4 sale

8oz, 10oz & 12oz cups


They are available for purchase here.

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happy weekend!

the menagerie

the swallow, the quail,the wren & the rabbit
8" x 2" bowls

I couldn't resist sharing these new bowls with you even though in front of the computer is not where I should be right now. I am so excited about my newest additions (the rabbit & the quail) to the menagerie of animals I keep in my studio. I am sending these off to Mudfire Gallery for the Line and Color show that opens on April 5th.

views from above and (over &under)

By the way if you are interested in purchasing any of these they will be available April 5th. Please contact Mudfire with your inquiries.

the verdict ...

...is to (unanimously) leave them unglazed on the outside!

Thank you so much for your quick and insightful responses. I woke up from a night full of very bizarre dreams to all of your comments. Bleary eyed and confused from the panoply of dreams, I had to look twice at my computer screen to make certain all those emails were really for me.
Lord ol' mighty...you are on top of it!

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To answer a few questions (quickly as I have loads of work to finish yet for my show). The vases are glazed on the inside with a water tight glaze so they wont sweat (I have already done the test for this). The reason I don't use the same glaze on the outside as the inside (I used to do this until very recently) is because the glaze is not the easiest of glazes to apply and if I have one eency weency thick spot anywhere the glaze gets milky which just doesn't cut it for me plus it drips and inevitably I lose a few to the kiln shelves. The low temperature glaze on the outside that works wonders with the color and is easy and cooperative in every way is not a watertight glaze. So I can't use it on the inside. So you see there in lies my conundrum. People, I know it may seem that there is an easier answer and perhaps there is but I just haven't found it yet and after years and years at this and so much loss (I lost more than half of my vases in 2007 due to the glaze issue) this is my solution.

As far as the "dry" look I used to use very little glaze on the outside of my work and it always had a dry look (though not completely dry like these guys). I started glazing with a shinier glaze only in the past three years or so. I like the new look but my personal aesthetic is for a rougher look. That is not always what the public wants and I have gotten a great response to the newer shiny work. I personally have absolutely no issues with a bisque only surface though Artists tend to like the more unusual perhaps more esoteric qualities of their own work and it most often is not what the public likes. Sad but true.

I am right there with you on Artists going for with their gut. I only hesitated because these are for a show called Line and Color at Mudfire Gallery in Decatur Georgia and I want them to be perfect. So thank you for helping me out!

Oh and by the way the work I send off to them will be for sale via Mudfire once the show opens on April 5th.

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Thanks Again & Happy Wednesday to you all!

a quandry

canteen vases (side A)

I am in a bit of a pickle here...I am not sure if I want to glaze these vases. You see, I glaze fire them twice. The first glaze is on the inside of the vase. It makes them water tight but the glaze I use for the inside of the vases is a pain in the butt and if I am not super duper careful applying it on the outside of the vases I can have all sorts of problems with it. My solution is to use a different glaze (which requires a second different temperature firing) on the outside of the vases which is much more cooperative and really gives the vases a punch of color. I really love the way they look without the glaze (I have always been a fan of non shiny ceramics). I am not sure if I want to glaze the outside of the vases at all now. Unglazed they communicate "clay" and the drawings are warm with a sepia undertone which will disappear once the glaze is applied and fired on. They are beautiful glazed too. I guess what I am wondering is what is your opinion? Would you, could you appriciate a ceramic vase that had a dry surface? Oh to glaze or not to glaze...that is the question. Remember they are already glazed on the inside so they are water tight.

I need your responses fast as I have to decide what to do by tomorrow.
(To get a larger view click on the images)

Thanks!!

canteen vases (side B)

spring fever

rose bowl 10" x 5"

It has been a daffy week friends. It is official...I have become the obsessed and absent minded Artist I have always longed to be. Heh, not really. My absent mindedness is causing me more headache than I prefer to have. Wish I could blame it on spring fever but unfortunately that is not the cause. The good part is things are roaring in the studio at the moment and hopefully by next weeks end I will have loads of new work to share with you.

Some of it will be going off to Mudfire Gallery where I was invited to participate in a show, Line and Color, that opens on April 5th. You can read more about it here. I am really excited to be in this show and the cache of other Ceramic Artists that are also participating is fantastic! A true honor indeed! Be sure to check them out as well.

I have to run and unload the kiln now.

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Spring is finally here!!
Have a glorious weekend everyone!

stacked up & stocked up

Hi Friends,
Just a quickie today to let you know that I have been hard at work stocking up my shop this past weekend. There are lots of small bowls, some small plates and some other goodies as well.


Start collecting them now to create your very own stack.


Check it out here.

Happy Monday!

dinner party

the bird & the dogwood
three piece place setting
2008

I don't know if you remember but back in January I mentioned I was invited by Santa Fe Clay to participate in the La Mesa show at this years NCECA conference. The exhibit features place settings from over one hundred and fifty nationally known ceramic artists. For those of you not in the know the NCECA conference is the place to be if you are a true clay geek. The conference hosts talks, demonstrations and exhibits on all things ceramic. Bet some of you didn't even know such a thing existed!? All the fancy pants clay folks and the who's who attend the conference. It is the place to be if clay is your thing. I've heard many a story about this event...it's all *dirty*
talk of course. It is shameful to admit but I have never been to one. It seems I am always at the opposite end of the country of where it is being held but one of these days I will go in person. This year it will have to be enough to have this place setting go instead of me.

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Thank You Santa Fe Clay!