Show and Tell...

Winter is still kicking around up my way. It gets really interesting this time of year...a lot of ups and downs in the weather. Last week all of our snow melted and we could see the grass for the first time in a real long time...the temps climbed up to the 50's and one might have thought Spring was in sight. Then a few days later we got a wild and windy snowstorm that dumped just about 10 inches of wet snow on us again. Now we are back to temps above freezing and just crappy rain. Here Winter dies like a really bad actor...coughing and sputtering and just when you think its done...he's back...and then gone again...and then back...urgh.

In better news, I have finished off a handful of pieces and have come to the realization that this is and has been a great learning experience. I fully plan to continue this mid-range line of work through the Spring and Summer. I have been diligent about working out my ideas with these pieces and pushing myself to try new things. Continued research into surface techniques has become a real interest and will be the basis for my course that I am teaching here at IUP...10 weeks of beginning ceramics. I have had successes and disappointments with this batch of work and I will show you both here today.(not so thrilled about my red decal spots, age issue with the gold) I am very happy with the glazes and understand that I need an additional color to break up the surface. I have been mostly disappointed with the Hazelnut brown clay body that I bought from Standard here in Pittsburgh. Although I love working with it...it does not reach a darker brown color until it really hits cone 6. I am firing very close to that but the temperature difference for the clay body needs to be higher. This being said, Standard happily swapped me out a 100 pounds for one of their darker brown bodies...even at cone 4 its darker than the hazelnut body. Julie, their tech was helpful, cool and highly informative. So all in all, I'm treating the 50 mugs and cups and various other forms as experiments. That took me a while to get through my thick skull but now I accept it and feel good about the growth I am seeing while exploring this range of firing. I have a lot more pieces that will be fired in the next few days. I spent 5 and half hours doing the decal dance yesterday and will be adding extra glazes for this 04 firing. That was the "tell" part and below is the "show" part...pics can be clicked on to enlarge. Feel free to comment on these pieces...feedback is always appreciated and often needed.

Sweet Eats and Sneak Peeks...

So I thought I would combine two of my favorite things together in one post...pots and food...and also give you a sneaky little peek at some of the work I just fired. Now, the work is not finished and right now I don't want to show the pieces completely. I intended for them to all have decals and 04 glaze accents too, but they do look kinda purty right now. These are the cone 5 electric fired pieces that I have been working on this winter. The clay body didn't get as brown as I would have liked at cone 5 but the glazes sure look good. So check them out below and above...

Now while your looking at these few pieces(especially the mugs) start thinking red accents here and there...maybe a purple-ish/maroon...and even a semi transparent brown. While your visualizing those colors appearing on a mug or two...think very ornate vintage wall paper. There you go. Now we are talkin'! Come tomorrow morning, I will be sitting in the studio at Stoke Hole Pottery snipping away and applying my 20 new sheets of images and patterns to the work...and keepin' an eye out for that bear. He's still there, hunkered down under some old hay bails about 50 yards from the studio.

Here's the other part of my post tonight. Good grub. This winter I have been very diligent and disciplined not only with getting work made while dealing with other demands on my time but for once, eating better. Right now I'm emerging from this winter 5-6 pounds lighter and feeling a good deal healthier. Here in the Houser household we committed to simply eating healthier foods, cutting out bad stuff and adding mucho more leafy greens and veggies. I have discovered so many really good recipes. I'm the primary grocery shopper and cook so it was up to me to keep the "diet" interesting. I am very fond of curry and Asian cuisine so there has been a lot of variations on those for sure, but I would love to share a couple faves of late. The first one is a take on a hearty winter chicken soup.

Curried Chicken and Rice Soup with Edamame...here's the link, I found it on the food network site. I also used fat free/low sodium chicken broth...margarine instead of butter...and I added the edamame near the end when I add the herbs. I pre-cooked the edamame so that they just needed a bit of a simmer. This was damn good too. Thick and rich with a nice hint of curry...and packed with protein. Here it is in one of my own wood fired bowls.

My other treat came about because of a gift we received at Christmas. We were given a very attractive grouping of stacked boxes...inside were an assortment of English muffins. These were some serious English muffins...big, thick, soft...and an assortment of flavors. They can be ordered from a site called Wolferman's. I saw this egg and muffin creation on the main page and instantly fell in love...or lust more honestly. I made mine with a sweet harvest wheat muffin. You spoon out a pocket in the center...not all the way through...cook the bacon so that its not crisp...wrap it around the divet and crack an egg in the middle. Then cook the sexy beast in the oven at 400 for 15-17 minutes. I couldn't help but sprinkle a little bit of cheese over it as it was coming out of the oven. Bacon can be substituted with Canadian bacon...either way its absolutely delicious and really nice looking too. I suggest the Wolferman's English muffins because they were the thickest, softest and tastiest English muffins I ever saw...and you need the thickness to nest the egg in. Here it is below with a hot cup of Sumatra in a good looking wood fired mug by my friend Dan Kuhn. Someday soon I will have to tell you about my Fiesta ware collection...but thats another story.

The next thing I'm cooking up is a kiln full of finished pots...stay tuned and bon appetite!

Pretty pictures...

Here we go folks...pictures. Whats the ol' blog without pictures?! Wordy word words...

So, I finally finished glazing and loaded the kiln today. Its now firing to cone 5 with a hold programed at the end. I am very eager to see the results but I also know that they will need at least one more firing to cone 04 once they are out. So bring it on...I'm ready baby...that image at the beginning of the last post was a sample of some of my new pattern decals. Here is a couple shots of my glaze scheme before I popped them in today...dig the scalloped edge over the belly...I highlighted that as well as the waxed lines with a black overglaze. Click to enlarge.

Also, while I was busy filling the electric kiln today, Birch Frew was busy firing the wood kiln. The studio at Stoke Hole Pottery has been buzzing all week with all the preparations for firing: glazing, grinding, wadding, loading, and minor adjustments to the kiln itself. But the big news at the studio today was that there was a large black bear hanging out in the meadow in front of the pottery compound last night. Guess what... he never left. Birch said it looks as though he burrowed in under some old hay bails about 50 yards or less from the kiln shed. We are all hoping that he went back to a very deep hibernating sleep for the duration of the winter. I hope Lucy, Birch's great dane, will be hanging out with them while they fire the kiln through the night. Below are images of Birch and Cathy Bizousky from this morning's snowy start.

Speaking of Stoke Hole Pottery, you can now find them on etsy as well as their own page on everybody's favorite social media site...click those links!!! LIKE, LIKE! Hopefully I will have some more pretty pictures for you all next week...

Trepidation, Frustration and the J-O-B.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm making a bunch of new work. The problem is I have yet to fire any of it out. Not even a decent glaze test, thanks to a lame test kiln over at the university's ceramic studio. The cone setter dropped too early, barely bending any of the cone 6 at all. My clay body didn't get as brown as it was supposed to get and the glazes are not quite what they should be either. It is the clay body that freaks me out the most. I even went and double checked my boxes to make sure I got what I ordered. I bought a nice hazelnut brown clay from Standard Ceramic Supply here in Pittsburgh. It is really nice to throw and visually looks like a close 2nd or so to the deep brown clay I was making in the Bluebird mixer this summer...or so I thought. Now I'm nervous about its color and unwilling to throw any more until I fire my first load... and to add insult to injury my Pittsburgh Steelers failed to climb the stairway to seven.

Currently I have 50 mugs, cups, and tumblers, a few vases, a handful of batter bowls, and a couple pitchers waiting in the wings and I am desperate to fire them. BUT, I have been hit hard recently with other demands on my time. You see gentle reader, I also lead a second life...not really a secret life, but definitely a second. I have made comment about it in the past and even posted about some cool stuff regarding my J-O-B. Now don't get me wrong, I have it pretty good as the gallery director for a small state university's art department. I direct almost all aspects of both of our galleries as well as get to curate exhibitions and work with really interesting artists. I teach 101 courses here and there and also work in art ed. when they are in need...like right now. Hey, Im even teaching beginning ceramics this summer here. Sounds great right...well...it is to an extant. Some might say Im stuck in adjunct hell and I might agree...depending on the day.

Admittedly I'm a crack monkey for my higher ed. life. It provides pretty good money(although that can fluctuate)and offers a very stimulating, often challenging, creative environment...but the best part about it is the schedule. I can work part time for the university and have time(usually) to get into the studio and make work. Unfortunately, I am a little overrun with university work at the moment and frustrated about not getting in to the studio to get my pieces glaze fired.

But these are the choices that I made for myself. Having a J-O-B allowed me to pursue a more active studio life. Although it made me become very measured with my time and forces me to work double time mostly but the steady paychecks come in and allow me to buy the materials and tools I need to make what I want. On the other hand, sales of my work are very helpful too and are a great supplement to my income. And at this point in my life I do understand that if I could make more work I could certainly sell more work. So there's the crux. Will I be forever working to transition from one thing to another...I dunno...and do I want to? I have never committed to the life of a full time artist and I admire those that have and understand the dedication and sacrifice that goes along with that life, but there is a certain duality to my path that challenges me and makes me keep pushing.

Mentally though I am always in the studio, and even when Im home after work at the university Im tapping away on the keys of my laptop...keeping my head in the game...posting on my blog...working on images for new decals...and checking out other folk's work(lets call it research). So in the mean time while Im struggling to eek out some time to finish glazing and loading a kiln, let me paint you a typed out picture of what Im thinking:: Abstraction over image... Lines...from wax resist showing the (hopefully) brown body, layered with black over glaze lines mimicking those, a new orange speckled glaze(that also didn't fire out right in the test kiln) for accent color here and there. The second firing will be for 04 decals and a rich 04 red accent. These pieces are strictly about fragmented pattern, decoration, utility and a tweaked out sophistication.

I'm not sure if you, my readers...my peeps, are in similar situations...work four jobs?...or maybe just feels like it...pump out the work non-stop?...or are you lucky to get something done in a month's time? I know I'm a freakish extrovert that enjoys this blog broadcast, but feel free to chime in here and let folks know how you get by...how you squeeze out the work from your brains and studio spaces where ever they may be.

Thanks for listening and I promise pictures soon!

1 down and 11 more to go...

As January is coming to a close I have to say, I hope the rest of the year goes as well as this month did...minus all the snow. That's what this post is all about kids...its the wrap -up show for month numero uno of 2011. So lets run it down...

Early on in the new year I received an email from some nice folks down under in Australia. This person Esa writes a great blog there called The Ridou Report . He has a wonderful art collection which happens to include a lot of really nice ceramics. At the beginning of the year he posted a pretty cool list of his wood fired pots and it just so happens that I'm included. Not only am I included in this group of wood fire potters but also a couple friends too...Justin Lambert and Josh Floyd...as well as another internet friend(we have never actually met in person, but still...), Keith "Mudstuffing" Phillips and also a blogger potter whom I read regularly, Michael Kline. Justin Lambert is down in Florida and Josh lives about 15 minutes from me here in PA. I am thrilled to be in such good company and love the fact that there might be people on the other side of this little planet admiring my clay work. Speaking of being in good company, I was also invited to be part of a great pre-NCECA exhibition down in Florida. The show is "Atmosphere: A Ceramics Invitational Exhibition" at The Lighthouse Art Center, Museum and Art School located "in a much warmer place than where I live", FLA. The show is curated by my friend Justin Lambert,whom I just mentioned, and includes some stellar names in the world of atmospheric firing. Again, I am so pleased to be included in this roster of names. I plan on sending a few recent pieces down to the sunshine state...one below, you might have seen not too long ago posted back in December.

I also want to update everybody on the Self Serve Pottery Kiosk...the first month went pretty good...not gangbusters mind you but still pretty good for a "small, snow bound, college town over the X-mas break" kind of way. There was also a nice write up in an online thingy called Virginia Living about my buddy Adam Paulek regarding the kiosks. Click and read!

On a much sadder note, the beginning of the year brought about the end for a clay hero of mine... Paul Soldner. I was heavily influenced by Mr. Soldner early in my clay life as I fired sculptural and decorative Raku work solely for years before moving up north. I did have the opportunity to meet him once. I was attending a talk in Pittsburgh by Nancy Selvin and he was there...sarong and all. I introduced myself and told him about his influence on me...he asked if I was a student, and I responded that I was a graduate student at the time. His response was, "my condolences".

True dat my clay lovin' brother.

But, probably the best part of this month was getting to crank out a bunch of new work at my temporary winter home, Stoke Hole Pottery. The first image on this post was shot from the front door of the studio during one of our recent snow storms. Below are images of the work in progress. I plan on firing a glaze kiln in the next couple weeks but in the mean time...check these out, click to enlarge.

Stay warm out there and I hope your having a good beginning too!

What do lonely potters do...

Working alone in a studio can get...well, lonesome sometimes. Or, if you are like me, it can get down right productive and can lead to other things like..."the works going good and I'm all by myself so I think I will dance" happenings. Yes, gentle reader...I admit it, I like to have "in studio private boogie sessions". Now its not like a full on dance party, its just a moment or two of jumping around or a little booty shakin'. This all comes from a good place ...things need to be going well in the studio and or in combination with things happening on the outside too. And what you may be asking yourself right now is..."what is this idiot dancing to"..."the sound of his wheel spinning round ?" That would be a negatory...I am a music junkie. Music is my drug of choice and I search it out all over the place. I work best with some tunes on...I'm not a radio fan and I'm rarely ever plugged in to headphones when I'm in the studio. I love my Ipod Touch and its home on the studio docking station...its 16 gigs are almost all full of music and I am actively looking for more.

The above picture is me just before breaking out into a combination jig/pogo/hustle.

After several emails with a friend about best music from 2010 and also checking out Ben Carter's list on his blog, I thought...I should post my faves from the previous year too! I stumbled upon Ben's list as I was checking out his adventures in China and I'm glad I did because I got turned onto a band called "Have Gun Will Travel"...and I love them...went out and downloaded their last album and have been listening to it for days now. So here goes...in no particular order...these were studio faves of mine from 2010, they were my dance partners and friends I listened carefully to while working alone.

The XX...quiet, stripped down slightly retro and kinda sexy...which actually came out late 09 but ehh, whatever.

Trampled by Turtles, Palomino...great new bluegrass/Americana, sometimes played like speed metal. Good songwriting too...for fans of Wilco,Old Crow ...or Have Gun Will Travel!

Black Keys,Brothers...deeply dug this record with its old soul/R&B leanings while not forgetting to rock it out too.

Grinderman,2...gotta love Nick Cave and his howling...this record is a tense and down and dirty trip ...could use a a shower and a shave.

Sleigh Bells, Treats...OK this is when I put on my boogie shoes...shake my butt...you know what I mean...its like M.I.A. gets some crunchy ass guitars and gets down.

Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues...that's right, son of Steve Earle. This is a solid record...great listening that I go back to time and again.

The National, High Violet...Love these guys and been a fan since "Alligator"(which you should check out too)...this one took a while to sink into my head but when it did, I couldn't get it out. Great songwriting ..."I was afraid I'd eat your brains","because I'm evilllll"...I mean c'mon, great stuff!...deep voice, good music...sort of like contemporary Leonard Choen...hmm...maybe.

OK, so that's my lucky seven of 2010...I hope you go and check out some of these great records and would love it if you shared your faves of last year with me...love to hear what you listen to! In the mean time, I hope you enjoy a dance or two while your alone in the studio, bedroom or where ever you feel uninhibited and happy. More to come from this Clay Train boogie-ing alone in the quiet winter landscape.

Can You Handle It...

The snow is falling and I'm drinking coffee in my bathrobe still and its going on 11:30 in the lovely winter swept AM. Its a snow day up here in the greater metropolitan area of Indiana, PA., 27 degrees for the high and windy...yikes. My daughter has the day off from school and the chaotic sounds of SpongeBob Squarepants are blaring from the living room. Ive got a big pork roast with taters, carrots and onions in the slow cooker filling the house with a great aroma while it cooks for dinner tonight. And it is a perfect time to knock out this new post...

Last post, I told you about my big changes...studio and work. Today I want to update you on my path to change. I ran into a little bit of a snag...I felt like these pieces were looking a lot like my pieces that were intended for the wood kiln. So what would be the big change other than the type of firing and color of the clay? Maybe that would be enough, but I felt like I needed to change more than that.

Handles can tell you a lot about a mug and the original intention of the maker. So this is where I thought I would start. I am sort of fanatical about handles and choose mugs based on how they feel when I hold them. I have often poo-pooed the occasional wild handle and thought that it might be way too difficult to drink my coffee from...but I have been so wrong. Before Christmas I bought myself a present from Mr. Jim Gottusso who writes a blog I read on a regular basis...Sofia's Dad's Pots. Here it is below:

I was drawn to this wild handle and how much extra time it must have taken to put together. I knew his other work and how nice it was so I took a shot...and I love it. It fits my hand really well and I can hold it like a regular handle... PLUS its just so damn cool. Here are a couple other really cool handles that I like from my collection...The white one is Ayumi Hori and the green one is an older cup I got from Ashley Lynn Dodge back in the summer of 2008 when she was the tech in the land of Chautauqua. All three of these mugs have been an inspiration to me as I have been looking for ways to give my work a new shot in the arm.

It also took some slowing down. Now if you know me, you know that I work slow and my output of functional pottery is not by the boatload. But I have even slowed it down some more...I'm not a production potter and I have very little interest in that sort of thing. But when I was wood firing work I would try and bang out a bunch of pieces and all would have very similar handles and rarely a trimmed foot. Those pieces are nice and don't get me wrong, I love the look of those pieces, but as I said to a friend in the studio the other day..."I'm trying to up the ante". So check out my shots below of the new, brown clay, cone 5, electric fired, footed, and fancy handled mugs that are getting ready for the bisque kiln. Click to enlarge:

Granted, they are not what I would call "wild" but they are a departure from the same for me...I'm sure there will be more changes down the line. I am getting ready for a kiln load of glazed pieces in the next couple weeks and I can't wait. Well, its back to lounging in my jammies and maybe a Wii game or two with my daughter...stay warm folks!