Archive for the Category ◊ Ask a Potter ◊

02 Mar 2010 Another Rustic Building Plate
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments
Syrup Shed Plate

Syrup Shed Plate

Here’s another plate in this series.  This is a different view of the same syrup shed I painted a few weeks ago, this plate is a few inches larger at 11 inches.  I like painting the larger plates better as I can get more detail and show the vastness of the fields.  I’ve also been working with more low fire glazes and washes.  This plate uses a combination of colored slips (a.k.a. under glazes) and high fire glazes.  I really like this view and may do some variations.

11 Feb 2010 Horse Feathers
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , , , ,  | 3 Comments

I wanted to decorate a raku pot using feathers and horse hair.  I didn’t want to buy the perfect feathers in a craft store because it seems weird and I hate shopping.  But I don’t find very many feathers in my travels.  The last feather I found was from a hawk, it’s very pretty but way too big for the pot I was planning to raku.  Besides, I am not ready to set fire to it.  I’d rather sharpen the end and use it to carve decorations.  So while I was wondering where I would find the perfect feather I happened to be walking through the train station and there it was!  I only had to look for it.  I wanted two feathers for the design but now I knew that the other feather would be showing up soon.  I was right, in a few days I found another feather that I liked for my pots; again it was in the train station.

Horse Hair Pot

Horse Hair Pot

I’m not trying to get all metaphysical or spiritual, with this idea, what I’m trying to say is that when we need something; we can often find it just by looking and knowing we will find it.  I think that’s a pretty good outlook to have.

26 Jan 2010 Syrup Shed Plate
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 6 Comments

I went to Brinson’s Race for New Years, it’s an enchanting place that inspires me to view, feel, think, and even act differently than when I’m at home.  For example, when I was there this past summer I was outside when it suddenly started raining very hard.  At home I most likely would have run for shelter but here I opened my arms and threw back my head and actually felt the rain on my face; I enjoyed and embraced it.

Syrup Shed Plate

Syrup Shed Plate

One of the buildings on the farm that attracts me is the old syrup shed.  It’s a few hundred years old and out of service so it’s not in pristine condition but the old bricks are still in place and the metal work, including the huge iron cauldron and gears are still there (albeit a bit rusty).  I’ve even found some of the old, empty syrup bottles in tact.  Being around the shed is a reminder of times long past; seeing it’s decline reminds me of our impermanence.  So I have created a plate with it’s image to save it for just another moment.

19 Jan 2010 Emergence
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

I’m working on a new series of pots called “Emergence.”  The idea came to me from seeing walls where the brick had been

Emergence Tea Pot

Teapot

hidden by plaster.  After many years the plaster stops sticking well and the brick, the foundation of the wall, starts revealing itself.  I’ve also been noticing what appears to be an increase in graffiti lately.  This has me thinking about the message people are painting on walls.  I’m not an advocate of defacing property but I have seen some graffiti that is really amazing.  The difference, in my opinion is tagging vs. urban art.  I can get into a big discussion about that but I’ll save it for another post.  It just got me thinking about what graffiti used to look like and what message I would like to present.  This teapot is just one example of the series in progress.

06 Jan 2010 Counting Pots
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 3 Comments
chocolate and rocky road tea bowl

Tea Bowl

A friend on Facebook recently posted about counting glazes instead of counting sheep when sleep is allusive.   I do the same type of thing but it doesn’t normally get me to sleep, it has the opposite effect.  I’ll be laying there all warm and snugly with the Whiggle as ideas start popping into my head.  Which of course makes me want to jump out of bed and rush to the studio to start working on these ideas.  Of course the problem with pottery is that it requires patience.  When I have an idea for a great glaze design I can’t just start doing it, often the correct piece needs to be made first.  Sometimes it’s several pieces in a series.  These pieces have to be thrown, trimmed, dried, and bisque fired before they will ever see the glaze.  Please understand, I’m not complaining, I love the process of ceramics and the time it takes.  I even love the fact that, unlike some other art forms, the results are not instant; pottery always has some nervous anticipation to it.  Opening the kiln is like Christmas, and I’ll never complain about that joy even when it does mean you get something that you don’t want (think pink bunny pajamas).  Pottery forces us to become patient.  Patience is a virtue.  It’s such a nice feeling to be a virtuous potter.
Right now I have several series ideas running through my head, they have started to take shape into the clay.  I’m so excited to see the results and share them with you.

20 Jul 2009 Magic Goblets
Author: Lori |  Category: Ask a Potter  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 7 Comments

Has anyone ever told you to put mud (or clay) on a bee sting or mosquito bite? If you followed the  advice I’ll bet it helped take some of the sting out. Have you ever had a therapeutic clay or mud bath? Many people take them to feel better as they are reported to remove toxins. This is because clay has drawing properties that can pull out unwanted elements from the body. When you drink wine from a cup that has an unglazed surface the wine tastes different than when you drink it from a glass. It’s believed that the tannins and other chemicals that affect the flavor of the wine are drawn into the goblet leaving you with a better tasting wine. With some wines the difference is dramatic. I’ve tasted some that have changed so completely I would have thought they it was from a different bottle.
I’ve not done any scientific study to determine any chemical changes based on the drinking vessel of the wine, so I cannot promise that using these goblets will prevent headaches for those that get headaches from drinking read wine (I feel very bad for those poor people since I love red wine).
Some people have asked if the goblets prevent hangovers; I can only say I’ve not ever had a hangover after drinking wine from these goblets but I cannot guarantee you’ll have the same results.
I can promise you that these goblets are beautiful and even fun. I can envision someone carrying one around at a renaissance festival just as easily as I can see someone sitting on the deck enjoying a goblet of wine with a loved one.
If you have every used one of my goblets (or someone else’s unglazed cup) please share your experience with us by using the comments section.
You can purchase on of my goblets at my Etsy Shop (Future Relics Gallery)

Whether you use my goblets, goblet’s made by another artists, or none at all, please drink responsibly.