It’s back, and it looks good, really good. Since my few shots at the studio don’t sing, here’s one I took as I loaded the boxes into my car; as the sunlight was perfect. There will be more shot at home, later:

Those are a pair of whiskey cups in stoneware with iron, with extra silica. They’re on top of some with the #119 clay, and inside of a porcelain vase. The glaze on all is a copper blue.

My notes: Stuff looks fantastic - I can’t wait to do it again! The house from on the bag wall looks excellent, and I like the look of that #119 clay was suggested to me… nice and warm color. I think I prefer less iron in my clay for wood/salt; the iron seemed to come out more strongly compared to soda. The added silica was a nice look too. I used a lot of the Tile 6 slip (I think it’s got a bunch of neph sy in it too) on the little cups and that looked good. It was a surprise (but perhaps shouldn’t have been) that the round vase fired on its side came out… less round. Should try that again too.

Just over a week ago, I attended a workshop with Meredith Brickell. She showed us many of the techniques that she uses in working with wet clay, talked about her thoughts toward working in clay, some of her surface decoration, glazing, and firing methods, and shared some recipes. The pace of the workshop was pleasantly fast.

I learned some really neat little tricks and a bunch of bigger techniques. I’m looking forward to making myself some bowl molds - my very own.

Meredith introduced the (to me) radical notion that wet clay could be used as a mold. We used pieces of old sheets and pillowcases like slings to move slabs of clay around, and to keep the wet mold and wet slab from sticking together. After making and draping this hump mold, I learned that she’s always done slump (concave) molds. Over the next few days, I added coils and used pinching and my serrated rib to create this:

I must say, I’ve never made anything like it, but I like where it’s going.

It didn’t start out like this.

Wow, I love my onboard webcam.

Ayumi Horie’s remark on her website about celebrating imperfection reminds me of Glen Murcutt’s tendency to celebrate the detail - especially details like scuppers that we architects sometimes would wish away.

That’s a trait that I appreciate - so in my work, try to see details as opportunities, to incorporate qualities like roundness rather than round - the little differences among handmade objects that makes them like without being identical, that makes them handmade rather than manufactured.

On a related note, I noted with some dismay that the latest CB2 catalog features a number of objects that are manufactured, but appear to be handmade. Some of them are pretty cool, but falter in the details. (Ceramicists, potters particularly, tend to treat the bottom of a piece with care, for example.) But every manufactured piece in a set is “imperfect” in the same way as the next. It’s just not the same. Celebrate the imperfection.

This will probably be only the beginning of the discussion. Please share your thoughts! This post was started mid-Aug 07 and finished and published on the date noted above.

I went a different route with setup this time. Since I have so many different sorts of things, I just had a few of each type out, spread around a bit. Then with the cups and bowls, I sorted by color. I think next time I’ll put out a variety of sizes rather than several of the same size.

I had a weird but good spot with a lot of traffic. The downside was that people would sometimes walk behind the shelves or table or try to sit down in my space to eat. That was uncool. I hope to have the same spot next year, and would add some shelving to be more aggressive about claiming my space.

Behind the tall shelves on Saturday. Note the snazzy crate storage (and bargain shelf at the bottom; I was glad to sell some old pieces). This shelf took about 45 minutes to ratchet together solo - not bad! Unfortunately, the manufacturer is making them a bit more flimsy now; I can’t buy more, but may find more, used.

This is the table I designed and fabricated. The only power tool involved was a drill. Staining was a pain - stay away from the gel stuff. Dowels are a dream; the whole thing would have been easier with a bit of a workbench. Fortunately my drilling skills held up; I messed up only 1 of 40 holes. It assembles in less than 5 minutes, with no tools. My preferred material for this would be plywood, because it’s dimensionally stable and has a pretty edge; however, I don’t have the facilities to work with large sheet goods.

As you can see, I had some really lovely sun and dappled shade. By noon I was almost entirely in the shade, with only a little sun coming through here and there. Perfect for the warm weather; I stayed nice and cool.

I may remake the table next year with clear polyeurethane instead of the stain. It would be nice to have more continuity in my furnitures, but I don’t much care for tablecloths, nor is my car very large. In fact, this stuff filled it to the brim! The perfect winter project…

I did a couple of leafy tiles in Philadelphia for my aunt, my tiny contribution to an architectural installation. This is the first time I’ve attempted the pattern on paper. I can imagine a pretty big installation of them, because the texture’s great. Maybe as fine art, mounted and hung on the wall. Just as easily, and maybe moreso - used as tile. It’s something that clay likes to do. Contact me if you’re interested.

Inspired by last week’s allergy-induced misery, I think I may do a series of vessels upon which I inscribe images of common allergens. Grass, dust, mold, pollens. These things are pretty cool looking on a microscopic level, but man do they wreak havoc on me.