Happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!  

I haven't blogged in a few weeks....it has been crazy busy getting orders ready for galleries and shops for the summer season.  Below are a few photo's of pots in different stages in the studio.  

I was so sad to see this piece come out of the kiln with a crack!!  It is the largest vessel and has three trout on it.  This was "the show piece" of the season...now, it is not.  It has a very thin crack, but a crack nevertheless, in the base.  A crack is unacceptable and the piece has now gone onto the reinvention table.  I'm thinking of drilling out the bottom, mounting it to a stone or wood base and making a fabulous lamp out of it.   I'm even thinking of doing a stained glass lampshade....or better yet, see if my stained glass artist friend, Lynn, will take on the project???  Poor Lynn is reading this right now in horror! There is literally no one on earth with a plate more full than her. 

I am still so upset over the crack, I didn't photograph it again after the bisque firing.  I won't photograph it until one day it becomes something fabulous.  I spent more time carving this pot than any other to date....and it cracked!  

Moving on.....

 I really like this piece and plan to do many more in a variety of color and lack of color...it is very tactile due to the depth of the crevices.  This piece is waiting for a clear glaze firing.

I'm still working at painting glaze onto this pot.  Atlantic Salmon.  

I think this piece will be spectacular if the glaze remains true after the firing.  It feels so realistic and has great movement.  

Ravens on a decorative jug....I have no idea why, or what it will end up looking like, but I think it is pretty interesting and can't wait to see the final results!

My East Coast Collection consists of Lobster Buoy Hummingbird Feeders to Blue Crab mugs (which are popular from Maryland to Maine due to their whimsical nature)......

Blue Crab Mug

Lobster Buoy Hummingbird Feeder (a Peasley Pottery original)....and yes, custom orders for buoy colors are available. And the same holds true for any of the lobster buoy products.

 

Sea Salt Buoy (Peasley Pottery original)

Puffin Mug

Breakwater Berry Bowl

Native Fish

Lupine Fields

That is just a taste of what has been happening in the pottery studio.  I hope to be back here next Sunday with a horse tale or two!  Have a Happy Mother's Day and blessed week! 

Gone Fishin' & Muddin' and Didn't Leave Home!

Finally, Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming, grass is turning green and the sun is shining!  And, I've gone fishin' in the studio....I've never caught so many nice fish in one place before, but I did this week in the mud!  

These are Atlantic Salmon carved into white stoneware.  It was a very delicate process and I held my breath while I carved out the tail of the fish.  It sets on the drying rack and once dried, in the kiln it shall go for the bisque fire.  After that, it won't be so delicate.  Right now it scares the daylights out of me to even breath in the direction of that pot!

This carving is of three Brook Trout on brown stoneware.  I have never used this stoneware to carved before.  This particular stoneware speckles once fired, so it should be a great effect to the fish.  

The rest of the week has been spent working on a variety of projects and pieces, from mugs, cups and bowls to more sculptural and carved pieces.  Some experimental, some purposeful. Here is a sample of a few of the pieces I've been working on.

This is an interesting piece.  Deep carved and abstract in nature.  It was nonetheless challenging and time consuming in it's own way.  Trying to get every crumb of clay out of the crevices while leaving it fairly smooth proved to be tedious work.  When I began this piece, I was clear on how I wanted to surface decorate it and although I was tempted to stray from the original plan, I did not. The picture to follow will horrify you.  But, don't despair...this is not the final piece...

I want the piece to be black with bright red in the crevices, but to achieve that, I had to saturate the entire piece in red to cover all the walls of the crevices.  I'm letting it set up and then will go over the piece in black underglaze leaving the crevices red.  Once it has gone through the bisque fire, I will then clear glaze it, as I will the black and white pieces above.  

I hope you are enjoying Spring, wherever you may be.  It has been an on again, off again relationship with Maine.  Below normal temperatures with frost one day, the next a lot of rain.  Today was beautiful sunshine and the rest of the week will be more rain.  Yet, we are fortunate, because we are not under water, as are parts of the mid-west.  Life is good in Maine, hope it is where you are!  Have a blessed week!

Mud Season

It's said that Maine has two season's, winter and mud.  This year that is proving to be true. Personally, I like my mud in the studio, making beautiful pots.  And I prefer outside the ground to be dry under a sunny sky!  One out of two isn't bad.....

This week I spent throwing as much mud as possible.  Here are a few photo's from the week....

White bowls on the drying rack that will eventually be decorated with lobsters and crabs or other Maine creatures.

A lobster buoy sea salt pot!

A seal lounging on the lid for a large pot. 

Stamp decorated butter dish with handle...slab built.

And last, but not least, a large pot to be carved into......???????????????????????????????
You'll have to check back next week to see, maybe I will too, because I have no idea what it is going to be!

I hope wherever you live it is sunny and warm, here in the Northeast we haven't been so fortunate yet.  One day it rains and the yard is a sea of mud, then the next day it is snowing! The horses don't care, they love the snow or the mud, they even fall asleep in the mud.  Nothing stops nap time!

Happy April Fool's Day!!!  I was surprised I made it through the day without incident...nothing...no practical jokes...no attempts made by anyone, not even me!  It was an ordinary day of early morning coffee with friends & family, then off to the pottery studio.

The other day I threw these two large pots with shelves for lids.  Today, I dropped the taller one making it unusable as a lidded container, much less a round container.  It flattened one side in the fall from my hands to the counter top, a free fall of only six inches.  Far enough to change the course of the pot.  Now it is something far better than what I had in mind originally.  

A red fox carving is what transpired out of the fallen pot.  Here it is in the carving stage and doesn't look all that interesting, but once it has been underglaze painted and glaze fired, it will look more realistic and beautiful!  I can't wait to see the final product...I say that on every piece I make, I know, but it is so exciting to have an image in your head brought to life!

This past week was interesting, exciting, difficult, miserable and wonderful all at the same time!  I had to take an unexpected trip to Massachusetts to visit family.  I was featured on Facebook by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development's project Maine Made and approved into the program.  Now, my pots proudly wear the tag "Maine Made: America's Best."  I visited one of the two galleries that will be representing Peasley Pottery this year and it is absolutely full of the most exquisite wildlife art!  The Northport Landing Gallery in, none other, Northport, Maine. Love it there!  I took orders from a few new shops, received more orders from first time customers, which is always fun.   Gass Horse Supply located in Orono, Maine exclusively sells my equestrian pottery in the area and were so generous in giving Peasley Pottery a mention in their radio ad! And to top off my week....I was blessed to have my mother, daughter, and grandson with me for Easter dinner!  And, it was sunny outside!  I hope you all had a blessed Easter and a wonderful week too!

Brook Trout Love - Part II

The Brook Trout Vase is finished!!!  I couldn't be happier with the results, it really came together well.  I worried the underglaze's wouldn't blend or survive the high temperature of the kiln, leaving it discolored...I worried for nothing.

There will be a lot more carving and sculpting in the future.  Currently, I'm carving a wooden three foot high seahorse in high relief for a custom home on Mount Desert Island, Me.  This piece will take a few months to complete.  I am working on it in my spare time and having fun with it! I'll post photo's later of that, but for now, the most recent pottery pieces out of the kiln....

Poppy Vase

The Luminaries are ready for summer, are you?  I sure am....here it is the first day of Spring and we have another foot of fresh snow....someone needs to go ground hog hunting!  These luminaries will dress up any room or outdoor patio area and look great during the day, like a fresh bouquet.  In the evening just flip the switch to the battery operated tea light and watch the bouquet change color while casting a soft glow.  Battery operated tea lights offer a carefree and safe alternative to wax burning candles.  They come in a variety of colors and are very inexpensive.

without tea light

with tea light shining purple

same tea light shining pink

Until next time, think Spring!

Brook Trout Love - Part I

Here is the Brook Trout vase I am working on.......

 (Female Brook Trout)

 (Male Brook Trout)

Tomorrow I hope to finish the background work which I started today (not photographed).  This piece has been a real challenge, especially with applying the underglazes, blending them and trying to get the correct coloration.   I am hoping to get the background complete tomorrow, then the lear glaze applied prior to firing later in the week.  As you've heard me say before, there are so many variables with glazes and firing, sometimes what goes in a kiln is not what comes out.  Expect the unexpected, but hope for the best!  Most often, it is fine, but there is always that anxiety of the unknown.  We'll see what comes out towards the end of the week.....stay tuned....and have a wonderful week!

March Mud Madness!!

March has come in like a lion....and hopefully goes out like a lamb.  My studio efforts have followed the weather pattern.  Today it is a muddy mess outside from the thaw and a muddy mess inside from throwing.   I wasn't feeling up to par, so I wiped off the mud and unloaded the kiln....

The"Test Trout" - underglaze painting on white stoneware with clear glaze over.  I painted this as a test for a trout sculpture I have been waiting to paint and fire.  I needed to test the application of glazes to make certain when blended with others that they would hold true to their color at Cone 5/6 temps.  Sometimes the underglaze will burn out and change color.  These Amaco Velvet Underglaze remain true creating a great palette to work from.

I am very happy with the floral bowl.  The Amaco Potter's Choice Deep Firebrick (on flower petals) combined with the PC Verte Lustre glaze on the leaves really blended well, complimenting each other.  I hesitated to glaze the interior with the firebrick, but am now glad I did.

 #1) The Lupine vase came out lovely.  I love the composition of the arrangement, the color choice, but the clear glaze did not cover completely.  My error, I did not apply it thick enough, so now there are a few spots that are rough from not being glazed properly.  #2) The Lily of the Valley vase also came out fine, but I applied a white glaze that did not take to being brushed on.  It was a dipping glaze, but I failed to re-adjust the glaze consistency prior to application, (learn from my mistakes!), so the brush strokes came through in patches.  And finally, #3) The Burgundy Lily.   The background glaze is a bit darker than I had expected, but I like it.

The luminaries came out beautiful. I just love the softness of the glaze on the smaller one, but the vibrant blues accented with purple on the larger one is very cheerful and reminds me of Spring time!!

And then there was this....the extra large Poppy Vase/Bowl.  Now this was a huge disappointment! I was hoping for a fine golden finish with this glaze (Amaco Potter's Choice Saturation Gold) in the background.  What I got was a pitted mess.  The photo below shows it much better.

It's a pitty party!

Onward and upward!  Never concentrate on what doesn't work, celebrate what does!  Like the Potter's Choice Saturation Metallic glaze below......

...such a smooth and even metallic finish...very soft and beautiful glaze...just wish the Saturation Gold had come out as well! 

After unloading the kiln, I took the rest of the day off and spent time relaxing...that is, after I passed through the mud path and porch guardian.

Apollo "Pol" (the Great Dane who is well over 200 lbs.) He's looking at the path of mud that leads to the pottery shed (more mud).....he clearly has no intention on leaving the porch at the risk of getting dirty. (That's a cattle collar around his neck...we couldn't find a dog collar big enough.)  

This brave little soldier is Einstein, my extremely happy tripod Border Collie, the snake hunter! Yes, snakes.  He can smell them a mile away and will strike with lightening force breaking their necks.  He's a superhero! He literally does a perimeter check of the house and out buildings.  Nothing stops him from his daily routines, a little mud doesn't slow him down, not even a missing hind leg.  He is a rescue out of Kentucky that has acclimated to Maine weather.  As you can imagine, it took him a few winters to adjust to maneuvering in deep snow.  It's as if he's always lived in Maine.   Now, the big galoot on the porch, that's another matter....he hates it too cold, too windy, too wet, too muddy, too sunny....he likes being inside were it is just right!