Quick Garlic Fest update: the event was a great success. We estimate somewhere around 6000-8000 people came..... three of whom bought Pine Ridge garlic keepers. Not that I mind, though, because I sold plenty of other pots, and the garlic keepers will sell eventually.
Now I'm concentrating on making 200 soup bowls for a local Empty Bowls project. The West Carleton Food Bank, with the help of the local Anglican Church ladies, will sell them at the Carp Fair as a fund raiser. I agreed to make them in a seriously rash moment. Didn't sound like much of a problem 'way back in January, but of course now it's a different story. Ah well, 100 are practically done and there's a whole 3 weeks left.
Somebody asked me to make him an oval pate terrine. I told you about those last post.... Now I have to try to make one. The terrine is easy enough, the lid will be impossible. Actually, I think all lids are impossible, but this will be more impossible. Why do I have so much trouble with lids? I measure so-o-o carefully, and still sometimes they don't fit. I had a friend years ago who was an amazing thrower. She came and threw 60, 10" casseroles for me (she wanted to, it made sense at the time), and when she had them all trimmed and ready to fire I asked her 'What about the lids?'.
'Oops.'
She threw and trimmed 60 lids, and when everything was fired, I think about 3 casseroles had fitting lids.
I need an idea for decorating the Market Hall for the Harvest Festival Thanksgiving weekend. All my subconscious has come up with so far is pumpkins.... boring, boring, boring..... must do better. Pots to make are easy: pie plates, turkey platters, veg dishes. Lots of fun. But how to decorate inside a long skinny building?
And a personal note: my daughter has just had a really bad experience. It started with a pain in her tum, and progressed to several tedious and uncomfortable sessions at the local Emergency department, and ended with major surgery. She's fine but will be on mushy food for a while (wonder if she'll still like mashed potatoes after this?). I'm telling you this as a warning. The cause of the trouble? A bristle from a barbeque-cleaning brush. I would never have thought it was possible to swallow such a thing and not know it, but apparently it is. So please, be careful when you clean that b-b-q!
An occasional blog about pottery, making pots, and living the life of a potter.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Garlic Keepers, or, 'Everybody Knows....'
This weekend is Garlic Festival weekend at the Carp Market so I have been busy making things like garlic keepers and garlic bakers.
The garlic keepers reminded me of something I find somewhat frustrating. I try to design each item I make to make it as functional as possible, while still looking good, and allowing me to decorate it in a way that I like. Some items are great, like mugs, because there are so many possible ways to make a mugs, and they all lend themselves to my kind of painted decoration. Others, like garlic keepers, are trickier. They wouldn't be so bad except that 'everybody knows' that garlic keepers have large holes. They would work just the same with smaller holes (and more of them) and then I could wrap sunflowers or pansies or whatever around the pattern of holes, but no, they have to have large holes so I can't do that. I tried them with small holes and never sold one. Customer after customer picked them up and asked if they were garlic keepers.... then when I said 'yes', they asked for 'one just like this only with bigger holes'. Eventually I gave up and now they have big holes and the flower, if any, is only on the lid.
They also often balk at the cost, and I tell them they have to pay extra for the holes. They think I'm kidding! Ha!
Another 'everybody knows' which also irks me is that 'everybody knows' milk bag holders are oval. They work fine round, but no, they have to be oval. I keep trying but so far I haven't managed to make them look very good. And they are always heavy. If I have to squish them oval, I have to trim them fairly soft, and then I can't trim them enough, plus it is hard to attach the large handle.... not to mention that the size has to be super-exact or the milk bag either won't go in or slides out when you tip it. If only I could make that into a sales feature. You know, 'and the milk bag comes out really easily once the milk is half used'. No, I guess not.
Pate terrines, the kind you cook the pate in, are also always oval. Hmmm.
Wonder what other things 'everybody knows'. And I don't.
The garlic keepers reminded me of something I find somewhat frustrating. I try to design each item I make to make it as functional as possible, while still looking good, and allowing me to decorate it in a way that I like. Some items are great, like mugs, because there are so many possible ways to make a mugs, and they all lend themselves to my kind of painted decoration. Others, like garlic keepers, are trickier. They wouldn't be so bad except that 'everybody knows' that garlic keepers have large holes. They would work just the same with smaller holes (and more of them) and then I could wrap sunflowers or pansies or whatever around the pattern of holes, but no, they have to have large holes so I can't do that. I tried them with small holes and never sold one. Customer after customer picked them up and asked if they were garlic keepers.... then when I said 'yes', they asked for 'one just like this only with bigger holes'. Eventually I gave up and now they have big holes and the flower, if any, is only on the lid.
They also often balk at the cost, and I tell them they have to pay extra for the holes. They think I'm kidding! Ha!
Another 'everybody knows' which also irks me is that 'everybody knows' milk bag holders are oval. They work fine round, but no, they have to be oval. I keep trying but so far I haven't managed to make them look very good. And they are always heavy. If I have to squish them oval, I have to trim them fairly soft, and then I can't trim them enough, plus it is hard to attach the large handle.... not to mention that the size has to be super-exact or the milk bag either won't go in or slides out when you tip it. If only I could make that into a sales feature. You know, 'and the milk bag comes out really easily once the milk is half used'. No, I guess not.
Pate terrines, the kind you cook the pate in, are also always oval. Hmmm.
Wonder what other things 'everybody knows'. And I don't.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Mutterings
Housework
I always seem to get caught up in one area and fall behind in another. I've been putting in the hours in the Studio, so the house has gotten to be a mess. So I decided I'd do a bit each day this week so it wouldn't be too hard to bring it up to scratch before guests come on Sunday.
Yesterday I vacuumed the carpet and washed the kitchen floor. In other words, I did the bottom three inches.
On Starting a New Business
A potter friend called to tell me about her new kiln. She's itching to leave the desk job and try to make a go of pottery, so she's testing the waters by offering a couple of throwing classes. She happened to mention that her husband isn't totally comfortable with her spending money on equipment and this reminded me of something.
Years ago when I was starting up I took a little one-week course on starting a small business. I think it was put on by one of the levels of government in one of those fits of Encouraging Small Business which happen any time tax revenues fall..... anyway, it was a pretty good course and I learned some stuff and felt confirmed in some other stuff. But what I strongly recall is the different approaches the women had versus the men. The group was about 15, about 10 women and 5 men, give or take a small error of memory. One of the exercises we did was to write down what we'd need for our businesses, and how we were going to get it. All of the women had lists like, 'well, I can borrow a serger from so-and-so, and I won't need an industrial iron until such-and-such, and I can work in the back of the basement for now' followed by, in a gradually failing little voice, 'I can maybe borrow $500 from my mother....'. All the men said 'I'll need a this and a that which will cost about $100,000, a building which should only cost $30,000 a year, and my wife and I have about $200,00 saved up for our retirement, so no problem.'
None of the women, and all of the men, considered that family savings were available for them to use to start their new business.
All of the men assumed they would succeed, and the women knew there was a pretty good chance they would fail.
Speaking of New Kilns
My new ConeArt is working very well, but, at 7.5 cu. ft., it isn't large enough. I'm having to really juggle what to fire when, sometimes even getting up in the night to re-load just to get those extra three or four hours so something will be done by some certain day. It takes a long time to cool, which is a good thing, but it does mean I can only do about three firings a week.
I'm thinking me and my trusty major financial institution may have to make another investment soon.
Photographing Pots
Another thing I'm really thinking about is how to set up some convenient way to take pictures of new pots. Right now it's so much trouble to set up for good pics that I don't bother. Bad. The question is space - where do I have room to set up a background and leave it up.
Musing about this, I realize that neither my house nor my Studio has any wall space left. The house is filled with books which take pretty well all the space not given over to doors, cupboards, shelves, windows and the like, and the Studio walls are covered with posters, pots I want to keep,shelves, counters, windows....
Anybody have any ideas? If you have a creative solution to this problem, I'd love to hear it!
I always seem to get caught up in one area and fall behind in another. I've been putting in the hours in the Studio, so the house has gotten to be a mess. So I decided I'd do a bit each day this week so it wouldn't be too hard to bring it up to scratch before guests come on Sunday.
Yesterday I vacuumed the carpet and washed the kitchen floor. In other words, I did the bottom three inches.
On Starting a New Business
A potter friend called to tell me about her new kiln. She's itching to leave the desk job and try to make a go of pottery, so she's testing the waters by offering a couple of throwing classes. She happened to mention that her husband isn't totally comfortable with her spending money on equipment and this reminded me of something.
Years ago when I was starting up I took a little one-week course on starting a small business. I think it was put on by one of the levels of government in one of those fits of Encouraging Small Business which happen any time tax revenues fall..... anyway, it was a pretty good course and I learned some stuff and felt confirmed in some other stuff. But what I strongly recall is the different approaches the women had versus the men. The group was about 15, about 10 women and 5 men, give or take a small error of memory. One of the exercises we did was to write down what we'd need for our businesses, and how we were going to get it. All of the women had lists like, 'well, I can borrow a serger from so-and-so, and I won't need an industrial iron until such-and-such, and I can work in the back of the basement for now' followed by, in a gradually failing little voice, 'I can maybe borrow $500 from my mother....'. All the men said 'I'll need a this and a that which will cost about $100,000, a building which should only cost $30,000 a year, and my wife and I have about $200,00 saved up for our retirement, so no problem.'
None of the women, and all of the men, considered that family savings were available for them to use to start their new business.
All of the men assumed they would succeed, and the women knew there was a pretty good chance they would fail.
Speaking of New Kilns
My new ConeArt is working very well, but, at 7.5 cu. ft., it isn't large enough. I'm having to really juggle what to fire when, sometimes even getting up in the night to re-load just to get those extra three or four hours so something will be done by some certain day. It takes a long time to cool, which is a good thing, but it does mean I can only do about three firings a week.
I'm thinking me and my trusty major financial institution may have to make another investment soon.
Photographing Pots
Another thing I'm really thinking about is how to set up some convenient way to take pictures of new pots. Right now it's so much trouble to set up for good pics that I don't bother. Bad. The question is space - where do I have room to set up a background and leave it up.
Musing about this, I realize that neither my house nor my Studio has any wall space left. The house is filled with books which take pretty well all the space not given over to doors, cupboards, shelves, windows and the like, and the Studio walls are covered with posters, pots I want to keep,shelves, counters, windows....
Anybody have any ideas? If you have a creative solution to this problem, I'd love to hear it!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Herbfest
Well, like all events do, it's come and it's gone. I had a pleasant day sitting in my tent on a fairly cool sunny day, but I can't say it was a great success as far as selling my pots goes. I did make some sales, but wouldn't you know it, really only mugs and flat dishes. All my cute 'herbish' things got ignored.
A couple of things I learned (or re-learned).
First, my booth layout stinks. A 10' x 10' tent is not the same thing as a 10' x 10' space inside a building. By the time you subtract the edges which suffer from passers-by bumping into them and adjust for the big low spot in that corner.... hard to fit in two tables, a chair, a small wrapping table, an easel with tiles and make it look good. Next year I plan to have narrow tables that can act a bit as walls and block off clumsy pedestrians, small children and yappy dogs. I also intend to be firm with my booth neighbours - this time one of them insisted there had to be a walkway between us and I didn't realize until too late that he wanted this so he could set his booth up so people could look at his stuff from the side as well as the front, and I had his customers in my booth most of the day.
Second, the idea of hanging the herb tiles on a cloth-covered styrofoam board on an easel was a failure. Turns out people don't lift tiles down, they just yank. Several times the whole board came down. Broke three tiles. Got tired of saying 'Oh, don't worry, not your fault' with slightly gritted teeth and finally just stood the board on the ground. Didn't sell many tiles anyway, but I don't think it was because of the display. On the whole, people didn't look inside the booth at all, they just looked at the one table at the front. They glanced at the other stuff but didn't check it out. With the sun so bright outside, the interior of the tent was far too dark. Not sure what I can do about that but I'm day-dreaming about battery-powered lights, solar panel-powered lights, huge silver reflectors, maybe even transparent (translucent?) canopy material.
And, third, BIG third, next time I'm bringing a picnic cooler with lunch, snacks and cold drinks. I don't like greasy sausages or b-b-q'ed exotic meats. And they ran out of drinks other than pink lemonade with no sugar in it around one o'clock. I had a turnover which was supposed to have chicken inside, turned out to be tofu curry. Hmmm. Edible, but not lunch. I was starving again about 10 minutes later. And being alone, I couldn't go roaming around foraging so just toughed it out. The guy next to me, the one whose customers kept stepping back into my wrapping table, kept eating ice cream. He must have spent a fortune on it! His little grandson spent the whole day, as near as I can figure, alternating playing some game on his computer thingie and fetching gelato.
Never mind. Lots of good stock left for the Market booth and Crabapple Gallery. And like I said, it was a pleasant day. Lots of people I know came and stopped to chat, I did make some money, and I learned how to be better prepared next year.
A couple of things I learned (or re-learned).
First, my booth layout stinks. A 10' x 10' tent is not the same thing as a 10' x 10' space inside a building. By the time you subtract the edges which suffer from passers-by bumping into them and adjust for the big low spot in that corner.... hard to fit in two tables, a chair, a small wrapping table, an easel with tiles and make it look good. Next year I plan to have narrow tables that can act a bit as walls and block off clumsy pedestrians, small children and yappy dogs. I also intend to be firm with my booth neighbours - this time one of them insisted there had to be a walkway between us and I didn't realize until too late that he wanted this so he could set his booth up so people could look at his stuff from the side as well as the front, and I had his customers in my booth most of the day.
Second, the idea of hanging the herb tiles on a cloth-covered styrofoam board on an easel was a failure. Turns out people don't lift tiles down, they just yank. Several times the whole board came down. Broke three tiles. Got tired of saying 'Oh, don't worry, not your fault' with slightly gritted teeth and finally just stood the board on the ground. Didn't sell many tiles anyway, but I don't think it was because of the display. On the whole, people didn't look inside the booth at all, they just looked at the one table at the front. They glanced at the other stuff but didn't check it out. With the sun so bright outside, the interior of the tent was far too dark. Not sure what I can do about that but I'm day-dreaming about battery-powered lights, solar panel-powered lights, huge silver reflectors, maybe even transparent (translucent?) canopy material.
And, third, BIG third, next time I'm bringing a picnic cooler with lunch, snacks and cold drinks. I don't like greasy sausages or b-b-q'ed exotic meats. And they ran out of drinks other than pink lemonade with no sugar in it around one o'clock. I had a turnover which was supposed to have chicken inside, turned out to be tofu curry. Hmmm. Edible, but not lunch. I was starving again about 10 minutes later. And being alone, I couldn't go roaming around foraging so just toughed it out. The guy next to me, the one whose customers kept stepping back into my wrapping table, kept eating ice cream. He must have spent a fortune on it! His little grandson spent the whole day, as near as I can figure, alternating playing some game on his computer thingie and fetching gelato.
Never mind. Lots of good stock left for the Market booth and Crabapple Gallery. And like I said, it was a pleasant day. Lots of people I know came and stopped to chat, I did make some money, and I learned how to be better prepared next year.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Ready for Herbfest
Yes, the truck is loaded, the last tablecloth is in the dryer, the biz cards (bookmarks, really) are printed.... I think I'm ready for Herbfest.
I do have some actual pottery, too:
I do have some actual pottery, too:
Lots of fun stuff, all with a 'herb' theme. I'm looking forward to a fun day tomorrow - even if the crowds don't snap up all my nifty herb-y stuff, I'll still enjoy being outside, eating some interesting food (very creative chefs at Herbfest!), visiting with friends, taking a short stroll through the gardens, and just generally joining in the celebration of all things herbal!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Another Fun Thing for Herbfest
A few of the picture tiles I've made with herb themes have come out of the kiln. There are more in the kiln now, which is 'on', even though the temperature today is over 32C. Oy. And tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter and the whole weekend is going to be over 30C. So Herbfest will be a hot one, not to mention that my booth at the Market will be stifling on Saturday. Good thing potters are tough!
These tiles are very simple. I roll a thin (1/4" or less) slab, then basically rip them into the sizes and shapes I want. I run a rounded point (like a pencil or a thick needle tool) along the line, then gently lift the clay and rip along the line. Sounds odd, but it works easily. Then I just let them dry, bisque them, dip them in my glaze and paint the designs on top. Then fire them to cone6, just like my tableware.
This one is only about 3 inches 'square'. I like them weird sizes as it makes every one of them a composition challenge! Tile adhesive sticks them to pre-stretched canvas panels (available at my friendly local art supply store). There are a few different kinds of tile adhesive. I use the one for walls and it works great. In a pinch, the tile can be soaked off, although it ruins the canvas panel. The only one I have ever had back because the tile came off was from a store owner who hung one right in the drip from his roof. Here are a few of them:
These panels are painted black, but of course you can paint them any colour. One of these days, somebody is going to ask for one in, say, fire-engine red.... let's hope I'm in a good calm mood that day.
Another simple thing for my booth at Herbfest is planters suitable for growing a few herbs on a step or balcony. Not a very exciting project, but the glaze is nice. This is a variation on the Variegated Slate Blue in 'Mastering Cone 6 Glazes' by Ron Roy and John Britt.. I love the colour, and would like to make tableware in it, but I'd have to get it tested for food safety. It has copper in it and, being at least satin-matte, is probably not a very hard glaze. But I love the way it sparkles and shows depth where it runs. It was great on my bonsai pots earlier, too.
Not a great picture, sorry. Too hot in there to work at photography!
These tiles are very simple. I roll a thin (1/4" or less) slab, then basically rip them into the sizes and shapes I want. I run a rounded point (like a pencil or a thick needle tool) along the line, then gently lift the clay and rip along the line. Sounds odd, but it works easily. Then I just let them dry, bisque them, dip them in my glaze and paint the designs on top. Then fire them to cone6, just like my tableware.
This one is only about 3 inches 'square'. I like them weird sizes as it makes every one of them a composition challenge! Tile adhesive sticks them to pre-stretched canvas panels (available at my friendly local art supply store). There are a few different kinds of tile adhesive. I use the one for walls and it works great. In a pinch, the tile can be soaked off, although it ruins the canvas panel. The only one I have ever had back because the tile came off was from a store owner who hung one right in the drip from his roof. Here are a few of them:
These panels are painted black, but of course you can paint them any colour. One of these days, somebody is going to ask for one in, say, fire-engine red.... let's hope I'm in a good calm mood that day.
Another simple thing for my booth at Herbfest is planters suitable for growing a few herbs on a step or balcony. Not a very exciting project, but the glaze is nice. This is a variation on the Variegated Slate Blue in 'Mastering Cone 6 Glazes' by Ron Roy and John Britt.. I love the colour, and would like to make tableware in it, but I'd have to get it tested for food safety. It has copper in it and, being at least satin-matte, is probably not a very hard glaze. But I love the way it sparkles and shows depth where it runs. It was great on my bonsai pots earlier, too.
Not a great picture, sorry. Too hot in there to work at photography!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Back at Midsummer Herbfest
One of the more enjoyable craft sales around is Midsummer Herbfest. This has been held every July for the last 15 years at The Herb Garden in Almonte, Ontario. As far as I know, it has never rained (OK, once there was a sudden thunderstorm towards the end of the day), which must be some kind of record! I didn't do the show for a couple of years because I just had too much going on, but I'm back this year.
So we've been very busy in the Studio making some fun stuff.
I painted a lot of herb tiles. It's sort of paint-by-numbers! I made plaster molds of various herbs years ago - pressed each herb into a soft clay tile, then made a plaster mold of it. Now I can press clay into the molds and make tiles in the winter. I never have time to make them in the summer and there are no fresh herbs growing right outside the Studio door in the winter so this is a pretty cool solution.
Once bisque-fired, it is easy to paint the herbs. All I need to do is fill in the depressions! Like I said, paint by numbers. Then they get a coat or two of low-fire clear glaze, and I fire them to cone 06. The clay is a porcelain, meant for cone 6, so they crackle nicely. It's kind of fun, actually. No strain on the brain, and they always sell very well.
Super Helper made a (large) stack of hangers: cut the strips of painters' canvas, cut and bent the wires, then glued the wires into the canvas.
We'll glue the hangers to the backs of the tiles next week.
One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to display them at the show. They take a lot of table space if you just lay them out, and they look better hanging up, but what can I arrange to hang them on? I have a 10 x 10 space under a tent..... no walls .... hmmmmm.
We're making some other fun things as well - I'll post more pictures as things get finished.
By the by, if anyone reading this feels like stealing this idea, go right ahead! There are lots of other ways of using the basic idea of pressing plants into clay and plenty of potters doing it, but maybe you can come up with a unique product. If you do, send me some pictures!
So we've been very busy in the Studio making some fun stuff.
I painted a lot of herb tiles. It's sort of paint-by-numbers! I made plaster molds of various herbs years ago - pressed each herb into a soft clay tile, then made a plaster mold of it. Now I can press clay into the molds and make tiles in the winter. I never have time to make them in the summer and there are no fresh herbs growing right outside the Studio door in the winter so this is a pretty cool solution.
Once bisque-fired, it is easy to paint the herbs. All I need to do is fill in the depressions! Like I said, paint by numbers. Then they get a coat or two of low-fire clear glaze, and I fire them to cone 06. The clay is a porcelain, meant for cone 6, so they crackle nicely. It's kind of fun, actually. No strain on the brain, and they always sell very well.
We'll glue the hangers to the backs of the tiles next week.
One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to display them at the show. They take a lot of table space if you just lay them out, and they look better hanging up, but what can I arrange to hang them on? I have a 10 x 10 space under a tent..... no walls .... hmmmmm.
We're making some other fun things as well - I'll post more pictures as things get finished.
By the by, if anyone reading this feels like stealing this idea, go right ahead! There are lots of other ways of using the basic idea of pressing plants into clay and plenty of potters doing it, but maybe you can come up with a unique product. If you do, send me some pictures!
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