T Pots Pottery Blog: Teresa Wik

Moving

2011-05-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

Why does everything seem to take longer than planned? The move to the new location at 11012 Donner Pass Rd. is going well... Stu has been busy painting beautiful, bright colors, all the equipment is at our new home and there are boxes upon boxes ready to be unpacked.

Hope to begin filling the shelves today!

ornaments for Everyone- Pottery Painting

2010-11-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I told you about Ornaments for Everyone this weekend (Nov 20 & 21). In case you would rather paint your ornaments, we have been busy making them out of clay the past few months.

We're adding a snowflake ornament to the mix this year to compliment the others: bear, candy cane, angle, gingerbread people, train, stars, heart and more....

Come by and check it out!

Ornaments for Everyone - Fused Glass

2010-11-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

I'm really becoming addicted to glass fusing, the results are always gorgeous. And so easy!

This weekend the studio is offering ornament making at discount pricing. Most of the glass is precut and there are plenty of kid friendly projects with no sharp edges. Here are a few examples of ornament made with "pebbles" which are small, about 1/2" round pieces of glass.

For those more adventurous, we have pre-cut 3" blanks in clear and white for you to go wild and create by layering colored glass on top how ever you wish. Here are some examples.

See you this weekend! Teresa

(PS- Cherie will be back Wednesday December 3rd at 5:30 pm for another free glass class)

Pottery Paw Prints

2010-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Korey wants you to bring your pet to the studio November 14th for a really cute paw print in clay.

Paw Print Pottery Sunday November 14th 11 am - 3 pm

See you and your best friend, Teresa

Gobble, Gobble Kids Class Turkey

2010-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

We'll be making these adorable turkeys during Kids Wheel Wednesday in November. Can you guess what trace to make the tail feathers?

Below are some of the October Pumpkins the kids made- I especially like the purple one!

Happy Days, Teresa

Clay Creations

2010-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

"Clay Creations" is what we are calling them....

You can create your own creation

We have tons of fun ideas and can help get you started. "Clay Creations" include 2 lbs of clay and can be painted the same day. The clay has to dry before we can fire it so plan on two weeks from the day you come in until your creation will be fired and ready for pick up.

Thursday Morning Drop-in is back!

2010-11-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday Morning Drop-in 10 am - 12:30 am is back for the winter beginning November 4th

See you at the studio!

Teresa

Fused Glass Drop-In with Glass Artist Cherie Keep

2010-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Cherie Keep will be at hte studio November 3rd & 10th from 5:30 pm - 8 pm for a free workshop!

No experience needed

During drop-in Cherie will be giving demo's, sharing tips and techniques and giving instruction. Drop-in is an open studio type event at the studio. Participants may choose to work on holiday ornaments, plates, bowls, night lights and more.... the cost of supplies varies from $12 to $60 depending upon the project.

Hope to see you at drop-in! Teresa

Luminaria for Winter in Color

2010-10-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

These are so fun and would look great with a candle flickering inside.

Happy Haloween!

Teresa

Cats

2010-10-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I miss the studio being at the house...

Some mornings it is so tough to leave...

Oscar, Raku and Delly

Beau (14 yr old, half blind, selectively deaf and can smell a food a mile away.

Once I get to the studio, I am always happy to be there without the distractions of home.

Teresa

Wheel Thrown Pumpkins

2010-10-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the pumpkins I threw on the potters wheel...

Unfortunately the glaze on the little one in front doesn't look as good in the picture as it does in person. It is a muted, earthtone matte glaze which I am really liking.

Have a great weekend!
Teresa

Luminaria for Winter

2010-10-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a while sine I had been on the potters wheel, I have really missed it and had a wonderful day.

These are about 8" tall and 4" wide

It has been unusually warm this week- about two hours after throwing these, they were dry enough to trim and cut the tree out.... Did not even cheat and put them out in the sun.

Enjoy, Teresa

Pumpkins

2010-10-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had a really fun time throwing these pumpkins on the potters wheel. I started with a cylinder, pushed the walls out giving them a rounded shape then squeezing or colloring in the top until the tip top of the walls meshed together creating a closed form. The form is hallow, filled with air. It is easy (and super fun) to manipulate it into shape.

Last I cut the lid and put a stem handle on.

Can't wait to see what they look like glazed- I'm thinking of using underglaze.... will post pics when they are done.

Enjoy this fantastic fall! Teresa

Kids Wednesday Wheel Throwing

2010-09-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Each Wednesday during the school year 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm

I love teaching kids... they pick it up so quickly and are so proud of their results.

Clay Mask

2010-09-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't "Rocky" adorable?

We've always wanted a studio cat...Cory made him for the studio at Convention. Until he came out of the kiln, she decided to keep him....

Oh well, we will be making more masks this winter...

Dish, Dine, Paint & Wine

2010-09-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

This month we will be painting these sweet "Ribbon Platters" at Dish, Dine, Paint & Wine. October 8th at 6 pm

It is so fun, anyone can do it! Pre-registration required, call the studio at (530)550-7822

Kids, Kids, Kids Kids Art Camp

2010-07-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Kids Art Camp starts up again next week and runs through August. There are still a few spots left if you are interested in attending. Camp runs Mon-Fri 9 am - noon. Daily drop-ins are welcome if there is space available. We limit class size so all the campers get intimate attention while working on the potters wheel.

Hope to see you- Teresa

New Class Schedule is out!

2010-07-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

T Pots Pottery has added classes in fused glass and pottery painting workshops!

Check it out - great fun, exciting new classes and mediums.

There are still a few spaces left in the Summer Kids Camps in August. Camp has been so popular, the studio will be offering kids pottery classes starting in September.

Hot Weather, Hot Cat, Hot Kiln

2010-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

It has been hot, even hotter in the studio the past week. Many days both kilns have been clicking away which makes the studio really, really hot.

Even my fluffy, long hair cat, Raku is hot.

Two kilns???? You may be thinking... Yes,(I say with a big smile). I got a second kiln a few weeks ago, it is an itty bitty little thing.

The Paragon Home Artist kiln is only 12" x 12" and plugs into a regular wall plug! It even has wheels and one of those pull up luggage handles so I can wheel it outside for Raku or move it out of the way when not being used.

My husband, Stu calls it the Easy Bake after the kids play oven. Adorable, easy and fast! The new kiln allows me to offer 24 hour turn around on Paint Your Own Pottery and Fused Glass projects. Oh so fun!

Keep Cool, Teresa

ARTour 2010

2010-07-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

ARTour- North Tahoe/Truckee's Annual Open Studio event starts this Friday, July 9th.

You have two weekends to visit the 32 artist studios from Tahoe City to Incline and Truckee. Come by the studio for your free map or check out the North Tahoe Arts for an online version and more information.

Looking forward to seeing you this weekend! (Or before to pick up your free ARTour map).

Teresa

Truckee Thursdays

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wow- I could not believe how many people were at Truckee Thursdays last week! It is definitely the happening event in town. About a dozen people painted pottery during the evening, most came over the weekend to pick up their masterpieces.

Being that I have Drop-in (open studio time) Thursdays 5:30 - 8 pm at the studio, Gerri will be there tonight for T Pots Pottery. Stop at our booth by the Kid Zone to say Hello and paint a piece yourself or come over to the studio and check out the happenings there!

Enjoy your Thursday in Truckee,

Teresa

Tahoe Kids Camp

2010-06-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Another fun week of Kids Pottery/Art Camp started today. The campers did great! We spend the majority of time on the potters wheel. After snack, we handbuilt mushrooms and started our art journals.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow. Another fun morning planned with glass fusing and more time of the wheel.

Teresa

Peace, Love and Pottery Kids Camp

2010-06-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Summer Camp started this week, what a blast we are having so far. The kids are between 6 and 12 yrs old - are all such characters!

I've been so impressed with how well then all have done on the potters wheel the past two days. The youngest ones throw standing up since they just can't get close enough to their wad of clay while sitting. Older kids sit with blocks of wood under their otherwise dangling feet.

Check out what the campers made on the wheel...

Great stuff!

Today the kids trimmed and painted glaze on their ceramic pieces. After snack we used glass to make sun catcher peace signs. The glass is in the kiln now.... stay tuned to see the results!

Teresa

Summer

2010-06-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Summer arrived yesterday... and is leaving again tomorrow. So sad. It has been wonderful having the big roll up door open, it is South facing, so the sunshine beams in all day long. The studio feels so much larger.

With summer comes all sorts of activities, "Truckee Thursday" begins this week. New this year, Donner Pass Road will be closed off to cars. Stop at our booth to say "hi".

The first Raku firing will be this Saturday from 2 - 7 pm at the studio. It is so exciting! Probably not an issue this year.... if you are going to Raku fire your own piece of pottery be sure to wear long pants, long sleeve shirt and closed toe shoes. Using tongs, we take the pottery out of the special Raku kiln when the pieces are around 1500 degrees! That is hot!

Kids Camp starts next week with a 60's theme- "Peace, Love & Pottery". I'm so excited, have some really fun projects planned. This first week, we will be playing in clay, both handbuilding and on the wheel, doing some fused glass and so much more.

And, of course, ARTour, North Lake Tahoe's Open Studio event. Two weeks of fun are planned July 9-11 & July 16-18. I'm really looking forward to ARTour this year, with the new studio, I can leave the "working" area as is without to much interruption to production and class schedules.

Lets hope summer comes and stays for a while!

Teresa

Painting Pottery Field Trips

2010-05-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

This past week, a second grade class at Incline Elementary and Middle Schoolers at Loyalton painted pottery.

A sampling of the 18 ice cream bowls painted by the 2nd Graders at Incline Elementary for their Moms.

A few of the 8" square plates painted by the 11-13 year olds in Loyalton. Mr. Fisher spearheaded the project to help the kids release some tension and stress after a long week of STAR testing.

All of the painted pottery turned out beautiful!

Teresa Wik

happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

From all of us at T Pots Pottery

Can't draw

2010-04-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

As long as I can remember, I have been uncomfortable with my drawings, even as a kid. The drawing just never felt right. Probably why I became a potter.

I know, I know, I have said it so many times now- Painting pottery is a blast. This is not just a marketing ploy, I am constantly thinking of different things to paint, searching the web for new techniques and painting at least one piece each day I am at the studio.

Unloaded a kiln today below are some of the pieces which came out.

Flower Plate

Dragon Fly Dish- I tried to blend the leaf colors by dipping the brush in two different colors then twirling the brush while I stroked. Kinda like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time- very difficult.

Tree Sponge Plate- Ok, yeah it was the neighborhood 5 year old who taught me how to paint with a sponge. I even mastered two different colors! The tree was fun, maybe a little less coffee before using the fun writer pen.

Off to use the other side of my brain in the Emergency Room. Easter weekend and a snow storm, how did I get so lucky?

Happy Easter!

Teresa

Moms Visit- Painting Pottery

2010-03-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

I love my Moms company, she is silly, goofy and a lot of fun!

Mom is my #1 Assistant! If you have been to an open studio- you know have experienced Cory (aka Dogwood, Gigi). Along with open studio, Mom helps with glazing, pricing, dusting and thankfully adding cute little touches to the pottery display.

If it were not for all of her help and support (both mentally and physically) I would not be where i am today.

Last week Mom, my friend Teresa and I spent the day painting pottery to be used as example display pieces at the studio. what a wonderfully, fun day we had. Painting, chatting and giggling. The pieces came out great!

A gal came in, just after I had put the display up, saw the dog dish mom painted and wanted to buy it! Mom is very crafty and does some wonderfully creative stuff- check out her blog http://pinkdogwoodblossom.blogspot.com/

Later that same day, a group of young women loved a different display piece so much, they used it as a sample to paint their own pieces.

Have you ever painted pottery? Help me out, let me know what you liked about it and if there was anything special the studio did to make your visit a great one.

Paint Pottery- it is cheaper than therapy! Teresa

March Mudness

2010-03-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's been pouring rain since around 4 pm today. They (good ole "they") say we are going to get 1-2 feet of snow by Wednesday. For now, it is raining. I have mixed feeling about the downpour outside, the rain melts the snow really, really quickly... Good for spring fever and the emerging dandelions, bad for spring skiing.

I play in the mud almost every day at the studio and love it. Cleaning the house from all the mud we have tracked in- not as much fun.

What really makes me smile and not care to much about the rain is..... (drum roll) the new studio does not flood. Tomorrow I can spend the day how I want to instead of squeegeeing water around the studio!

Enjoy your days for what they are. Teresa

"Cheese Burger Bird"

2010-03-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

I heard my first "Cheese Burger Bird"... spring is here! No, the cheese burger bird is not a flying Big Mac but, a true bird whos song sounds like it is saying "cheese burger". Some say it is saying "spring is here" or "hang over" or "lame loser"- guess it just depends upon your frame of mind.

Personally, I like Cheese Burger because it is so silly. As I write this, I realize I have no idea which bird sings this McHappy song. A quick Google Search teaches me, it is the Black-Capped Chickadee.

I am so enjoying this spring like weather we are having and would like to encourage the birds. (My indoor cats love watching them through the window, too) Yet, I am afraid if I put bird seed out this early, I will only encourage the bears. What do you think, should I risk the bears on our back deck and put bird seed out or should I just go to the studio and make some ceramic birdhouses for the birds.

Enjoy your days! Teresa

Ceramic Basket Class

2010-03-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

What? A basket made of clay???? Yep, the basket making classes were scheduled for this weekend.

The baskets are both fun and easy to make. Great project for all levels, could even be completed during a single drop-in session.

The baskets are made upside over a bowl with the uprights (corners) hanging down and the woven coils wrapped under and over the uprights.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Teresa

Paint Your Own Pottery

2010-03-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

In preperation of offering Paint Your Own Pottery at T Pots Pottery, I recently dragged my friend, Teresa with me to learn the ins and outs of paint your own pottery. I figured we would stay an hour or so... 2 1/2 hours later, we left with smiles on our faces. What a blast!

Jean, owner of Clay Canvas in Reno, NV was fantastic, showing us all the fun techniques in her arsenal.
We painted, dripped, blew bubbles and stamped glaze on our pieces.

Teresa's creative masterpiece! I love the grapes.

Mine is a little goofy.... I wanted to try everything Jean could throw at us.

Right now I have about 20 glaze colors and 15 different bisque pottery items to paint, more is on the way. I hope to get it all on the website soon.

Happy Painting, Teresa

About.com

2010-02-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

About.com is a wonderful resource for potters with tons of great articles, techniques, definitions, pottery projects and more. I have used the vast resources many times.

Beth Peterson, a potter, writer and teacher is the Guru behind About.com Guide to pottery.

I am excited that Beth has posted and commented on a picture of my Flower Power Casserole Dish in the gallery of her Impressed and Incised article. I will definately do more of her projects in the future, they are a fun way to try new techniques as well as a great motivator for those times when I feel stuck doing the same thing.

Creatively, Teresa

Slip Test Tile Results

2010-02-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

Hummmm, not what I had expected...

The picture actually shows the colors pretty well- they are very light and look washed out.

The green is an olive green where as I was looking for a hunter green. Except for the dark blue and green, I was hoping for bolder colors.

The vertical lines are a thick coat of each of the slips and the vertical lines are a thinner coat so I could see what the glazes look like on top of each other.

Back to the work. I loaded a bisque load this morning and will do a little clean up before Drop-in tonight.

Teresa

Much Needed Day Off

2010-02-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Playing with the cats (Oscar, Raku and Delly) left me rolling on the floor laughing with the realization that cats innately know how to slow down and enjoy every aspect of life, weather it be watching a bird or squirrel, playing with a rubber band, knocking pens from the table onto the floor, finding that sliver of sun comming in the window or hanging out with their friends.

And if they don't want to do something... they don't.

Today I spent the day as if I were a cat- After our morning snowshoe, I leisurly drank coffee, checked email and surfed some pottery sites. Spent some time looking at magazines in front of the window with the warmth of the sun my face. Some time was spent reflecting on life and drinking green tea, watching a movie on "Lifetime, the Womens Network" (makes me laugh), thought about doing laundry- but did not. In the afternoon Beau (our 12 year old, crazy, golden retriever) and I enjoyed an afternoon walk over to our friends house.

Unable to keep my hands out of clay, I pulled out the bag, I just happen to have at the house, for a little handbuilding.

Flower magnets and buttons ranging in size from 1/2" to about 4"

Tried out a new idea for a napkin ring -Would not it be fun to have a flower napkin ring?

Wishing you a cat like day in the near future!

Teresa

Martis Camp Folk School Forum II

2010-02-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful event! As I told you in a recent blog post, I will be teaching a pottery workshop at Martis Camp in August.

Over the weekend there were about a dozen instructors of different mediums participant involved demonstrations as a sneak peak to what they will be teaching next summer.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting many of the members, a ton of kids and the other artists. I befriended a very fun and down to earth fiberartist, Nancy Hinds who was working on a quilt which will be donated to Project Linus. Others included: Andy Skaff, a local oil painter, was painting with people in the sunroom. Frank Pisciotta, another local, took over the indoor basketball court with his fly rods. Larry Charles amazed us all with his wonderful drawings of Tahoe life. Erik Rinkleff carved a 300 lb ice cube into an adorable bear Saturday and carved wood Sunday. My only regret of the day was not joining in on one of the sessions with Joy Ravelli, owner of the Purusha Yoga Center in San Francisco.

Martis Camp is an extraordinary place, I am looking forward to being a part of it this summer.

Tagged: 7 things

2010-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged... the rules are for me to tell you 7 things about myself which you probably do not know. Here goes...

1. I once skied all day with my telemark boots on the wrong feet- the boots were very uncomfortable even on the right feet so, I did not notice.

2. I have lived in the Tahoe/Truckee area for 24 years, first moved to the Tahoe City in 1986, lived on Donner Summit for about 6 years and have been in Truckee since 1994.

3. Peeps are my favorite candy, Easter a favorite holiday. I really dislike Halloween even though I have a huge sweet-tooth.

4. We are addicted to watching American Idol... I am constantly asking Stu "Can they sing?" I think I am tone deaf, I know I have no rhythm yet, I really enjoy music and sometimes dance when I know nobody is watching.

5. "Catcher in the Rye" is the only book I have read more than once.

6. I did not like cats when I got Oscar, his sole purpose was to be a mouser in the studio. Now we have 3 cats, they all sleep on the bed. Not one of them has ever lived in the studio or caught a mouse.

7. Until Stu and I married, I did not have a middle name. A family tradition is for the girls to use their maiden name as a middle.

Welcome to my world,

Teresa Moore Wik

My Way or the Highway

2010-02-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Students ask the most wonderful questions. I love the intense look on their faces while awaiting that tidbit of wisdom from their mentor. I try to respond with the answer in a clear, concise way which still allow them to think about it and work out a solution to best fits their needs, their style and personality. There is no single right or wrong way and very few rules in pottery.

Believe me, I have found most of the wrong ways of doing things... time and time again. I guess, what I teach is my experience; I demonstrate what I do and explain why I do it that way instead of another. Often showing alternative methods as they may work better for someone else than for me.

There are plenty of ways of throwing a vase, trimming a bowl, putting a handle on a mug or skinning a cat.

Be Courageous! Teresa

Martis Camp Folk School Forum

2010-02-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be teaching a workshop at Martis Camp this summer! Over Presidents Day weekend, all of the visiting artists instructing at the Folk School will be in "The Barn" with hands on demonstrations and a sneak peak at the summer session.

I will be teaching a slab building workshop. Each participant will make 2-3 items choosing from half a dozen fun and functional projects such as birdhouse, planter, pitcher (or watering can), dishes and platters.

I have some samples in the kiln which I'll take pictures of and post this week while I am getting ready for the Forum this weekend.

I won't be at the studio Saturday but, will be there Sunday and Monday.

Teresa

Olive Oil Pourers

2010-02-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy sitting down at the potters wheel to throwing a dozen or so of the same item; it is relaxing and fun to play with different shapes, sizes and texture while working through which form will be the easiest to use for functional pottery.

My plan is to have the shape easy to hold and pour without an attached handle.

Below is a picture of the spout which slides in and holds a seal while pouring. As you can imagine, the top diameter is critical with very little margin of error to ensure proper fit of the spout.

Can you picture them finished, in color with glaze?

This is making me hungry... a little bread and olive oil before dinner sounds delicious!

Have a wonderful evening, Teresa

Flower Power Pots 2

2010-02-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Flower Power finished pieces

Casserole Dish- the "pink" flowers were suppose to be lavender... seems the purple underglazes all lighten quite a bit at cone 5.

My favorite is the dark blue one with red flower. Since the flower is raised, I have it opposite the handle of the mugs so you can drink left or right handed.

Mountain Scene using underglazes and Cream Rust glaze

Close up of a mountain scene, glazed in Peacock. Beleive it or not, this is all one glaze; blue where thicker and green where thinner.

The flower was painted on using a purple underglaze. You don't have to recaliprate your screen- it faded to blue while in the kiln.

All in all, i really enjoyed putting the flowers on, painting underglaze was a kick. I like the way most of the samples turned out. What do you think? Which are your favorites?

Painting pottery.... I never would have thought...

Teresa

Colored Slip Decoration

2010-01-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a terrible day in the studio.... just one of those days where nothing went as planned. I could not even throw. Today was fun, I eased into the day by mixing up some batches of thick slip for decorating.

Slip is just a fancy word for way watered down clay to the point of being a thick liquid. My goal is to have colored slip stored in small, airtight containers for painting on pottery. Since ingredients for slip (and glaze) and based upon dry weight in grams, I had been saving scraps and letting the clay dry to "bone dry" and brittle. I mixed 8 small (100g) test batches today using oxides and stains.

Stains are put on pottery while the clay is still wet so the clay in the slip shrinks with the piece. The B-Mix we use in the studio shrinks 12%. Above is a picture of the test piece I made today using the slips. Once dry, it goes in the kiln for the bisque fire, a clear glaze will be applied over the entire surface then back to the kiln for the second glaze firing.

A picture of the results along with details of which oxides and how much were used will be posted after it comes out of the kiln.

Teresa

Flower Power Pots

2010-01-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

Gardening has always been one of my favorite things to do. Our growing season here, in Truckee, is very, very short. Gardening magazines are beginning to come in the mail, seeing all the wonderful flowers has motivated me to add some flowers to my pottery.

Daisy on a vase

I threw this casserole dish as a demo during drop-in. Added the flowers, stems and leaves the following day.

The relief will be painted with bright underglaze then the entire piece dipped into glaze. I can just picture the glaze pooling in the lines of the mountain scene creating a darker line of glaze color, a touch of blue for a river under the mountain and underglaze of green and brown on the tree.

Winter is a great time to experiment, try out new techniques, forms and ideas. The cooler temperatures, higher humidity and using gas heat (moist heat) all make the clay dry slower which gives me more time to tinker around in the studio between kiln loads.

Hope to get these in the bisque load tomorrow, then glazed and fired by the end of the weekend. I'll post pictures of the finished pieces!

You will have to let me know if they end of looking like what imagine they would.

Flower power to you! Teresa

Snow!

2010-01-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today feels like winter, the white stuff has been falling from the dark sky all day. Well, not all day, it started a few minutes after our morning snowshoe and is still piling up.

No where near the 10 feet some were calling for, the snow on the railing has landed since around noon when the deck was shoveled. Do you see the ceramic birdhouse peeking out through the snow?

The cats love watching the white stuff floating through the air, they do not like the snow sliding off the roof.

Raku is rest now. He had a big day chasing snowflakes.

Enjoy! Teresa

Low fire Commercial glaze at Cone 5?!

2010-01-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around with some commercial low fire glaze and underglaze as decoration and addition combining with my Cone 5 glazes.

Color Chart- (by Cory Moore)

Commercial glazes lines up and down

Cone 5 glazes were painted on from left to right on top of the commercial glazes

(Top to Bottom- Purple, light blue, raw clay at "underglaze", celadon green, white)

It is really a lot of fun to see the spectacular results, especially the vibrant screaming red under my grassy green celadon glaze.

The purple (my favorite color) seems to fade to either violet or a dark blue, depending upon which low fire glaze I try.

When fired at low temperatures (04-06 range) these glazes stay in place with very little to no movement, on vertical surfaces at cone 5, they they run or "smudge" some. I like the effect.

Element Chunkies look completely different at the higher firing temperature! I love the way they still make crystals yet, they really run and "smear" creating wonderful effects, especially on texture!

I'll be playing with glaze effects more.... what do you think of the colors?

Positive thoughts for you today, Teresa

Spinning into the New Year

2010-01-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Life is beginninng to get back to normal after the excitement, stress and hardwork of moving the studio in November '09, the holidays and work.

We celebrate Thanksmas, which for us is a wonderful few days at Moms house (check out her blog at http://pinkdogwoodblossom.blogspot.com/) where we celebrate Thanksgiving with a hike in the foothills and an incredibly delicous meal prepared by Forrest one day and Christmas the following with presents under the fake fiscus tree iwth white lights.

The hecteck holiday season begins after that with the finale of working the ER at Tahoe Forest Hospital from Christmas day through New Years day, the busiest time in the ER. I also taught at Martis Camp for two days and helped with their budding paint your own pottery program.

As I said, life is beginning to get back to normal in the studio and at home. Still busy yet, manageable and fun. Last week I added an additional drop-in time on Thursdays from 10 am to 1230 pm to compliment the Wednesday and Thursday evening drop-in sessions at 5:30 to 8 pm.

A Mini Beginner Wheel Throwing class started last Sunday with an awesome group of 5 people, three additional pottery classes are scheduled to begin in January.

I really enjoy teaching classes and helping out during drop-in sessions. I feel so blessed to have such a creating, engaging and fun group of people who frequent the studio. So much of what I blog about is technique and/or studio issues, both are a huge part of what i do at the studio yet, it is the people and interaction which really make it such a comfortable and relaxing place that I am excited to go to everyday.

Enjoy Today! Teresa

Metal Flakes in Pugged Clay

2010-01-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Those little black specks in the clay are the culprit! For months we have been fighting "contaminated" clay coming out of the pugmill... the first few times, I thought we must have had a stray tool find its way into the clay recycle garbage can but, after a few more times and just as many complete and through cleaning of the entire inside of the pugmill, I knew that could not be it. The entire clay recycling program was put on hold for a few months while the studio moved to the new location. After some time had passed at the new location and we had settled in, I decided to take the pugger apart for further investigation...

To the left is the picture of what the inside of the pugmill looked like, it is a close up so you can see all of the pitting to the metal.

The nice guys at Peter Pugger diagnosed this awful case of metal acne as "oxidation". Well, humm, I thought, who would have guessed that after all of these months and safe guards put into place so foreign objects would not get into the pugger, it was all coming from the metal nozzle inside the pugmill.

Peter Pugger sandblasted then brushed on two coatings of Devcon Brushable ceramic epoxy coating making a lovely Tahoe blue color. I did not get a picture of the fresh pugged clay, we used it all up already!

Way to much glaze

2009-12-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

Of all the steps, glazing can be the trickiest in making pottery.

"Ocean" glaze on colander made by a Drop-In potter

Color can make or break a piece. Each glaze seems to have its own personality, some are runny, some like a thin application while others need to be thicker and others look best with a very even thickness. My favorite glazes "break" on texture, those which are one color where then and another where thick.

Too much glaze- no matter it's charactorists, is NOT a good thing.

Glaze was applied to thick- it ran right off the colander during firing, welding the piece to the kiln shelf.

A good rule of thumb- glaze should be the thickness of a postcard after application and before firing.

Happy Glazing! Teresa

Navajo Wheel Clay (Red Clay) by IMCO

2009-12-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yep, the rumor is true. T Pots Pottery now stocks a red clay called Navajo Wheel by IMCO.

We tested the clay for a few weeks, everyone who threw with it, really enjoyed the smooth, creamy feel and loved the deep, rich color. Testers felt the clay was easy to center and throw with, so easy, may found themselves with the top portion of their pot suddenly unattached to the wheel and in their hands at the end of a "pull". Using less water than with the white clay (B-Mix) really helped with the "flimsiness" feeling of the clay.

I found the clay to be easy to throw, softer than B-mix. Navajo Wheel is much less tempermental in respect to attaching handles and "S" cracks. A few pieces were intentially left with a thick, uncompressed bottom and left to dry right side up. - no "s" cracks. Handles stay put, even with slightly dry clay.

Navajo Wheel on the left, B-Mix on the right= same glaze on both

The best part is the clay will wash out of clothing! The shrink rate is 15%, a little more than b-mix at 12%. so far the studio glazes all have a nice fit with no crazing and they look gorgous on the darker clay.

I'll add updates about the clay as they come out of the kiln.

Happy Holidays

Teresa

New Glaze Tests- Cone 5 Oxidation

2009-12-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Even though it takes a lot of time, I love playing around with the computer and chemicals to come up with new glaze recipes. I recently mixed up 6 new attempts at various colors and came up with two I like.

The first is based on a very stable base for a matte glaze I already use with two of my colors "Sage" (formally Carribean Sea) and "Ocean". With the new still unnamed glaze, I added 2% Red Iron Oxide resulting in this wonderful glaze. The second picture is the new glaze on the top rim of a glossy transparent honey colored glaze I am playing with. Love the two together, especially the way the they run together.

The other one I like but, will tweak some more is from recipe given to me by Hawaiian potter, Dean McRaine. I told him I have been working on a purple glaze for some time with out much success, he gave me Randys Red and said to add cobalt.

Here it is on both light and dark clays. I like the violet color, will try it with a little more cobalt for a darker shade.

Here it is with light blue dribbled along the edge

On top of dark blue it has a slight pink cast

Enjoy!

Playing Around

2009-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I've had a blast just playing around in the studio the past three days! So often, I get caught it with all which must be done; cleaning, organizing, marketing, pricing, working on special orders, replenishing inventory and more cleaning that I forget the pure joy of just working in clay with no deadlines, no specific project and no time restraints.

Friday, I decided to play hookey from "the biz" to enjoy myself, play and create whatever happened. I threw 150 lbs of clay (3 boxes, 6 bags) yes, I am physically tired! (Not to tired to got to Squaw tomorrow though :) )

Suddenly I realized another day had flown by... only took pictures of one piece before coming home.

I feel so rejuvenated! I hope you too can find some time to do something really fun, "all about you", this holiday season.

Is your tetanus current?

2009-11-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

It is that time for me- time for a tetanus booster. I really hope anyone playing in "the dirt" wheather that be clay, gardening or whatever... gets a tetanus booster.

You know the old thing about stepping on a rusty nail? Well, it is not the rust, it is the dirt on the nail which causes tetanus. Tetanus lives in the dirt and is transmitted to via an open wound. Getting tetanus is rare but not pretty! The CDC recommends a booster every 10 years. Check with your doc to see if it is time for you too.

Harbor Freight Wheel

2009-11-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

A month or so ago someone purchased a potters wheel from Harbor Freight, she gave a nice review of it on PotteryBasics 101.

Sure there were a few things about it which were of concern but, with the 20% coupon code I had, the wheel was less than $275 out the door! Can't beat that price.

After using the wheel for a few weeks, I sadly returned it. Harbor Freight has a great return policy.

Below are the pro's and con's I found with the wheel.

Pro- price, fairly quiet, comfortable to sit at

Con's- single splash pan does not come off or have a drain hold, wheel head does not come off which makes it tough to clean the splash pan, the foot pedal does not have "cruise control" it also felt awkward and was touchy to decrease speed. The biggest single issue for me was that the top speed was not very fast for centering. The wheel was able to handle centering 15 lbs no problem, it was just very slow.

With all that said, I do think it could be a great starter wheel for someone. Mind you, my use for the wheel is mainly for students; beginner to advanced. I currently have two Creative Industries Class Boss, an older Brent C, Pacifica GT800, an artista and Baily wheels. I think the difference in footpedal alone would have been enough to drive everyone crazy.

Right now for the money and my useage needs, I feel the Creative Industry Clay Boss a better choice.

Stay tuned for a future review of the Clay Boss.

Kauai Potter Dean McRaine

2009-11-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Tucked behind a wood working shop just a block off the main hwy in Kapaa is a wonderful treasure... LightWave Pottery, the working studio of Dean McRaine.

A potter for more than 20 years on Kauai, Dean designed and built the studio a few years ago. Dean and his wife Malone welcomed us in the bright, airy, spacious and well designed studio and gallery as if we were old friends.

Once Dean found out I too am a potter, he immediately began showing me things he thought a fellow potter would be interested in.... Dean single fires Cone 10 Oxidation in a gas kiln. He formulates and mixes all of his rich and beautiful glazes. I was especially impressed and interested in the chemistry involved with his copper red. Dean incorporates texture and glaze layering to enhance the color and effect of his glazes. I could tell that glaze and colors are a passion for Dean with years and years of testing.

Currently Dean is excited with the wonderful results he is getting using colored clays. My picture did not do it justice so, check out his website at http://lightwavepottery.com

"Puff" The Magic Dragon hanging at the studio.

On your next visit to Kauai, don't miss LightWave Pottery & Ceramic Art

Clayworks at Kilohana

2009-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Clayworks is a really cool spot, located just South of Lihue on an old plantation, this pottery studio and gallery has it all. The set up is simular to T Pots Pottery iwth classes and instruction. Clayworks is the perfect rainy day activity for those on vacation, looking for something fun and different to do. The "studio" with wheels, work tables, and kilns are outside under a covered porch in a tranquil, garden like setting.

If throwing is not your thing, Clayworks also offers paint your own bisque and they seem to specialize in Raku firing.

Inside is a retail gallery space with some beautiful pottery from different artists. The prices are reasonable and they will ship.

Next time you are on kauai, be sure to check out Clayworks!

Painting- the studio

2009-10-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am convinced I was not a painter in any of my previous lives. One might think that as an ceramic artist, I would have some color sense. I do not. Thank goodness for those little $3.00 paint samples. One may also assume that after painting both glaze and acrylic on pottery, painting three different studios, shelves, floors, (and myself) I would feel confident and comfortable covering a flat surface in a single color with no design or fancy techniques. I do not.

I feel just as awkward painting with my left hand as I do with my right. Ambidextrous painting does make it easier to reach into those tight spots without contorting into awkward positions and the ladder only has to moved half as often.

All of that said- I am loving the colors for the middle, or working room of the studio. After just a single coat (yes, it took all day to do 2 walls), the room feels warmer, brighter and livelier. So excited to see the finished job tomorrow! Who would have thought using fall, earth-tone colors would do that?

Pics tomorrow... If you are out and about, stop by the new location just across the street from the downtown traffic circle on West River St. 10607 West River St. #2A

As always- A huge thanks to Stu (who knows color AND how to paint) for all of you help and support!!

Pottery Studio Pictures- retail gallery space

2009-10-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Loving the new location! The front room is dedicated as the showroom/retail area for pottery and art.

Bright yellow and orange walls, which Stu painted, are cheerful and fun.

Made In Tahoe

2009-10-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Next time you are in the Crystal bay area, check out Made in Tahoe, Bea and Sue are delightful people who run the store. Made in Tahoe is a specialty art and gift store, who focuses on Lake Tahoe/Truckee artists and artisans and their Tahoe-inspired custom jewelry, artwork, baskets, pottery, clothing and gift items. Made in Tahoe is located in the main lobby of Tahoe Biltmore Casino & Hotel.

I am packing some new bowls and vases to take over to Sue this afternoon.

Wild Cherries

2009-10-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

I just took another load of pottery over to Wild Cherries. Wild Cherries, the local hot spot for coffee, yummies, awesome lunch wraps and much more is located on Donner Pass Rd. right next door to Truckee Fire. If you have not been there, you have got to check it out!

Fall Days

2009-10-18T17:38:00.001-07:00

Photo from my picture journal~

Vibrant maple tree as seen from our front porch

Outside my window~

squirrels are racing throughout the yard preparing their winter stash

I am thinking~

how fortunate I am to live in such a beautiful area

I am thankful for~

my loving and supportive husband, Stu

I am wearing~

purple!

I am remembering~

lazy, warm, carefree summer days

I am look forward to~

cozy winter days, watching the snow fall

I am hoping~

for a fun, busy season

I am going~

to Hawaii next month

I am reading~

3 cups of tea

I am noticing that~

no matter how organized I think I am, there is always something I have forgotten

Two of my favorite things~

purple flowers and that exhausted feeling from playing to hard

I like to spend time with~

warm, funny, positive people, especially Stu.

*****************************************************
My Mom and best friend, Cory who bloggs at Pink Dogwood Blossom
had this on her blog so, I thought I would follow her lead and tell a little about myself.

I hope you are enjoying the fall changes and color as much as I am.

New Pottery Studio Pics

2009-10-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Two Sinks! Working room which is home to the wheels, extruder, slab roller and tons of misc. tools
The studio is split into 3 room. This picture is taken from the back room (glaze, kiln, drying shelves) through the middle working room into the front gallery area.

Update to $5 measure stick

2009-08-31T17:49:00.001-07:00

After using the measuring stick a few times, I have made two modifications to it.

1. I added another piece of wood under the bottom base piece, it is a little larger and thicker than the base. I found that it needed more weight as the whole thing moved slightly after some time at the wheel.

2. I added a piece of plastic (cut from the lid to a cottage cheese container) in the shape of a arrow to the arm nearest the pot. Using a sharpie, I colored it black so it is more visible.

Aside from that, I really like the measure stick!

How to Make a Pottery Measure Stick for Under $5

2009-08-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

I saw a measure stick in Pottery Making Illustrated which looks very nice, just out of my price range. So, I made my own for under $4 using wood scraps.

For the most part, my pottery is not all exact and the same size... close enough for "sets" yet all are a little different in size and shape.

There are times, a special order for example or working towards a very large collection when I would like to be able to know exactly what size I made to make more of the same or have an easy way to re-create the same size for special orders.

Material List:
2 drywall screws
1 Piece of wood approx 4 x 2 and 1/2" thick (base)
1 Piece of wood approx 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 and 10" long (vertical stand)
1 Piece of trim board type wood approx 1" x 1/4" and 14" long (movable arm)
Wood Glue (I did not use but may be a good idea)
Bolt (I found one with a knob)
wing nut
locking washer

After cutting the wood to size, Drill holes (use a drill bit the same size or a tiny bit larger than your bolt), every few inches on the two long pieces of wood.

Screw the base onto the vertical arm. It is easier if you drill two pilot holes before trying to screw the pieces together.

Assemble the parts by putting the bolt through one of the holes in the vertical piece then put the "arm" onto the bold then lock washer and wing nut.

That is it! You now have a measuring stick.

Back at it- Studio set-up

2009-08-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

Now that the excitement, preparation and clean up from ARTour Open Studio is over, I am back to the normal routine in the studio.

Drop-in has started up again and the first Mini Beginner Throwing class starts this Sunday.

I rearranged the studio (just a tiny bit) to improve the flow of work during Drop-in pottery nights, have moved part of the retail pottery display to shelves against the wall,

added additional space for wedging, handbuilding and work space along the wall,

Put all of the handbuilding tools, supplies and "texture" stamps and tools in a single area,

organized the glazes and incorporated the "Cink" a recirculating sink for washing clay from ceramic tools and equipment and put little shelves next to the glaze spray booth for the mason jars of glaze.

Whew, it was a lot of work, fun to do and I am liking the end results!

What is Raku

2009-06-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Raku is a blast! Raku is a pottery firing process where pots are lifted out of the really hot kiln with long tongs just after the glaze has melted and before the pots or kiln cool. The pots are still glowing red when they are placed into a metal container with a combustible material (newspaper, pine needles, sawdust, etc.). The combustible material quickly catches fire and a lid is placed on top to snuff out the oxygen. The fire and pots in the container are starved for oxygen and try to pull it from the glaze, this lack of O2 results in beautiful pieces of pottery. These pots do not hold water and are not safe for food.

Test Tiles- Done!

2009-06-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

There are over 325 glaze color choices at T Pots Pottery!

Thanks to the help of Heather and Cory, the finished tiles are hanging in the studio!

As you can see on the tiles pictures above left- the base color is "E" which according to the chart is Robins Egg. Each ring of tiles are organized with all color combination's for the same base color. Robins Egg in the example above.

Glaze Spray Booth

2009-04-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Spray Booth

"Window Vision"
An example of a piece glazed using the spray booth

With a spray booth I am able to blend colors for very interesting effects which can not be done with dipping the pottery piece into a bucket of glaze.

Stu made this for me using plastic sheeting we had left over from our veggie garden cold boxes. Enough light comes through the clear plastic that I don't need extra lighting inside the booth.

The spray booth is mounted to the wall on normal shelve brackets. I have found clean up when I put some newspaper under the banding wheel.The ceiling of the spray booth has been fitting with a cheap furnace filter vent which is simple to open and clean or replace the bottom filters.

the boxes on top of the spray booth hold a stack of furnuce filters and the bathroom type fan which turns on/off by a switch.

The compressor (sits under the spray booth) is set to 30 psi. I use a critter sprayer and mason jars (you can see two of them to the left of the booth) filled with different color glazes. Wearing a mask while spraying glaze is mandatory!

Glazed Test Tiles

2009-04-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

The test tile project is coming along....

Here are about 3/4 of the test tiles. Each is double dipped in two different glaze colors available at T Pots Pottery.

Some of the results are sooooooo yummy!

Test Tiles- Heather Glazing

2009-04-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Heather has been a busy gal... she has glazed a little over half the test tile combinations.

The glazed tiles above are in the kiln as I write this!

2009-03-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Lets connect on LinkedIn! http://www.linkedin.com/in/teresawik

Test Tiles have been bisqued fired

2009-03-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

500 + test tiles have dried and been bisque fired. Heather, the glazing queen, glazed 75-100 tiles at drop-in this week. A big shout out to Heather!

Using Foam instead of Wax Resist- update

2009-03-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Call me a creature of habit or set in my ways... I found it much quicker to use hot wax instead of the foam. If the inside of the foot ring is raised, the foam did not remove all of that glaze. Also any of the glazes with red iron oxide love to crawl into the crevices of the foam and stay there.

I did like the very straight glaze line you can get from using the foam.

Bisque Load

2009-03-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

People are always extremely surprised to see a full bisque load in the kiln, even other potters have are surprised at my procedure.

To see the kiln- it looks like complete and utter chaos! One person told me it looks like a kids toy box with everything just thrown in. There is actually quite a bit of organization and fine tuning to delicately squeeze it all in there.

My goal is to get as much in the kiln as I can. Being that stilts and kiln shelves take up precious space, I try not to use them. Often times they are needed, especially with many tall, fragile and/or odd shaped ones.

I start by nesting the bowls on a large table.
Next I stack flat items- plates platters with the larger on the bottom.
Put the above items on the bottom shelve of the kiln.
Figure out what size furniture you need to hold up the shelve above the nested items. Use smaller items to fit any spaces and thin slab type pieces on top if you have room without going taller than the kiln furniture.
Put the shelves in. I use two 1/2 shelves per level which sit on 4 pieces of furniture. They they share two of the 4 furniture stilts so there is support under the two corners and the middle of the curved side.
Find all the larger, odd shaped items (those that you can't put anything on top of and have it stay stable (IE pitchers) and put them in. As you can see in the video, I put them on their side, it is easier to stack on top of them that way and they are strong to put more on top of.
Fill in around and on top of the layer or put another shelve in,which ever works for the pieces (and courage) you have.
The last thing i put in are the tall things which didn't fit in already as well as those things which I can put something else on top of it, like mugs. If you put cylinder forms upside down, it is easier to stack stack on top of them.

I have had really good results loading the pottery to be bisqued in this manner. Here are a few tips:

Be sure the weight of each bowl, plate or platter is sitting on the base of the the one below it and not on the vertical wall.
Never, never put a large platter or flat slab piece on the bottom shelve- they always crack.
If you have a lot of flat slab pieces, stack them on their side vs flat or do single layer. The bottom one always cracks.
The crazy stack needs to be stable with out large gaps, as the clay shrinks during the firing, you want everything tight so it shrinks together.
things don't have to sit pretty on the shelve, they can be placed in which way as long as it is stable and won't move during the firing.
Fragile items are typically last and don't have anything on top of them.

I put together a video showing a bisque load being done... click here to see it on you tube.

Glazeing Rules of Thumb

2009-02-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Glazing can be very challenging. Everything from picking colors and combination to how long and where to dip can all be confusing.

Opening the kiln is always very exciting. Sometimes there is also disappointment...

Glaze ran right off the pot onto the kiln shelve

Here are some very basic, tips to use as rule of thumb:

Wax should be applied to the bottom of the piece as well as 1/4 inch up the side
Mix the glaze completely before using it
Re-mix the glaze between dips to ensure it has not begun to settle
Dip no longer than 3 seconds on the first dip and less on the second
Hold the piece upside down for the drips to fall back into the glaze bucket, this also pools the glaze towards the top rim of the piece instead of the bottom where it is more likely to run off the pot.
Glaze should be the thickness of a postcard
Using more than 3 colors on a piece can create stunning results or ugly browns and greens
Use extreme caution double dipping the bottom 1/2 of the piece if using a runny glaze
To minimize finger prints on the finished piece, wait until the piece is dry before handling (no longer shinny and without darker spots)
Clean all glaze off waxed areas, from the bottom and 1/4 up the side of the piece.

Pully for lifting kiln lid

2009-02-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

The hinge on my kiln never seemed to work correctly. After a few years of use, the kiln rings and lid were really showing wear from the torque of the lid mechanism.

Not sure what if others have had the same problem, here is what Stu did to fix it.

He made a pully system so I can crank the lid up and down.

The crank on the wall

The crank ratchets which is fine for lifting the lid. In order to lower, I have to hold down the lever at the bottom. So Stu drilled a hole in and put the bungie cord on to keep it in the open position.

On the wall- he used a hinge and welded a piece of metel to it- that swings out to hold the handle so it can not turn on its own. It pushes against the wall, out of the way when raising.

Stu made the arm out of scrap metal and put pullies on it.

Here you can see, we added one more handle to the lid and attached it with scrap metal and carabeaners.

Test Tile Extruder die

2009-02-21T18:01:00.001-08:00

Here is the die I made to extrude test tile. Notice there are two cutouts, not only is it easier to push the clay out, it is twice as fast! The edges are not straight on purpose (really)the rough edge makes nice texture so we can see what the glaze will do.

It works great, I have over 450 waiting to go into the next bisque load.

Glaze Chemical Storage

2009-02-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband!

Shown is the chemical storage and glaze mixing area. Stu made the unit from scrap steel. He then used drawer slides for the shelves.

Each bin (rubbermaid ones I found on sale) is it's own shelve which pulls out for easy access.
The shelves about the work area contain oxides and colorants. Most of the containers are from the Dollar Store. The "disposable" ones from the grocery store also work well.

I like the digital postage type scale the best. I do use the triple bean for measureing small amounts, like 100 g test batches.

facebook

2009-02-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

I am on facebook! Still figuring it out... I really need a 4 1/2 yr old like the adorable girl on the TV commercial to help me out!

Be my friend :)

Glaze Test Tiles

2009-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Seems that everyone who glazes at the studio wants to know what colors look like together. I just counted glaze buckets- there are 19 colors to choose from that means there are over 360 possible combinations... no wonder people get overwhelmed choosing glaze colors!

So, I have started the task of making test tiles.

The first time I made 'em, I used the extruder to push out 6 sided hallow forms then cut them 3" tall. The tiles were easy to make and showed the color well but, they take up a lot of space.

Currently, I throw a 10" wide bottomless cylinder about 3" tall with marks on one side for texture. Easy enough to throw yet, often times, it dries to much before I cut out the pieces.

So, the newest plan is to make a 3 inch "L" shaped die with built in texture for the extruder. All I will have to do is cut it every 1 1/2 inch. and put a hanging hole in the top.

I'll keep you posted with the progress!

Using Foam instead of Wax Resist

2009-02-13T17:36:00.002-08:00

Chris, a potter from New Jersey, has been frequenting drop-in the past few months while he is staying with his sister in Truckee. He showed me how he learned to use a foam pad (consistency of a sponge) to wipe the bottoms of pieces on after glazing.

The idea is to glaze a piece, once the glaze is dry enough to lift with your hands, you push down and twist the piece back and forth on a moist piece of foam. The friction, caused by pushing and twisting, removes the glaze on bottom and up the side a little ways.

First we tried a fairly stiff piece of foam I had laying around the studio, it worked pretty well. Being it is on the stiff side, it only removed glaze about 1/8" up from the bottom. I love the straight line where the glaze has been removed. But, I want a little more clearance since many of my glazes can run and with drop-in pottery nights there are so many people using the glazes who are not failure with them.

Last night at drop-in, we tried foam from Wal-mart which is used for seat cushions. It is much easier to push down on but, does not remove the glaze as well. Some of the "testers" last night commented it took longer to then sponge off the glaze than dipping in hot wax.

I'll keep you posted on the results- last nights glaze pieces are in the kiln as I write this.

Let me know if you have tried something similar or other alternatives to using wax!

What did you do this weekend?

2009-01-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

I hope you had as much this weekend as I did! After morning showshoe iwth my friend and our dogs, I spent most of my weekend playing at the studio.

Saturday I threw 25 bowls (50 lbs of clay)

Sunday I trimmed, signed and put the bowls out to dry. Also started a new beginner wheel throwing class with a great group of people. I love the small, intimate and personal nature of the classes. This class has 5 new, budding potters!

Have the courage to try something new this year!

Smooth Edges

2008-12-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Nobody wants to drink from a mug with a rough edge or grasp a handle only to have a high spot grab your finger. The way a piece feels in the hand is just as important as how beautiful the piece looks sitting on the table.

I don't care for sanding my pieces. Some people like to sand after the bisque fire, others after the piece has been glaze fired. I would much rather spend my studio time doing other things and not have to bother with it at all.

Spending a couple of seconds at the time of throwing to sponge off the rim leaves it consistency smooth. Some people will use a small square of chamois (tie it to a fishing bobber so you don't lose it at the bottom of your water bucket) for the same purpose. Whatever your choice, just curl the sponge/chamois around the rim while the wheel is spinning.

Enjoy!

Holiday Open Studio

2008-12-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Holiday Open Studio Decmeber 13 and 14, 2008

Handmade functional pottery, sculptural claywork, and fused glass jewelry are just a few of the items which are available at the Holiday Open studio. Come for a visit and enjoy refreshments, while experiencing the working studio of ceramic artist Teresa Wik.

Cleaning Pieces

2008-12-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

It is far easier to tidy up a piece while it is still wet as apposed to once it is bone dry or worse yet, after being bisque fired.

For Wheel thrown pieces, I use my finger to smooth out any rough spots on the wall of the piece, to soften the top rim and foot. I am not a fan of holding a wet sponge and turning the piece of the wheel. It always seems to me that I end up sanding those pieces to get rid of the little rough spots. My theory is the sponge takes away the fine, smooth clay and leaves the larger grains.

For handbuilding or altered pieces double check for any small crumbs of clay left of the piece. Also examine all edges and corners to be sure they have a nice, smooth, round edge. Sharp corners become even sharper once glaze is applied and the piece is fired.

Wood Stove Steamer

2008-12-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

The Wood Stove Steamer

The idea came to me while scrubbing the gunk out of our cast iron stove steamer… I thought if this were glazed pottery, it could easily be cleaned out with a sponge, maybe a little bleach if really bad or even better, it can be put into the dishwasher!

The Steamer has little feet to raise it off your stove so it won’t boil over or crack from the heat of the stove. The top top opening is large enough to put your hand into for easy cleaning. Holes in teh lid allow for the steam to escape. A wimsical and functional handle on the lid tops the piece.

It is important to remember to fill it up with warm water- cold water could cause cracks.

I’ve been testing one at our home and it works wonderfully!

Studio Organization

2008-11-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

Those who know me, would laugh at the thought of me being detail oriented and would most likely pull an abdominal muscle if I ever tried to say I am organized.

While cleaning up the studio today, I realized the studio is, in fact, pretty darn organized! My husband, Stu gets the credit for all of his fantastic ideas and terrific handiman skills. I just keep him going with warm drinks and cold beer. :)

A few of the things Stu has created are: glaze chemical storage area with pull out shelves, spray booth using an old shower pan, display shelves for fairs which fold up when not in use, he has made about a dozen different glaze bin storage areas... the list goes on and on. Over the next few weeks, I'll show pictures and descriptions. In the mean time, check out my webpage to see some general pictures of the studio. www.tpotspottery.com.

PS- he also made the adorable front to the studio, it was a roll up door when I moved in.

New Glaze Color

2008-11-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

New Glaze color needs a name!!!! any suggestions?

Based on a receipe in Mastering Glazes Cone 6- this glossy brown glaze actually has a varigated tanish grey color where thick with tans and rusty browns where thinner.

As with all my other glazes- this one is lead free. It is food safe and can go in the oven, microwave and dishwasher.

Can you guess what this piece of pottery is used for? (other than glaze testing) :)

It is a sponge holder! The sponge fits in length wise so it can dry out between uses. Helps keep down on the smelly sponge syndrome.

Fall Drop In - Tuesday and Thursday

2008-10-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday AND Thursday- 5:30 pm - 8 pm

Weekly ceramics drop-in at T Pots Pottery Fall Session (Sept. 23rd to Dec. 4th )

Drop-in class is the time to get your hands dirty and release some stress, while moving at your own pace to create functional and decorative pottery. All levels welcome.

Cost: $25 for the first drop-in (includes 10lbs of clay, glaze and kiln) then $15 after that for each drop-in during the Fall Session.

*New- Starting Thursday October 30, a second drop in session has been added!

Lost Everything (almost)

2008-10-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

After countless hours on the phone with Microsoft, taking my computer and external hard drive (with vista backup files) to two different computer guru's, I am finally accepting the fact that I have lost all of my big files.

Not only were those files big in my mind since they held my contacts, e-mails, financials and web page, they were big in size as well...

The computer guys were able to recover some of my pictues and files. Thank you!

Guess, if I have to find something positive... my computer is much faster without all of the files and other accomulated junk. :)

After all of the research, I have learned two very major things (1) Vista backup sucks and (2) The compression software which comes with Vista has many problems. I downloaded 7-zip (free) which decompressed files Vista could not.

Ugh Computers- lost everything!

2008-10-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

This fall has been gorgeous so much so, I decided to do some computer work out on the patio with my faithful companions, Beau and Tanner. Beau ,an 11 1/2 year old classic golden loves to hang in the shade while chewing on pine cones and watching the wildlife. Tanner, on the other hand, loves movement, he is a very active golden retriever possessed by tennis balls, bike riders, squirrels and anything else which moves.

To get to the point - Tanner got caught up in the power cord of my laptop creating a whiplash effect crashing the computer on to the patio. The hard drive was fatally damaged.

Back up, back up, back up... I had backed up just 4 days prior to "the incident". Unfortunately, I just get error messages attempting to restore it.

I don't have the answer to what went wrong, what the best way to back up is or how to check to be sure data is saved and retrievable. I'm looking into it and will let you know what I find. Or let me know if you have any suggestions!

In the meantime, if you were previously on my mailing list or would like to be, please shoot me an e-mail!

Cleaning Bottoms

2008-09-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Bottoms up! I'm talking here about the foot or bottom of pottery pieces... One of the final things I do before putting a price tag on my ceramic pottery is sanding the bottom or foot.

I have had more than one person tell me they purchased handcrafted pottery which scratched thier expensive table top at home so they threw the pottery in the trash! Not only was the new owner of the pottery upset, I'm sure the potter who created the piece would also be upset to know the fate of their hard work.

A few seconds of sanding will make all the difference. I use two differnt types of sandpaper, no special files or tools needed.

For really rough spots or getting chunks of kiln wash off the bottom, a heavy grit belt sander type paper works great, it is called "cloth belt" and comes in sheets, rolls and the circular type (pictured below). The belt grinder cloth is much stronger than typical paper so it won't tear. If you are handy or know someone who is handy with a saw, a block of wood can be cut for to slip inside the circleular sandpaper or it can be held in your hand.

Cloth Belt

Sandpaper sponges are the wonderful invention I use in a fine grit to smooth the botttom as soft as a baby! They last a long time, can be used on greenware, bisque or after the glaze fire, best of all, they are cheap. I get mine at our local hardware store for .39 cents each! 3M makes them under the name of Pro Pad.

Sponge Sanders

Pesky Details which must be done!

2008-09-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Those pesky "minor details" which sometimes seem unimportant and/or a waste of time can be make the difference if customers will purchase your pottery a second time or not. I know from my sales that repeat customers represent a large percentage of my sales. And we all know that word of mouth is the best advertising!

No matter what our reason or excuess to be mindful of the details, it is so very important that the extra time be taken to do the finishing touches to each and every piece of pottery created. The cool thing is, you get to decide when a ceramic creation is complete and which of the details are needed.

So, in this series, I'll be talking to some details which I feel are "must do's" and some things to make them easier.

Intro: first blog ever!

2008-09-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

I’ve been toying with starting a blog… many, many months have gone by and still not one word has been written, until now. So, here, now today is the first installment and introduction.
I won’t bore you with my bio as that can be found on my website http://www.tpotspottery.com/ . As this continues to grow; my goal if for an informative page, not only about what I am working on, also with hints, tips and techniques for the beginner to advanced potter. Ceramics is a huge field with so many wonderfully crazy things to try from manipulating and stretching the clay to (and past) it’s capacity, to mixing glazes, changing up firering techniques and of course, the tools and equipment- oh how I love all the different toys we get to play with.!
Check back soon for more…