There are Flaws, and then there are Flaws....

And if you are a production potter, you will have flaws.

No, I don't mean in your personality. There may be a flaw or two there as well, nobody is perfect, but I mean in your work.

What got me started musing about flaws was some pieces that came out of the kiln last week that I really debated over. A mug had a glaze skip at the top of the handle. The white glaze I use so much has a tendency to crawl if it is on too thick, or if the glaze coat is damaged before the piece is fired. In this case, because I dip the rim of the mug, then dip the outside of the mug, creating a bit of overlap near the rim, I think it was a bit too thick and probably the glaze coat cracked before the mug went in the kiln.

The skip was almost round, and about 1/4 inch across. It was clearly visible but would not effect how the mug performed. I reluctantly decided it was a second, but I must admit, I was tempted. I've seen worse glaze skips both on other potters' work and on so-called 'fine china' for sale at high prices in upscale stores. I don't think that is right, but on the other hand, if the skip is clearly visible and you buy the piece anyway, you have only yourself to blame so maybe it is alright.

Another flaw that I struggle with is pinholes. In fact, if I ever get dragged, whimpering pitifully, to a small white room all to myself some day, it will be because of pinholes. One dog-gone little pinny and a nice piece is ruined....  so is it OK to put it out for sale? Maybe, maybe not. In a decorative item such as a mounted tile or a vase, maybe. On the outside of a serving piece, maybe. But inside a bowl or other thing meant to be used for food, no.

Specks are almost as bad as pinholes. I use a lot of cobalt for blue decoration, and somehow tiny bits of it get where I don't want them. A nice plate can be totally spoiled by a blue dot or two in what is supposed to be a white background. For the life of me I don't know how to prevent them and sometimes I just decide to live with them. But this past week I had a butter dish that has a veritable splash of blue dots just under the handle; how the heck did that happen?

Then there are the not-flaws that look like flaws. I get very cranky if my dipping tongs leave a scratch of metal on the surface of a piece. It doesn't look like anything at the time, but will fire up a dark line, and you'd be surprised how many people ask me if it is a crack. So if I see such a line in time, I make sure to sand it off. But.... sometimes I don't catch them. Similar to the marks left by tongs are the lines you sometimes get where a glaze thickness changes. If you hesitate while moving a piece through the glaze batch, you may get a line which is visible when you hold the piece under the light just right. I usually consider that to be OK, but I've had customers firmly reject those pieces. And of course, if they find anything they think wrong, they probably won't buy at all and will tell all their friends and.....

And how about a rough spot on an edge? Often these are an excess of stain and can be sanded off, but they are so easy to miss. Then a customer runs their finger over the rim and ouch.... and 'ouch' for you, too. Or a rough spot on a foot ring that you didn't sand well enough. I once lost a large order because the customer's husband found a small rough area on one footring on one plate. Now I am obsessive about feeling footrings very carefully. Hard on the hand, if you actually find a burr, but much easier on the temper!

Luckily, lots of things from the kiln last week were without flaw. My batter bowls looked pretty good:

And I had matching maple syrup jugs and pancake warmers, so I was all set for the Maple Run Studio Tour which was this past weekend. Sales weren't great, but it was because of the rotten weather (snow and rain and ice and mud, yes, we had them all) not because of flaws in my pottery.

Well, duh....

Actually, 'well, duh....' twice. Twice in one week!

The first one relates to my efforts to take better photos of my pots. I wanted those wonderful shaded backgrounds, evenly lit pots, no glare spots.... surely not too much to ask? I see images like that all over the place so obviously other people know how to do it. I read books, studied the lighting diagrams, even purchased a so-called Light Tent.

Was I able to get good shots of my pots?

Nope.

Finally I made a rough frame out of 1 x 2 lumber, hung 2 photoflood lights with reflectors from the ceiling, hung a sheet of black background paper from the back of the gizmo and did my best. Not awful, but not the smooth background I wanted. Tried it with white background paper..... now I didn't get the dark space I wanted. Grrrrr. After a whole afternoon's work I was ready to snarl and give up.

Woke up in the morning thinking,'what if I use grey background paper?'. So I tried that and it worked! Just look:

Grey background paper!

Well, duh.

The second 'well, duh....' was even dumber. My kiln failed, big 'ER - 1' error code. Yikes. Panic. Of course, I had mugs to fire which the customer needs next week, plus all the pieces from last weekend's workshop waiting. So I let it cool, unloaded it and inspected the kiln's innards. The error code was described in the manual as meaning that the temperature wasn't climbing. The elements didn't look too bad - loops starting to fall down a bit, but nothing severe. I had already decided to replace them, just hadn't quite got around to ordering the new ones yet. So I phoned my supplier, she most helpfully got a set sent up for me and called me when they arrived. I rushed into town and got them, and got some new thermocouples at the same time. Figured new elements should have new thermocouples to give them the best chance to work properly.

Then I spent a nasty afternoon removing the old elements and installing the new ones. The way the inside of this kiln is designed, old elements simply do not come out without damaging the brick. I did my best, sometimes almost removing the old elements loop by loop, but I still crunched a lot of brick edges. After a while I got smarter and used a craft knife to shave a wee tiny bit off the edge of the upper bricks and that helped a lot.

Then I turned it on and tried it. Seemed to work. Got nearly to cone 01 and shut it off because I wanted to go to bed. In the morning I loaded the kiln with shelves and large witness cones on each shelf and programmed a cone 6 firing.

ER - 1.

After I got through wanting to have a temper tantrum, I sheepishly called my supplier to ask about relays. Happily, she had some. I got them, put them in (easy), re-started the kiln. Success!

The reason I got the error ER - 1 but no elements were broken was simple - it was a relay problem.

Well, duh.

Whew, I'm back....

Yes, jury duty all done.

I'm glad I did it, I hope I never have to do it again. Long story short, we have a pretty fine system of justice. Things are taken very seriously, and every effort is made to make sure decisions are right and fair. Not bribes, not who-you-know, not intimidation.... but 12 people doing their utmost to get it right. Believe it. And believe in it. And be thankful.

Back at the ranch, I'd like to tell you about my local arts society's spring conference. Titled 'Spring Into Art', it is of interest to all artists in the Ottawa area. Paula Murray, from Chelsea near Ottawa, will be one of our speakers. For those who don't know of her, she is an artist working in porcelain and exploring unusual techniques to express her ideas. She has been featured in many publications, Ceramics Monthly among them. For more information about the conference, click here. Other speakers will address how to use social media to advertise your business and give a demonstration of some new art materials. It's also a very enjoyable day, relaxed, great lunch (included), lots of artists to meet, and a chance to hand out biz cards.

Now, back to work!

Radio Silence

Which is what you'll get to enjoy on this blog for the next two weeks or so....

I did indeed get picked to be on a jury. Juror #3, that's me! We've been told to expect to be in court for somewhere between 7 and 10 days. Of course it could change at any time, but that's their best guess.

So I'm concentrating hard on seeing this as an interesting new experience.

Pottery will have to be done evenings and weekends. A lot of you won't have any sympathy, I know!

At least February will go by fast!

January, Yeeth....

Alright, let it be known, I am now a month behind.

The two orders I postponed till 'after Christmas' are not done. Not even started. The 10-cup teapot somebody wants for his mother in spite of the fact that it will be pretty heavy for her to lift is not done. Not even started. The glaze tests to see if I can find out what is causing those darn dots are not done. You guessed it, not even started.

What happened? Well, January happened. It was cold, it was snowy. I was tired. A powerful urge to make soups and stews made itself felt, the sweater I started months ago needed finishing, and I really did have a mountain of paperwork to do. Then, to top it all off, just when I was getting ready to buckle down and get some real work done, I got notified that I have to report for what is called a 'jury panel'. I have to go, wait around to see if my number comes up in the lottery, and then see what sort of jury duty I might be assigned to.

This has me quite worried, actually. If I have to do days and days of it, how will I manage everything else? We self-employed people simply cannot take weeks or months off. Arrrrggghhh.....

I drove down to the Courthouse today to make sure I knew the route and to see about parking. Pretty sad when you go downtown so seldom the streets have all changed from the last time you were there! And I hadn't thought about Winterlude. Being a warmish day, there were masses of people trying to find parking so they could go to the canal and skate. I never did get down Elgin Street because it was blocked solid with cars disgorging crowds of children with skates. Oddly enough, all the outdoor parking lots were closed, with chains and barricades up. I saw one parking garage, but it was expensive and the skaters didn't seem to favour it.

Tuesday is the day. I have to be there by 9 am and the letter warns me to be prepared to wait all day. I'm thinking knitting, a book, a Sudoku or three, and better bring a drink or two and a cookie. Sandwich? Maybe.

This too, is the life of a potter.

New Year Planning

A whole new year ahead! Isn't that a wonderful feeling?

2013 was possibly not my best year ever..... I tried to change to a clay that would be better for teapots and casseroles, then ran into a baffling problem with white dots in my decorations, then had to go back to my old clay.... in other words, didn't solve the problem. Then later in the season I suddenly realized I had taken on too many orders and had to work like heck to get as many as possible done before Christmas. I'm really not sure how it happened, except that a few of the orders sounded small but turned out to be large. Things like the customer who said she needed a few more plates and I said 'sure, let me know', and when she did, it turned out she needed a full set for 8, including cereal bowls and mugs. I actually had to call a couple of people and ask them if I could do their pots after Christmas. Luckily they all said 'yes' and I was able to send the last Christmas order home with a happy customer on December 23rd.

Whew.

This is not going to happen again! I'm going to try hard to stay focused this year.  No more thinking I have plenty of time, so I might as well go ahead and try this little idea..... or make just a couple of those..... or maybe whip up a really nice peach colour that will only take three days of mixing tests..... those tangents are lots of fun, but no more! 'Real' work first, then fun!

Maybe.

Tomorrow is January 6. I'm shopping for clay and throwing mugs.... there, see, not behind a bit.

Yet.

French Butter Dishes

I've avoided these things for years. At first I wasn't too sure what they were, then I was told about them and told that they kept the butter cool, which I didn't believe so I discounted the whole idea of them, and then I turned against them because of a bad customer experience.

It's been long enough now that I think I can tell this story without incriminating the guilty.

Two Ladies (I use the term not as it is normally used) asked me to make them a sample item. They called and were determined to come out to the Studio. They had a sketch of what they wanted.... all of about an inch square, with dimensions marked in pencil. I squinted and agreed to make one. They refused to tell me what it was and why they wanted it. I should have known better but went ahead and made it.

They came out again and brought their poodle. A tiny thing, apparently called a Teacup Poodle. Whatever it was, it was nasty. They had it on one of those retractable leases but after a few minutes of gushing about the dear dear dog they pretty much ignored it. It went about anointing every vertical object in the Studio, and if you are only about 6" high, there are a lot of them.

This time they wanted another piece made. Same story - a sketch about an inch square, measurements I couldn't read - and again they refused to tell me what it was. But they did let slip that they wanted me to make a prototype for something they were going to mass produce and sell at home parties. I asked them if it was a French Butter Dish (but a badly sized one) and they denied it vigourously.

They came again. The poodle did it again.

I told them that if they were planning to mass produce French Butter Dishes they should hire a company that does that and they should do some serious thinking about the size and design of these things. We did not, as they say, part as friends.

I washed and then sprayed all vertical objects with bleach up to the 6" line, again.

Then there were a few years that you couldn't sell a butter dish no matter what you did. People wouldn't admit they ate butter. Butter was Bad. I resorted to calling my butter dishes margarine dishes and making them to fit the little plastic containers margarine comes in.

Now, butter must be back in favour because I have sold many this summer. And I have been getting requests for French Butter Dishes. So I made a few, and we'll see how they go. I think they are a bit silly, they don't hold much butter and I would find changing the water every day a pain, but if they'll sell, I'll make them.

Here are a few, not dried yet. The idea is that you pack the butter (when soft) in the top, put a bit of water in the bottom, and place the top into the base. The water seals off the butter and it doesn't spoil.

I won't tell the customers that such a small amount of butter without a water seal also won't spoil before it is eaten!

And I'll try not to think of poodles while talking about them.

P.S. Those things in the background really are mittens. They are terra-cotta and will get bunches of greenery and red ribbons to hang them on doors and they are a pain to make but very popular and very Christmas-y. Super Helper does not like making them, and after this week, neither do I! But they are nice, and it wouldn't be Christmas without 'em.