My Creative Journey

This is a place I will share a little of the “behind the scenes” part of making pottery. My attempts and failures, along with successes. And of course, my thoughts on the whole process.

Busy Busy

May 12, 2022

I have been working away, trying to make enough stock for the upcoming AgandArt Tour. I signed up for Lancaster, Chester, and York east counties. The first weekend is May 28th and 29th, but I still don’t know what farm we are assigned to! It’s very frustrating since some farms are only open on Saturday, so it’s hard to gauge how much stuff I need. So I am just making pots. And more pots. Christi had to bring over another 5 tiered shelf for it all. Which also means I need to really beef up my website offerings as well….

So the first weekend went well. Craig Farm was a good fit for us, and I sold a decent amount on Saturday. The little vases were a big hit. But now I know I have enough stuff already made. Exhale. Now on to York Co, then Richland Co, and Chester Co.

It’s nice to be busy, but I feel like I’ve just been in production mode lately. I miss just playing with the clay, not worrying about whether it’s going to be a finished product or not. My skills have stagnated. Time to think of things to try and fail at, and fail, and hopefully succeed!

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Earlier Entries in My Creative Journey

Is It Spring Yet?

March 4, 2022

I’ve been plugging along this winter, trying to stay motivated. I hate to be cold… But anyway, we have had multiple setbacks with the kiln. My little kiln, bless her heart, keeps trying to die on me. Doug has put in new elements, new bricks, and 2 new switches. Every time we replace something, it […]

Slab Leaf Update

September 25, 2021

I finished my leaf platter mentioned earlier… I had a hard time deciding what glaze to use. I wanted all the little veins to show through, but wanted some color as well. I finally decided on spraying on some power turquoise, since it breaks so well. I thought maybe with the spraying, it would be […]

Glazing

September 13, 2021

Glazing is my least favorite part of making pottery. And the most frustrating. And the most intriguing. Every kiln firing is a chemistry experiment. Different glaze ingredients mixing and reacting and who knows what. All the variables of clay bodies, and temperatures, and thickness, and compatibility, and astral signs, and moon phases. I understand why […]

Slab Building

September 6, 2021

When I saw the HUGE leaves on my acorn squash plant, I thought I should try my hand at making one of those leaf platters I see on the internet. I have almost no experience with slab building. So I whacked off about 3 & 1/2 pounds of clay, grabbed my rolling pin out of […]

Mini Kiln

September 2, 2021

My sister gave me a little kiln! Before I saw it I thought, great! I can use it for test tiles, or a couple of mugs, or something like that. But now, I’m not so sure… it’s pretty little. And I don’t know how hot it will go. So we are going to play with […]

Instagram?

August 21, 2021

How will anyone know I am here?

Repairs

August 16, 2021

The kiln is back in business! It took more than one part, but thank goodness our local(ish) pottery store happened to have the 2nd piece in stock. I really don’t know what I’d do without my husband! So I refired the pieces from the first aborted firing. Those got to about 1400 or so before […]

Old Kiln

August 6, 2021

So our kiln is broke. I saw it coming when I did the last bisque firing. It went straight to “high”, not staying in the low and medium settings at all. But they seemed to be OK when done, and I figured the glaze firing was just the high setting anyway, so hoped for the […]

Hello!

July 5, 2021

I am a novice potter who found my love of ceramics recently. The first time I sat at a potter’s wheel was in the spring of 2019 at the Rock Hill Pottery Center. I was 57 years old at the time. Taking classes there was my intro into what I assume will be a rest […]