Salute to the Wood...

cupcake stands

 In honor of Earth Day this coming Sunday 4/22 I'm posting my own personal salute to the ever lovin' wood that fuels the wood kiln and makes my pots so darn nice! I love you wood...all the hard wood scraps that Nancy scavenges and hauls from the Amish lumber mills...all the fallen trees...old pallets...and hickory spokes that were not quite straight enough for the buggy wheels...I love you all. AND to show I truly care, I planted my second tree of the new Spring season today...a Vesuvius Plum. A few weeks earlier I planted a Kwanzan  Cherry...now it has a friend out there in the new yard.

To make this salute even better I am posting(click to see bigger) a bunch of pictures of some of the pieces from my recent firing with Nancy at Little Mahoning Creek Pottery. Everything turned out pretty sweet. Above and below are glamour shots out in the sunshine...perched on and around...you guessed it...wood! Some will get further surface embellishments...some are good just as you see them. So I will say thank you Mother Earth for all this goodness... now shut your computer down and get out there and plant a tree(after checking out my wood fired pieces...of course).

tumblers...ready for iced coffee?

mug!

detail shot of  mug pictured above

serving bowl with lug style handles

interior of bowl pictured above

another mug...

and yet another mug still!

triangular bowl

What's up!

Whats up!?...good question...a lot actually. First, my asparagus are coming up...its my first year getting asparagus from the garden and I am pretty stoked about it...I love asparagus. The image above is one of the little guys pushing through the grass clippings I tossed all over the garden.

What else is up besides your boring old veggies you ask? Well, I was up late this week firing the wood kiln with Nancy Smeltzer at Little Mahoning Creek Pottery.. We loaded and bricked up the door on Tuesday night and Nance started firing early Wednesday morning and when I got off work, I took over for a while and gave her some time to rest. She and I fired until 2:30 am before I hit the wall. I stayed long enough to add in the salt/soda mix and then had to crash. Nancy fired another hour before she too was done. I am excited to see the results but I have to wait until I travel back on Tuesday to see my wood fired booty. Above and below are a few pics of work I had going in the kiln...Nancy loading...and me stoking...click on pics to see bigger.

Finally and probably the best "whats up" of the day is the news that The Self Serve Pottery Kiosk is back up and running!!! I just returned from installing it in the Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea Company. The Kiosk features work by Adam Paulek, Dan Kuhn and myself. It runs on the honor system...you simply open the door, look around and find what you like...try out the handle, see how it feels...then slide your cash or check into the money box below. Mostly it is full of mugs and cups but there is also a random tea pot, pitcher and batter bowl too. Here are a couple pics of Bethany, who along with her husband Russ own and operate this thriving coffee shop and cafe. Honestly, this place is more than just a coffee shop...last night my wife and I met another couple there and had a four course, delicious and attractively plated dinner. It was their "Farm to Table" dinner that they do once a month...all the food is fresh and direct from where its grown...asparagus and prosciutto, roasted lamb, fresh snow peas and pasta, yum... we are already looking forward to the next one! That's what up this week homies...freshly fired pots are up next week...stay tuned.

In your basket...

Hoppy Easter...eggs.

The Bunny was good to my baby girl and all the family left a couple hours back... and I'm still feeling stuffed ...ham, sweet potatoes, pasta...you name it and its in "mah bellah"... that's what I said to the chocolate cake afterwards too..."get in mah bellah!"...now I'm feeling like the Easter Fat Bastard. Thankfully the "Y" will be open tomorrow.

On another note I have some freshly fired decal mugs thanks to Dan Kuhn and another small load of mostly mugs and tumblers  ready to toss into the wood kiln with Nancy Smeltzer at Little Mahoning Creek Pottery. Maybe all this food will sustain me through the driving, teaching, and firing into the night that I have coming up this week. Honestly, I am thrilled to be wood firing again and very pleased with the forms I have in the firing. I will be sure to post pics from the firing next weekend.

And finally my golden egg for your blog basket today is a bit of good news...Adam Paulek's brain storm invention, "The Self Serve Pottery Kiosk" will be up and running again here in western PA. If you remember a year or so ago we placed the kiosk in a cafe in Indiana, PA...it had a good run but sadly this winter that cafe had to close its doors for good. Well, the kiosk has found a new home and I hope to install it this week here in my new neighborhood of Beaver Falls with the good folks of The Beaver Falls Coffee &Tea Company. I love this place and the attitude, or lack there of, that comes with it. This humble coffee shop is owned by a young family that is dedicated, committed and actively working towards revitalizing this old steel town. Located just across the street from Geneva College they are a very popular spot with the student crowd as well as the slightly older folks like me who live in the neighborhood just behind it. This place is more than just a coffee shop...they have started a food co-op, offer fresh baked goods, have live music sometimes and also have "Farm to Table" dinners once a month. Click on the link and check these guys out...better yet, come to Beaver Falls...drink their coffee and peruse the new pieces offered up in the Self Serve Potter Kiosk! Mugs, tumblers and teapots by Adam Paulek, Dan Kuhn, and myself.

from left to right: Kyle Houser, Adam Paulek, Dan Kuhn

Catching Up Part 2...

Sometimes I like to jam it all into one single blog post...and then times like this, I like to spread out the love.

I am still playing a bit of catch up here. Last week on the long haul home I stopped by Little Mahoning Creek Pottery...home of my friend Nancy Smeltzer and studio where I spent the last 4 - 5 years throwing pots and firing the wood kilns. Nancy was not home but I poked around and checked out all of her pieces she has been firing...she has been a busy potter. The work was stacked all over the studio and the warm Spring sun flooded the space. Being there in the warmer weather made me think of firing the bourry box kiln and how much I liked to swing open the big barn doors on the side of the studio and throw pots in the light breeze with my tunes going. I don't get that much light or a breeze throwing pots in my basement these days. Above and below are a couple informal shots of work fresh from a recent firing...sets of tumblers, lidded jars, plates, casseroles, one very cool fish mug(hope she hasn't sold that mug yet) ...you name it...and most with her drawings of birds and a few other select critters.

salty owl planter and one fine fishy mug

The good thing about having a basement studio is that at least I can still throw pots...I may take them all over Western  PA to get them fired, but hey, having a place to get the process started is real helpful right now. And speaking of driving my green ware all over the state, today I started to make work for the next wood firing back at Nancy's which will happen in a couple weeks! I will be making some more pieces over the course of the weekend...mugs, bowls, and something new for me...small cake stands...about the size for a cupcake really. I guess we'll see.

Finally, the saga of my bumpy mid-range mugs comes to an end. Dan Kuhn fired them again and they just got worse...not only bumpy but now bloated too...who knows...he and I are both scratching our heads about it. I appreciate the comments and suggestions from those of you who chimed in and I will be doing some tests...and not using that clay body again.  Anyways...there is always more clay...and the wheel keeps spinning.

PS. NCECA... Seattle...oh yeah...whatever.

Catching Up...

empty no longer...

Another week has past and I am here to report on a couple items I have been yammering on about in recent posts. First and foremost, the Empty Bowls event was held this past week and yet again Nancy Smeltzer and Harmony Ritchie pulled off another very successful happening. When I spoke with Nancy this week, she said they made 2800.00 dollars for the Indiana County Food Bank and were also able to donate the remaining soup to a good cause. Not too bad for 4 hours on a single day...way to go! Just think if more people did things like this on a regular basis...think of what could be accomplished....that's my stack of donated bowls at the top of this post and here's a shot from early on...bowls galore!

The other tidbit here is my ongoing saga of the 2 dozen mid range mugs. You have seen pics of them in various states from leather to bisque and now your going to see what I'm dealing with now. Weirdness. Thats what I'm calling it. Dan Kuhn is going to re-fire them in an attempt to possibly flatten out the little blister like texture all over the exterior of the surface. Its like a fine grit under the glaze...you tell me...please. It might be from the slip, but the slip was pretty smooth and after bisque there was no visible bumps. But that is where it is...where it has been slipped. It might be from the clay body itself...its a very dark body that is very much loaded with iron. Could it be the iron coming out? Now take a look at the interior...no problems...and no slip...shit, shit, shit. So, now, after the fact, I'm going to make some tiles and check all the variables, at least I will know what not to do again. Oh well, like I have said before..."that's ceramics".

 In the meanwhile I'm garden planning...and enjoying sitting outside in the mornings drinking coffee and doing a little mental landscaping. I've got seeds started inside and popped in a Japanese Cherry at the new house in Beaver Falls, hope your gearing up for Spring too. Until next time...cheers.

mid range soda fired mug...my trusted morning companion back in Indiana, PA.

Empty Again...

Step right up...a week from today, next Tuesday, the Indiana County Potters Group in collaboration with the IUP ceramics department will be hosting the annual event...Empty Bowls. Nancy Smeltzer has been key in getting this charitable happening off the ground for the last several years with help from Harmony Ritchie and other local potters like Betty Hedman, owner of Smicksburg Pottery. In the past we have raised anywhere between 2,500.00 up to almost 4,000.00 dollars and all of the proceeds go directly to the Indiana County Food Bank. For those of you who do not know, the Empty Bowls event is a grass roots movement nationally supported by potters groups with all the money going to local food banks. For the cost of 15.00 dollars, you get to choose from hundreds of handmade bowls...fill your "bowl of choice" up with one of 4-5 selections of delicious soups...which also come with bread, cookie and water...and oh yeah, you get to keep the bowl. What a deal...this happens Tuesday, March 20 in Indiana, PA...in the lobby of University Square right next to the Commonplace Coffee Shop from 11am - 2 pm. Come get your soup on...here is a link back to one of the Empty Bowls events from 2010...check it out...and if you are in the area, stop by for soup!

Bowls donated by: Nancy Smeltzer, Betty Hedman, Harmony Ritchie, Dan Kuhn, IUP ceramics grad students as well as undergrads, Josh Floyd, Deb and Birch Frew and Kathy Bizousky from Stoke Hole Pottery...and I know there are a few more people throwing in bowls too, can't remember...oh yeah, and me.

And what's a blog for if not to post gratuitous pretty pictures...I have been forcing a bunch of forsythia clippings from my garden back in Indiana and they are just starting to pop open. May your mornings be filled with hot coffee and fresh flowers...

mug by Josh Floyd...

 And now the weather....it seems like Spring has officially Sprung in Western PA,
 ...P.S. I wore my sandals today.

striped crocus from the beginnings of my new garden

Pushing on Through...

Just a short bit...
I'm off to work tomorrow...its my weekly commute back to where I work and once lived...and sort of still live a few days a week. The trips have been long and with gas soaring up with no apparent ceiling I am not thrilled about the travel. But right now there is a silver lining...I'm firing those mugs I showed you a few posts back. Well, I am not personally firing them...my buddy Dan Kuhn is firing them for me. It is certainly great to have F.W.K....that's "friends with kilns". Dan has been very generous with his kiln and I greatly appreciate this...I also like breaking up my trip and having a beer and shooting the shit for a while. Above is a mug I recently acquired from Dan...its now "mah Picksburgh" mug. I love it...nice glamour shot in the morning light...steam coming up from my freshly brewed java. Never underestimate the power of the black and gold.

Pictured below are the gaggle of fancy mugs all glazed and just in need of a little clean up through the waxed lines. They will be an earthy hay color and the feet will remain mostly unglazed and, showing off the dark, dark brown clay body. The interior a cream-ish color that pours some and breaks blue. Just imagine. Then will come the decals and a couple hits of 04 glaze here and there...and then will come more decals...and maybe a little bling.

So I'm pushing through, getting back in the groove...git'n-r-dun. Next thing you know, Winter will be over. Its already starting to look a little bit like Spring. Keep your fingers crossed.