A Day Off

Yesterday was my husband's birthday, so we decided to get out of the city for an adventure. We convinced our friend Tim to come with us out to the vineyards in Niagra. This is one of our favorite day trips. St. Catherines and Niagra-on-the-Lake is only about an hour drive so we often take any visitors out there to get a taste of Niagra. We stop at the wineries to taste a few red Merlots and I like the Late Harvest Reislings that taste almost like a dessert wine. Often we chance upon a tour and get to see the vats and barrels down in the cellars. We walked through the rows of vines staring at the enormous amount of grapes hanging just below the stakes holding them up. This year the destination was Carolina Cellers Lobsterfest. Each year this vineyard holds a back yard Lobsterfest and barbque on Nial's birthday. It is absolutely glutenous! We ordered 6 lobsters and a steak with all of the fixings for the three of us and it cost us $70 Canadian in total. They had a cheesy live band playing but the sun was out and within a few minutes we were covered with dripping butter from the lobster and corn on the cob. What better way than to spend a birthday?

Tool Talk - Rasp

I have a confession. I am addicted to shopping. You may think that this is one of those stereotypical women things but its worse. I am addicted to shopping at Home Depot. I wander the aisles aimlessly, thinking of how to convert carpenters tools into studio tools. I have no idea what construction people do with dowels, but mine are used to create even slabs of clay. Metal wire turns into hanging systems for my planters. Paint mixers on a drill are the best way to mix large quantities of glaze. I hate to admit what my wire cutters have been up to! My long standing favorite must be the rasp. A rasp was originally designed as a woodworking tool but I buy just the replacement blades for my studio. As a beginner potter, I relied quite heavily on a rasp. It evened out the lopsided mouths of those tiny cylinders we all started with. Once clay is leather hard, a rasp cuts it like cheese. Now I use my rasp more for slab construction. I can create perfect right angles on boxes just with a few gentle drags of the rasp. I have started producing some small sake sets and the rasp helps me trim up the base of the cylinder without having to trim it on the wheel. Because the top of the sake carafe is much more narrow that the base, it is a lot trickier to trim on the wheel. I just wait until it is leather hard and the rasp cleans up the bottom easily with minimum effort and time. The other added benefit of using a rasp is the shredded clay it creates. If you are ever in a hurry for some slip, the gratings from the rasp dry within minutes because they are so thin. Add a little water and you have the perfect consistency for slip.

A terrible rotten day

I had a terribly rotten day today. Well, it wasn't life shattering but it was just one of those days when things weren't going my way. I rolled over in bed and hit snooze at 7am to get just five more minutes but the power decided to go out and I woke at 9:30 with a headache from oversleeping. I made a huge list last night and it was waiting for me on the kitchen table. I ran out to get a few errands done and ended up putting a nice scrape in the bumper of our new car. No one was hurt but it was just one of those stupid things that happens in parking lots just to ruin your day. I got home very frustrated, hungry and close to tears. Then I went into my studio.

There is something magical about working with clay. It puts things either out of your mind or into perspective. Potters are lucky people. We are close to the earth and therefore we stay grounded (most of the time...). After about an hour of playing in the mud, my headache was gone and I could see how lucky I was to be blessed with health, a home and happiness. I know it sounds corny but there is nothing better than playing in the mud. By the time my hubby came home from work I was able to joke about my terrible driving with him. I am also lucky that he has a creative soul too, as he just laughed when I told him what happened and how grumpy I had been.

So, its a good thing that I stepped into the studio today. I not only made some beautiful bowls, but put a little scrape into proper perspective. The next time you have a terribly rotten day, I suggest sticking your hands in the mud. It makes everything better!

Thanks Mud Team!

Since I joined the EMT (Etsy Mud Team) I have found an abundance of fabulous potters who love chatting! It takes me a while to get through 40 pages of forum posts when I peek my head up from my studio, but it is well worth it! There are so many knowledgeable artists out there and it is always fun to follow them through their day. I sympathize and relate to the strange looks received upon walking into a drug store with my face unknowingly covered with mud. Even though selling art is a competitive market, these 'mudders' collaborated to open a communal shop and blog. Go EMT! Another bonus of joining the EMT street team is being a part of all of the fabulous mud Treasuries! We even hit the front page of Etsy which resulted in the team selling quite a few items.

Caffeine/Sugar Buzz

I have a secret to share... I am addicted to Ed's Ice cream! Down by the beach I have found an amazing homemade ice cream shop that is addictive. Tonight it was a dish of Tahitian Vanilla Bean with a shot of espresso poured over top. Nothing is better than caffeine and sugar! They even make their own cones in a waffle maker by the door so you can smell them down the street. My absolute favorite is Mint Grapefruit Gelato. It is perfect while I catch some sun on the sand. If you are ever in Toronto down at the beach, check out Ed's on Queen East. If you are adventurous, try the Chocolate Chili Pepper - Wow!! While you're there, say Hi to Ed for me!

Tool Talk - Handles

There has been a lot of talk going on concerning pulling handles and I have to admit that it is my least favorite task in the studio. I haven't pulled a handle in a while so I was avoiding making mugs. But all of the current talk about handles renewed my interest and I actually enjoyed making these. For those of you that are experts, this may be old news, but I know that when I was beginning, I used all of the little tips I could find! So, pulling a handle requires a gentle, patient touch. They say its like milking a cow, but I wouldn't know (even though I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan). I focus on keeping the clay damp and work over a bucket for easy access to water. Then I gently drag my hand with very little pressure, flipping the ball of clay from front to back quite often between pulls to make sure the handle has even thickness and width. I make extra handles because there are always a few that get dented and lose their flow of line. When the handle is longer than necessary, I tip it upside down to set for a while. Take a look at the pic above to see how the handle begins drying in a curve when set this way. Make sure to set them at the edge of a table so the handle can drape loosely without getting distorted.

Once they are set a bit, I cut the top of the handle off of the ball of clay at quite an angle. I attach and then flip the mug upside down so the curve does not get pulled down by gravity. I trim off the end of the handle flat and attach. Then I leave the mug upside down to dry with the handles facing in so they dry a bit slower than the body of the mug. I keep them covered for a day to slow the drying time as well so that the handles do not dry away from the body. It is also a good idea to turn the handles away from the walls of your kiln to avoid shocking them during the firing process.I usually add a little stamp or circle to the bottom of the handle. This not only adds a little design element, but ensures that the handle is stuck on properly. I hope you can find a new little trick in this post because I love buying new ceramic mugs. I have a shelf full of them in my kitchen. Any potters up for a mug swap?