Learning About Test Tiles

There are many benefits to having test tiles for glazes. It allows you to test combinations of glazes easily and inexpensively, and serves as a permanent reminder of what a glaze looked like on a certain clay. Otherwise, if you’re like me, you forget very quickly.       How to make test tiles

I am not a potter, but I have the pleasure of hanging out with quite a few of them.  Now put two or more in room and inevitably you will hear the words "test tiles" bandied about.  If you don't wish to read the link above, they are quite simply prototypes for finding out how glazes will look on a finished piece.  They are the necessary research done prior to making a huge batch of "yucks."  Time, patience and note taking are required.

I got a free and much needed lesson in testing this week thanks to one of those distinguished potters.  I had a whim to make ceramic knobs for my kitchen, each one original and special and in a color palate I could only dream of, never mind buy.  My kind neighbor Maggie Black was eager to help me and after giving me a few tips left me to my own devices.

I had a ball rolling out the clay, cutting up shapes and then stamping them with pre-selected designs.  Perfection was not an issue because frankly I did not know enough to realize what goofs might stymie me later on.

It was actually a lot like making cookies.  They needed to be more or less the same depth and size (I knew they would shrink a skoosh) and I wanted the designs to be sorta related (lots of leaves).

Maggie popped them in the kiln and summoned me to come add the color.  Turquoise and yellow I announced.  It was then she burst my eager bubble and suggested, no, insisted, that I do some "test tiles."  Dread.  Time down the drain I began to think but she was slightly more accomplished in this endeavor than I!

So I dipped and cleaned and kept my selection to about 3 or 4 different jars...my memory is short.  And tried double dips, matt and shiny and did my best to hide my disappointment that this little project would be prolonged another week. 

So you can guess my next chapter, right?  Herewith the test tiles and it is no surprise than some of them are just butt-ugly.  You can be sure I was thanking Miss Maggie profusely from preventing me from sacrificing all my previous work in one impatient move.  

I played with these results, made notes, passed them by the other kitchen resident and made some decisions on how to proceed.  A long careful painting session, a few more random experiments (but not on the preselected, designated knobs) and we were back to the cooker, um, kiln.

This is the oven where the magic happens...and where surprises come out even with the best of testing.  It is always like Christmas to be present when a potter opens the kiln, frankly I don't know how they manage to wait for it to cool.  I'd need patience pills.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy.  Here are my beauties...and my continued thanks to Maggie for saying those dreaded words "test tiles."  Aren't these absolutely beautiful?

Time to get out the E6000 glue and attach the hardware.  This go round I was able to stumble across the hardware already made for projects like this (as opposed to roaming the hardware stores and creating my own from random pieces).  The base and screws can be found at D Lawless Hardware, and if you cannot cut your own knobs they also have bisqued pulls ready to paint and fire.  

So completely unique!  And I have enough finished pieces to make magnets.  And enough knob bases to do another kitchen....no stopping me now, unless I have to make more test tiles.  

Joking aside: those words and Maggie's insistence on using them have come back around and around this week haunting me into becoming a believer.  Stay tuned.  It's not only in ceramics that one needs to employ "test tiles."

GLUING AND SCREWING,

Cindy

Collaborative Creations: SisterWork

"I can do things you cannot,

you can do things I cannot; together

we can do great things."

Mother Teresa

I am pretty certain that Mother Teresa was not referring to art when she made this statement, but the sentiment applies.  When two creative spirits merge amazing things can happen...especially when we freely recognize our own limitations and honor the abilities of another.  Such was the case when my sister, a potter, mentioned her need for some line images to me, an artist.  She was headed to a "transfer workshop" at the John C. Campbell Folk School and was not content (thank goodness) to work with publicly available "clip art."

 My sister Amy (who possesses a range of talents) remembered this drawing I did many years ago for which she wrote a poem.  In her mind she saw the drawing upon a vase.  Could we go there?

yes!

But the in-between story is one of experiments on both our parts...

I got busy doing some black and white line drawings of a variety of objects.

Some she requested, others I just wanted to do.

She took a pile of these along with a beautiful bounty of cups, bowls and vases she had prepared especially for this workshop.  They were in several stages of completion depending on the technique they would use to move these designs onto them.

Her "homework" waiting to be packed for class

Julie Hearne of Turning Point Pottery in Brasstown, NC planned to teach 4 transfer methods in the 2.5 day workshop but I am only going to share one (and that even briefly) here.  The "water slide decal" method involved a computer, photoshop, a printer with "magnetic ink character recognition" toner, transparencies and a bucket of distilled water.  The general idea is to size the image and print it onto the water slide decal transparency (available from Beldecal for $1.00 per page).  There is iron oxide in the ink toner.  Then you soak the transparency in the distilled water and slide it into place on the pottery.  Fire to cone 04 and.....

if the glaze plays well with the iron oxide....

if you understand photoshop and how to size and how to sharpen and how to whiten whites...

if your initial glaze does not darken too much hiding the image...

if you don't mind black lines in some cases and sepia colored ones on others.....

well then,

VIOLA! and TA-DA!

You will have a beautiful pot with an image permanently embedded.

(The secret to this alchemy is no secret: practice, test, repeat!  But we are full-out, balls to the walls kind of creators and the joy was in forging ahead and taking notes later...if we remembered them!)

Amy made a page of transparencies from a colored drawing I did

I wasn't at the workshop but Amy took enough notes and photos for us to hopefully re-enact the process down the road.  She became intrigued with the possibilities of using script and I can see all kinds of special drawings for use-specific pots.  I don't throw pots and she doesn't draw lines but oh my, imagine the trouble we can get into working together?!

More show and tell:

the image

the water glasses

the drawing made into water slide decals

the bowl interior (they wind around the sides also)

and some pasta bowls....

 I have never imagined my doodles or drawings being used as pottery decoration and now it is hard to get the thought out of my head.  I have painted pots before and become very frustrated as I could not see the true colors beneath the chalky finish of the glazes (admittedly I should have spent more time practicing, testing and repeating).  But this process is a single color effect....and now I want to know: can we layer them, can we combine with texture, can we make strips and chains of a long image to wrap around, can we....I love thinking "can WE..."

Even if you do not have a sister close enough to play with find a 'sister in creativity' and bite off a project, something that involves both of you adding a little something that the other one cannot.  It can be one of you cooking and the other doing the flowers for a dinner, maybe one of you writing the poem and the other one illustrating or typesetting it, one dyeing fabric the other making a bag from it.  The whole idea is to engage two brains...not competing but working together.  I guarantee you will see something emerge that you did not anticipate...the creativity gets dialed up several notches just by throwing ideas around (if you are cooking with brussel sprouts could I also use them as florals?)

I'm a huge fan of collaboration.  Go for it.  Let me know what comes of it.

CREATING COLLECTIVELY,
Cindy

p.s. My sis, AmyH does not have a website (yet) or I would direct you to it.  If you have any questions you need to run by her just send them to me and I will forward to her...as soon as she completes her ocean sail through the Bahamas and Haiti she will reply.

2017 Eclipse Revisited

OK, I'm a tad disappointed, I thought more visual artists

(and poets and dancers) would be documenting their

creative reactions to the 2017 phenomenon, the eclipse.

Maybe makers are still processing and digesting; maybe

there is work yet to be created.

Gene Smith prepared with filters to capture the event

I am often accused of being overly-enthusiastic.  Guilty.  But in checking around with all my arty friends as well as on the web, I am not finding too many others who documented our recent eclipse.  Many for-profit organizations produced tee-shirts and posters but I was looking for artist reaction.

However family-DNA proved strong as, unbeknownst to me (and totally unprompted by me), my sister did choose to make a mark on the occasion producing one of her clay bowls in commemoration of the event she experienced at the Washington DC zoo.

AmyH, Washington DC potter

untitled, thrown bowl, 2017

Cool, huh?  And I called my photographer buddy, Gene, to see if he got creative that day.  He did not disappoint:

gorgeous

just a few of the pieces he did

Gene Smith, photographer

There is/was a quilt ART project spearheaded by NASA which is really open to all media (not just quilting) but will be displayed as a collage or quilt when finally assembled.  Pretty nifty idea and I hope folks respond.  Check out the link to read more about it.  And then I found this:

Isn't this pretty?  It's a quilt square designed by Susan Davis from Bozeman, MT.  You can see her work and/or order a pattern for this commemorative design here.  It is part of her Awareness & Special Days collection.

My Uncle is a woodworker and alerted me to this:

This is a mirror crafted by John Lucas, a wood turner from East TN, a part of his galaxy series and done especially to commemorate this years eclipse.  I tried to get a link here about him and his work.

My search efforts were meager at best, and yes, I am still processing and wondering how to work the event into future art pieces of my own.  If you missed my blogs, Eclipse I and II, find them here and here.  So I guess I should promise now to drop the subject?  Three blogs? O.K., I'll let it rest a bit.  

How are you going to spend this glorious, last week of official summer?  My heart goes out to those in TX who are still sifting through the aftermath of Harvey, so much to remind us that Nature is still in charge.  

THOUGHTFULLY YOURS,

Cindy

Creative (and Empty) Bowls

Deal-makers aim for "win-win" as they believe

that means both parties get a benefit.

Sometimes, the stars align and a particular project

turns out to be a "win-win-win-win..."

Such was this year's fundraiser for "Feeding Avery Families."

Our quasi-official clay group (from 3 different states) scheduled our second annual Mudfest to coincide with our leader's (Mother Mud's) favorite community project: Empty Bowls.  Since the indefatigable Patti Conner-Greene spearheads the construction of clay bowls in the Avery County High School art classes she had also challenged us to each make one or more bowls to donate to the fundraiser.

The Mudpuppies

pottery support group and creative muses

Opening business included lunch, catching up and a birthday celebration.  While we were prepared to spend some time experimenting with "pinch pots," we first wanted to present our wares to the "Head of Pottery," Ms. Conner-Greene, the bowl collector.

I show you first my humble piece as I don't consider myself a potter and was really flummoxed by the task at hand.  It would not have taken too much for me to hide it and not "go public".  Live and learn.

Amy bravely unwrapped her efforts and began discussing techniques used and what she learned.  She talked about certain pieces that did not meet her "standards" and might be held from donation.

Lisa began sharing her work and soon we were all laughing and oohing and ahhing and trading "secrets" for how to get certain results.  We giggled over how much better the potential rejects looked out of their home studios....

Patti convinced us that despite our initial reaction to appearance she really loved, but even more, wanted, needed each and every bowl.  There was little time to hem and haw so back into the boxes and the bowls were off to the next day's event.

I'll save our pinching experience as well as our field trips for another time.  Fast forward to the day of the event and we see three (non-professional) potters arriving to volunteer for the event.  

 Barbara assisting a donor select a bowl

a view of the many bowls donated and Amy answering questions

Attendees make a donation to the organization in exchange for selecting a handmade bowl and then they sit down to enjoy a range of soups, breads and desserts.  Craft it and they will come: donors poured in to support the cause.  

Are they aware of what else they did?  

They gave a handful of fledging crafters the greatest high a maker can receive: they valued the product.  Professional pots mingled with first-ever pots, wondrous bowls cohabited with the humble, earth tones sat in harmony with wild colors.  But each one was lovingly picked up and handled with respect.  Our Puppies gave up guessing which one a donor would finally choose; each and every bowl seemed to ring the chimes of someone.  It is an understatement to say that the newbie potters saw their own work in an entirely new light.  The love of a stranger made a huge impact.  The adoption of one's potential reject changed its status forever.  Watching someone willingly select something you made provided a rush of adrenaline that is rare and wonderful.

Lisa rearranging the display as inventory diminishes

Long before the event was to serve its last bowl of soup the available "empty bowls" dwindled.  For the first time there was not a single hand-made, donated pottery bowl to pack up and store: they were all in new homes.  And, before even adding in anticipated funds from a silent auction, the event organizers were counting over $10,000 raised towards helping feed needy families in Avery County this winter.  Certainly a huge benefit for the organization and the citizens its serves.

Patti has often shared the generosity of high school students donating their first bowl as opposed to keeping it, and she told stories of the classes at the senior center making and giving a generous amount.  But she could not have predicted the numerous benefits participating in such a project would hold for each of us.  I'm not sure any of the Mud Pups have touched ground yet.

Take away on paper?  #1- When you compliment someone's art you are giving them a priceless, precious gift and encouragement to continue. #2- Never, ever underestimate the ability of your work to please, get it out there, let it breathe....it will find a friend.

win-win-win-win-win....such a deal!

MUDDY FINGERS,

Cindy

Sharing the Road

Learning With Friends  

"Glaze was painted, slopped, mixed, dipped, dripped, layered, squirted, and slung at the just-concluded, long-awaited, eagerly-anticipated Mud Fest 2 held.....on the east coast of Florida."

  

(The "MudPuppies" is an apt name for my loosely organized "clay play" support group. 

Having just received an update from my sister on a recent gathering which I could not attend, I

want to share the highlights from her account with you.  They are absolutely very 
valid observations for any creative gathering.)

 "Well," she wrote, "with the absence of two of our members we succumbed to an element of disorganization in our "proceedings."   (I laughed knowing the "agenda" obsession of the missing two!!) She continues:

" ...left to fend for ourselves we managed ably, if a bit

haphazardly.  Our goals were largely undefined and ever

changing but the weather was amazing, so lunch by the pool anchored our day, no matter

what time we started.  

"We taught each other what we knew, and since there was

little overlap, we emerged twice as smart!  

No matter that we kept forgetting what we had

just looked up (can you put non-clear glaze over velvet

underglaze?) or that we took notes on only half of what

we did (and only half of those are legible). No

matter that we made a mess, and switched gears more times

than you can say "now what?" "what's this?" or "who

knew?" 

"And who cares if we forgot to restir the clear glaze, or if Hot Running Chowder turned out to be runny and we still aren't  sure which glaze is which on those upchucky pots?

"We traded techniques, glazes, tools and stories.  We banished insecurities and self-critique. We co-authored pots. We experimented all over the place.

"Here is some of what we learned: 

• Stir, stir, stir your glazes.          
• If you can't figure out what to do next, just do something, anything.  It's no use in trying to be neat and organized but do bring more intentionality to play.
• We  learned it helps a lot to have a buddy when you are unsure, stuck, or discouraged. 
• We learned that making notes is really, really a good idea -so do it! 
• We learned that glazing doesn't have to be intimidating.

"We now know that with the right attitude we can handbuild, glaze, drink iced tea and then move to wine all pretty seamlessly, to good and fun results.  And that talk, giggles, confusion, questions, laughter and love make the wheels turn, the kiln burn, the hours fly, and the pots please.

Learning with friends is a great way to share the road, divide the load and have an unforgettable time as we summon our creative muses.  Thanks Amy for reminding us why we need the right attitude AND the right buddy as we learn.

OK...meet me in the studio!  Let's play,

Sharing the (colorful) Road,
Cindy

Penland Pilgrimage

"She had a point.  A pilgrimage is not about punishment but

about making an intentional decision to look at the world

with fresh awareness and to consider your place in it. 

A pilgrim defines her own pilgrimage; 

maps are guidelines, not prison sentences."

from What the Psychic Told the Pilgram

by Jane Christmas

I have been researching pilgrimages lately.  I have the itch to challenge myself in some way that reveals a new aspect of the world I live in.  It's probably a sign of my age or my ceaseless curiosity but the whole idea appeals to me. So imagine my surprise when I recently realized that I had been on a pilgrimage and didn't even recognize it.

 Early morning mist at Penland School of Craft

I enrolled for a week at the Penland School of Craft in western North Carolina with my sister. She is developing a passion for pottery and while I don't "do" clay I thought it would be a fun week together learning new things.  I like to think I truly enjoy the process of exposure as I dabble in something out of my field.  I now know I am my own worst enemy when it comes to "dabbling".

 Penland offers so much: gorgeous scenery, experts and equipment in many fields, 3 meals a day, interesting fellow students, time to immerse yourself in learning...the list goes on to include yoga, late night chats, meditative walks and time to sit.  Somewhere I got hung up on the "subject immersion" part.  Without realizing it I found myself rushing through breakfast to get back to the studio to try, try, try again a technique that was totally foreign to me.  I inadvertently cut short my lunch break because the call of a failed piece was all I could hear.  And I would barely clean up for dinner as I was anxious to produce a credible copy of every demonstration we were privy to watch.

As the week went on I became more and more anxious that neither my quantity nor my quality was "measuring up."  The irony was that no one, except I, was doing any measuring.  The gal across from me took a week to make 3 pieces, the far more experienced potters behind me were crushing as many as they kept and the giggles from my sis as she broke pieces and parts were having no positive affect on my drive.  Head down, in a minute I'll be there I said, only to turn and find myself now alone in a darkened room.  Nose to the grindstone...for what?  In hindsight I have no answer.

Kiln opening is always a big deal: a reason to party and laugh and share the big reveal.  Our night was no exception.  Wine in hand we all prepared for the "really big shoe."

happy hands reach into the treasure trove of cooked pots

always a collective inhale as the lid is raised

 we gather our work and give it a closer look

I laid my treasures out at my work station and the grin slowly slid from my face.  "What in the world?" I wanted to say.  "I spent a week making this crap?"  Only to myself would I admit that 9/10ths of all I had attempted were fit for the garbage pile.  Suddenly I felt very, very tired.  Even the excitement of fellow students and their sincere attempts towards encouragement didn't lift my spirits.  And let me be honest: I was the first to admit that I had no idea what I was doing, just an interest in doing it.  What was I expecting?  And to what end?

I packed up my treasures that had now lost their luster and it was 3 weeks before I had an interest in unpacking them.  With time had come a kinder eye and I could see the things I had learned, the areas that failed and where some fun things had mistakenly happened.  Most did end up in the dumpster but I now called them "practice pieces" not "production pieces."  We had a good laugh.  Still...still...I knew there was more to this; processing takes time, mulling needs distance, analysis means stepping back.

the piece I kept - my pilgrim's token

I realize now that the purpose of my pilgrimage to Penland was not about pottery...it was about lifting my head up and partaking of all that is around me.  My lesson had very little to do with wet or dry clay slabs and everything to do with slowing down and breathing in the rarefied air that exists in such a place.  I coulda (shoulda, woulda) come home with one decent piece and enjoyed the yoga, taken long walks, lingered over dinner with the writer and visited the studio next door.  This epiphany was mind blowing and, in a funny way, comforting.  It's easy to espouse what we believe but so much harder to live it.  I wanted a quantitative bang for my buck and my time, I came back with a qualitative one.   

I know this doesn't sound much like an ART blog or even a decent PILGRIMAGE story.  But it was both for me.  Have you ever been on a pilgrimage that you didn't recognize as such?  Have you ever had to learn, the hard way, how to really live what you think (or pretend) to believe?  Please tell me I'm not the only one.

ALWAYS A PILGRIM,

Cindy