A good day's making

A speedy blog, we've got crazy weather at the moment and the power keeps cutting in and out. Joe's getting all the candles ready. More severe weather warnings for the South West tonight.

I got loads done in the workshop today. Lots of finishing and more making tomorrow. I'm loving it at the moment in spite of last week's firing frustration. Right, I'm off before the lights go out and I lose all this.

Fair's fair

I guess it's only fair after ridiculing my mates that I should stick this picture of myself on here. It was taken at my graduation show in Alfreton Hall, Derbyshire - ah the eighties, such style.

Funny old pots those, things have come a long way in the last twenty odd years.

Late start

Up late today - needed a good kip. Off to the workshop shortly to do a bit.

We've got Nic and family coming for tea. Here's another picture of him from the early eighties with our mate Simon - tee hee.

Some more pots

Working weekend

Well the firing wasn't that great really. I stupidly used an old batch of glaze inside some of the pots which bubbled and blistered. It was made even worse by the fact that a shelf near the top of the pack, broke during the firing, bringing pots downwards onto pots below and backwards knocking the stack behind against the back wall of the chamber - lots of pots stuck together.

Oh well, I could either get stressed and depressed, or take it on the chin and make some more. So it's a working weekend. The new pots are better than the ones they're replacing so that's a positive. Some huge jugs made today, more tomorrow. Also got the handle on my Dad's jug.

Can't believe I used that old glaze, why hadn't I thrown it away? What a plonker.

Some more

It's late now, so words tomorrow

Some pots

Here's what I'm waiting for

Here are a couple of shots of the pack. I wonder how much of this is going to come out. I think some of it may be stuck down to the shelves, Galena is such a fluid glaze. Must stop thinking of all the things that might have gone wrong - blooming pottery, it screws with your head.

More big jugs to make tomorrow.

Wooooohooooooo

What a crazy couple of days it's been, I haven't had any time at all to update this blog.

Today was supposed to be firing day, but it's done, a day early.

Monday and Tuesday were concentrated glazing sessions. I really don't enjoy glazing at all and the sight of a whole kiln load of biscuitware is pretty daunting, so it was a case of just getting stuck in until the job was done. The workshop was chaos, pots on every surface, in every stage of production. I'd got large jars and bottles that had to be decorated midst all the glazing, the first shot's of one of the large bottles with combed decoration through freshly applied slip.

Mark came up on Tuesday evening and we packed the kiln and bricked the door up, finishing at about eleven thirty. We managed to get a lot of pots in, it looks to be a great pack.

Yesterday was supposed to be a day for getting in wood in readiness for firing but as we had decided to fire, I went to Tiverton to collect the wood first thing and lit the kiln rather later than usual. Because of the late start, we finished at about three thirty this morning instead of the more regular eleven o'clock. Getting up again at seven, ready to take Hil to work and Luke to the dentist wasn't easy.

It was my Dad's birthday yesterday so I made this jug for him - he'll be thinking 'oh no, not another jug'! I like these fat, softly thrown jugs and I've an idea of how I'm going to decorate this one for him and if it works how I can see it in my mind's eye, it should be quite tasty. My poor parents have got a house full of my pots from the last twenty plus years, I hope one more won't hurt.


The firing went brilliantly it seemed, with a long, slow climb to get the final cone over. The last picture shows two cones in the foreground and the third cone bent, which told us that we'd reached our optimium temperature.

Now, the wait until Saturday morning and the unpack, which will be either good - or not so good - I do feel quietly confident that it'll be good though - let's hope so.

Half way

Everything came out of the bisc firing . The workshop's crammed full of pots, the majority of which I managed to get glazed, the rest I'll finish tomorrow. Mark's coming up after he's finished work and we'll get the back of the chamber packed. Finish the pack Wednesday, brick the door up, fire on Thursday - new shiny pots out on Sunday - fingers crossed.

10lb jars and electric guitars

Good morning Ang in Adelaide, thank you for checking in.

Had a day off yesterday for Luke's birthday. He's fifteen, what ever happened to our sweet little baby? He discovered rock and roll that's what! Here he is looking all Hendrix with his new guitar. He's becoming a very good player and has a band with his mates called The Trilbies. They practice once a week in our garage much to the delight of our neighbours I'm sure. I'm so proud of my boys, they're growing up into really sweet natured young men.



Housework, shopping and cooking for Joe and me today, revision for exams for poor Luke. It's Mother's Day here in the UK, Happy Mother's Day Mother, love you!

Joe delivered Hil her breakfast in bed, along with a card that he'd made and some sweets that I intend to steal later, once I've finished off Luke's birthday toffees.

Tomorrow, a busy day. I've got to unbrick the kiln door, get the pots out and glaze them all ready to repack on Tuesday and Wednesday, for a Thursday firing. I'm glad I've left the door up because we had a bit of rain during the last couple of days so the atmosphere is damp. The kiln should still be relatively warm and dry.

I'm going to try and carry on pot making in amongst the chaos. The big jars from last week will be ready to decorate and I made some big bottles on Friday that'll be ready too. I want to try and make some 20lb ones this week.



Recently Ron's started to post video streams on his blog. It's interesting to see how and where he does things over there. My workshop's too much of a mess at the moment for such things and my camera isn't really good enough, but here's a bit of video that Matt took last time he was here. I've had to trim it because the file size was too big(?) but it'll give you an idea of how I do stuff and you'll get to have a laugh at my 'potter's nod' which looks pretty silly.

A visit from Blogger Paul

I had a visit today from Blogger Paul and his partner Marion, it was good to see them and a lovely surprise. I also had a natter with Blogger Matt on the phone. Tonight I logged on to Ron's blog and he's got a movie clip on there with him talking away, which was brilliant to see, now I know how fast he can move and what he sounds like.



This blogging site is a very important part of my life in the Pottery because although I work in solitude, I get to share my workshop with others and they share theirs with me. All of us in our little network recognise how valuable this support structure is. I'd love to hear from anybody else who reads this rubbish too, potters or non-potters, it's quite straightforward via the 'comments' facility.

My bird table's been madly busy again today. I never feel too lonely in the workshop, particularly when there's plenty going on out there. It's situated just outside the window infront of my wheel, so I'm able to sit at the wheel and watch the birds sort out their pecking order. Some of them can get quite stroppy. They cost me a fortune to feed and eat better than we do at home, but they're wonderful to watch and I become more fascinated by the day.



There a lot of different species that come to visit and the array of colours in their plumage is stunning, particularly when you've got a group of them on there. I have one little Chaffinch with a broken leg that comes every day for a good feast. On Tuesday a Nuthatch came to visit, which is the first time I'd ever seen one and today it's been back again - what a striking little bird. I tried to get a shot of it on Tuesday but my camera is so slow that I ended up with over a dozen pictures of an empty bird table, but today I was luckier.

Happily, it's been a good making day today, five 15lb jars - another to make in the morning. These will soon fill up the next bisc kiln, I'm really pleased with them. More biggish pots tomorrow. I don't have a working pugmill so all my brickclay has to be blended and kneaded with my smooth clay by hand. That certainly reminds me that I worked for too many years in a cushy job at the Uni, particularly when I'm kneading up loads of 15lb balls. Forty three's a bit late in life to be having to start growing muscles, I've become much stronger in the last year, but I'm still more Mr Puniverse than Mr Universe.

Recently I've been a bit low and my confidence dipped again, I think it's just a bit of anxiety so I'm pleased that stuff's gone well today. I find putting my work out in public quite frightening - guess it's one of those things you just get used to. Yesterday's restful time at home helped a lot I think as I went in with a much more positive head from the outset today. The knowledge that the bisc is done must be a contributing factor too.

I didn't unbrick the kiln today although it would have been cool enough, a peep through the spyhole didn't tell me much, other than it's fired - it's just a boring old bisc firing so there's no great excitment and if it's not worked, well I'd rather not know quite yet!



I need to concentrate on making pots for a couple of days to allow for drying time for the next bisc. I'll get on to glazing pots on Monday, by then there'll be plenty of new ones on the shelf and a bit of weight off my mind. This blog's a right ramble tonight, I do apologise, enough already!

Slipping a big 'un

The other day I was going on about dangling 14lb jugs above a bucket whilst pouring on slip. Ron suggested I should put a clip on Youtube to explain the process better, but my camera's rubbish so I can't, but here are a few stills that Mark took last night.

1. Dangling the pot
2. Pouring over the slip
3. Swinging the pot back upright
4. Catching inside the rim
5. Placing the slipped pot onto a board

Boring old biscuit

Well that seemed to go ok, although it was not without panic. During the early stages, the pyrometer gauge, which is the piece of apparatus used to register the rate of temperature climb, stopped working. Clearly it required the manual skills of a man who plays with gritty mud all day to sort it out, so I took it to pieces and got stuck in with a screwdriver. Once I'd got the top off, I discovered that it was all complicated, fiddly mechanisms inside, springs and wires and shiny things. All the components were magnetic too and as my screwdriver pulled away from one and slapped uncontrollably and percussively against another due to its magnetic pull, my attempts at repair just made things worse. Even another dig at it with a plastic knife didn't help. So there I was, one of the most important firings of my career so far in full swing and no idea of the temperature in the chamber.

As fortune would have it, there was my old pyro that had stopped working years ago, lying on top of the kiln, so I wired it up and thankfully it sprang back to life - phew, it had obviously needed its two year holiday.

I started the firing at 8am, then continued through the day, chainsawing up loads of recently acquired pallets and burning them as I went along. Somebody told me the other day that vegetable oil is fine as a chain lubricant, so yesterday as the wood was burning there was the most wonderful aroma of chips frying.

Pallets make great kiln fuel because they have chunky hardwood bits for a short, hot flame and longer softwood bits for a faster more furious flame, it's a bit like firing fuel in kit form - and of course they're free and plentiful. They're just a bit of a pain to store until they're chopped, because although they stack nicely, they come with a lot of fresh air and I don't have much space, so I was pleased to get them burned and to save the lovely dry skinny stuff in my woodshed for the glaze firing.

Mark came up after work and we fired until about 11.30, then sealed everything up with wet clay and went home.

Late to bed again, so when the alarm went off at seven this morning, I decided to stay in bed to recharge in readiness for a frantic glazing session in the next few days, I've not long been up - I'm knackered.

Hopefully my chimney stayed up overnight, my mother just called and said there was an earthquake last night, I think it was more up-country than down here so I'm sure all's well..

Bisc firings are such a bore, no shiny pots to look at through the spy holes and the knowledge that when the door's unbricked, they'll only be half way done. Oh, well, it's all part of the process.

Here are a couple of shots from the firing - as ever, that old favourite, chuck loads of wood into the firebox, then pull out the spyhole - will I ever tire of it? The others, a view of a lid through one of the bottom spy holes and the pyrometer doing its thing.

Unpack on Friday, slap the glaze on on Monday and Tuesday, pack the kiln on Tuesday and Wednesday and set fire to it all again on Thursday - new pots a week on Sunday, can't wait. it's been a long time.

Ron has just had a great batch of slipware pots out of the kiln in the States, check it out.

Centred Ceramics

Hello all, hope Monday wasn't too traumatic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT

All's set for firing tomorrow. I collected a load of hardwood off-cuts from the kitchen makers in Tiverton which is perfect for the job, kiln dried, short lengths that produce a short, hot flame, ideal for the earlier stages of the firing when I don't want a long flame getting up into the chamber and cracking the pots. All the wood I use for fuel is salvage timber, old pallets are really useful.

The gas burner's been in the firebox since first thing this morning, I'm going to go up to the workshop in a minute to turn it up. The kiln should be at about 200c in the morning when I start stoking with wood.

When I was looking at pots on ebay last night, I found a link to this great site, Centred Ceramics . There are some fantastic pots on there for sale including work by my mate Tim Hurn (that's his bottle) and some lovely fat jugs like the one in the picture, made by Paul Dennis. Check it out, There are also some interesting interviews between the makers and Sean Cannon, the site owner, who clearly has a great passion for this type of pottery.

Well, must go and turn that burner up, then an early night, I'm pooped.

It's Sunday again!

If you look really carefully I think you might see Ron in the distance

We did it

Kiln packed, door bricked up and still almost half a kiln load left on the shelves that wouldn't fit.

Sort wood on Monday, fire on Tuesday. Back to plan A, make a load more pots for another bisc in the wood kiln in a couple of weeks time.

Didn't do very well with the before and after shots, the fat jug I put on yesterday's post didn't even make it into the kiln.

It's Saturday again!

For the UK forty somethings, apologies to all else

It's a start.

I started packing the kiln today. I think that it'll be just about full by the time all the pots are in, but only just Marky Mark's coming up in the morning and hopefully we'll get the pack completed and if we do really well, the door bricked up too.

I took this shot showing the variety of things that are going into this firing for the sake of my own head as much as anything else. There's a whole load of flatware too that isn't on the photo, platters and dishes. Because I tend to make sixes of everything, I've got six of pretty much everything on the photograph so, as long as it's a good firing I'll be ok for pots. If it's not, I'm in trouble, although I've still got a lot of pots up in my attic that I kept back from the last two firings specifically for these shows.

Today I got the black slip onto the large jugs I made earlier in the week. That's always a relief, dangling a 14lb pot upside down over a bucket with one hand, while trying to pour slip with the other, is always a challenge. The tallest of these is about 540mm so there's a bit of a knack to it, because once it's upsidedown it has to be swung up the right way without touching the wet surface.

Whether I'll get enough pots together for another bisc firing remains to be seen, but I'm certainly going to try. If not, I'll bisc what I have in my new electric kiln(that still isn't wired in yet) because I'll definately have enough pots for another glaze firing. There are always a lot more pots in a bisc because it doesn't matter if they touch. I've already got a stockpile of biscuited pots, plus these new ones, it'll amount to a glaze kiln, albeit a loose pack.

The other two shots are for a bit of a before and after thing - let's see what happens.

Off to band practice soon and hopefully a bit of a de-stress. I always get a bit anxious in the lead up to a show and it's starting to kick in. I'll be much happier when (if) everything's fired successfully.

Happy weekends all.

A slap of slip

Here are a couple of pots I decorated today. They always look a bit crazy until the glaze mellows them out a bit. The teapot will be amber and the jar, green. The manganese in the black slip will bleed in the glaze and so the lines will be much softer. It better had do!

The little lambs are in a field I pass on the way home. It's not a great photo, but I thought it was quite funny, they're like little teddy bears at the moment.

Yum yum.