plan too!

We will basically create my vision without building the studio right away. We will create a separate drive and parking area that will accomodate large busses. Then we will move my studio into the garage and create an area in the courtyard by the garage that will accomodate lots of people touring the studio and/or sitting and watching demonstrations. Off of the courtyard is our formal dining room which will be turned into a snack area/gift shop. The only thing that will require much money is the parking area. It will probably require approval from the city as well.

This is the courtyard off of the dining room and next to the garage.

This is the area that we were thinking of putting the parking and eventually a studio.

I am getting lots of good advice from the potterybasics yahoo group which is wonderful. For those of you who don't know, this is a great egroup for beginning to advanced potters. Ask any question and you'll get answers. They are helping me think this thing through.

The first thing I need to do is draw up a quick plan and approach the city. See what, if any, permits I need or zoning issues I will need to address. I happen to be remodeling my dining room at the moment so I'll just finish it according to our new plans. Moving the studio to the garage will have to be done at a later date because what's in the garage will need to be moved to the new barn that is scheduled to be built next month.

The charter bus company was looking at May as being the first tour she would like to do. We are optimistic that this could all be accomplished by then - if we stay on top of it.

I'll keep you posted...

Trade Days a Success!

2007-12-24T14:06:00.000-06:00

Trade Days was a success in my opinion. It was great to be out there with people selling, networking and checking out the competition.

This is what I learned from doing this show - the first show I've done in over 5 years.

#1 - People are starting to know who Bradley's Pottery is. Yeah! My marketing and networking methods are finally starting to pay off.

#2 - People visiting my booth, loved to hear a good story to go along with their new pottery.

#3 - People enjoyed digging around in my bargain basket looking for buried treasures. It was a great way to clean out my odds and ends and increase my cash flow at the same time.

#4 - By relaxing and enjoying myself, I was able to really interact with my customers which will help in future designing and selling. How did I relax myself? By focusing on learning not selling.

#5 - Everything does not have to be perfect!

#6 - Everything has a 3 year cycle. 1st year - introduce, 2nd year - sell like crazy, 3rd year - on it's way out. This not only applies to your product or design, but with other things as well, such as booth design or selling outlet. Example - I went around and talked to other vendors. One in particular was complaining that her sales were down. This was her 3rd year there. The first year she did good and the 2nd really well. I was one of her regular customers over this 3 year period, and in looking around her booth, I noticed that she had the same items, designs and booth that she has always had. I was ready to see a change. Jan from potterybasics said that this was true of his bread bakers. First year good, 2nd year great, 3rd year ok. Since he said this, I have looked at other things using the 3 year rule and it seems to be a good rule of thumb for a lot of things.

#7 - Being consistent is important. Example: Another vendor said that his sales were down. He said he didn't do this show the last few months and he thinks it hurt him.

#8 - Make a lot of $20-25 red clay items. Every red clay item I had in this price range sold.

I also think that the turnout for Trade Days would be larger if they had more artistic vendors in the group, so I am campaigning to do this.

2 Days Before Trade Days!

2007-12-05T10:21:00.000-06:00

I finally figured out what to do with these ornaments that will not require a lot of hi-temp wire (it's amazing what you can come up with once the stress is removed), I fired these to maturity yesterday so that they would be white. I will now do an acrylic wash on them of a very light color and then seal them with a hi-gloss sealant. They feel a little rough so I will sand each one with my Sand-O-Flex. This is what I am going to spend today doing, sanding, painting, sealing. I think they will be pretty.

Yesterday I also glazed all of my bread bakers so they can go into the kiln today. At least one will be mine and tomorrow after it fires I will test it out in my own kitchen with some bread. This will be the display in our booth. But... look at what happened to 3 of the pots I glazed yesterday!

What the heck happened here!?! I did this same glazing technique on two pieces that I have on Etsy right now. Same clay, same glazes. Same method of application. I will ask the potterybasics group on yahoo that I belong to and see what they come up with. Anyone else with suggestions please comment below. Thanks.

Meltdown!

2007-12-04T09:23:00.000-06:00

I had a meltdown yesterday afternoon. Feeling very overwhelmed and over stressed. From past experience I have learned that stress makes you sick so I stopped working and played with my grandson until his bedtime, then I curled up in bed with a good book. Today I feel much better and have decided not to try to do everything. Items that have been put on the backburner...

The Newsletter - Since I have not had a booth at Trade Days yet, I do not know what to expect and figure my booth won't be all that great the first time, so, next month when I know what I'm doing, I will send out the newsletter to announce I am there.

The Ornaments - These are causing me a lot of stress because I'm not sure how I am going to fire them. I need to fire a whole kiln load and don't have enough rods or wire to be able to hang all of these at one time. So these are going on the back burner, I will do them when I get more rods and wire and I guess they will be next years Christmas item.

Removing these two items has taken a heavy load off of me and now I believe I can function. I am also looking at this month's Trade Days as a learning experience not a selling one. This is a trail run and I have changed my expectations. Sales will be the bonus, my goal this month will be to see what this Trade Days thing is all about and to see how I can make this into a profitable avenue for my pottery.