Stitches West

I know it has been more than a year since I updated my blog. From my previous postings you can see that I was experimenting with knitting patterns on my work and if you have been following me on facebook and instagram, you know how busy that has made me.
I just thought instead of writing long posts, I might just make shorter posts about what is happening in the studio and what is on my needles.
So last week, I went to Stitches West as a vendor for the first time. It was a great show and got to meet so many knitters who have been following my work.
Here are some of the highlights. Visit from Stephen West of westknits designs. Love all his patterns and how he plays with colors. Though I am not so much of a neon person, I admire his courage and have knit several of his patterns. And after setup was the StevenBe and Stephen West fashion show.

 My stash enhancement. I was good and on a yarn diet. But..... Miss Babs... How could I resist those colors? And I have always wanted to knit with spincycleyarns from Bellingham, WA. Got myself a sock bag for my travel knitting from Slipped Stitch Studio.

 And here are some pictures of my booth with new garter Stitch pattern pieces. I sold out of the needle keeper vases on the first day.

I had also taken some amazing handmade buttons from potter and friend, Ginger Steele. (Also known as my Whitey mom). More on those later... I selected some for my sweaters as well. Loved each and every one of them.

Extruded and Pulled Handles

As potters know, a comfortable and aesthetically balanced handle is a goal we all strive for. And for many it is a dreading part of the whole process. It is a constant learning process and now I actually enjoy pulling handles. I have kept experimenting and changing my handles to get them consistent and the shape that I want.

Since I love my extruder so much, potters at shows and online always ask me if I pull or extrude my handles. Well.. I do both. I extrude mostly for getting a consistent shape for all my handles and also it is a lot faster. But plain extrusions and result in a very lifeless handles. So then I go ahead and pull my handle.

I cut my oval shape extrusions to 5" in length. To make this a more pleasurable experience, you clean warm water for pulling. My left hand is always dry to hold the handle. Dip the handle in water and taper it with your right hand.

After tapering, I run my thumb in the center a few times to create a curve. When finished, this slight curve makes a good place for the thumb to rest.

Check the video below to see the whole process. When attaching the handle to the mug, I cut with a cookie cutter as this lets me join the mug to the curved surface of the mug without distorting it. I got that tip from Ginger Steele on one of our clay play dates.

And here is the finished result.

Below are pictures of pots from Ginger Steele and Kristen Kieffer whose handles I really admire.

Feel free to add your tips on handles in the comments.

When Potters Play Together

... we sure can have fun.

It is always a joy meeting other potters and chatting about pottery. We all lead pretty busy lives but it is great to hang out in the studio with another potter. I have been fortunate to hang out in Ginger Steele's studio from time to time. After the Christmas season was over, I made a trip to her studio in Oregon and we experimented with making sculptures constructed with coils.

Check out Ginger's cookie jar with the dog head. I am too embarrased to show what I made. It was a pretty saucy diva sculpture which unfortunately cracked on my trip back home. In any case it was fun and a good exercise.

A week back, Ginger visited our home and our goal was just to play in clay. We extruded some of my pillow shapes and this what Ginger made out of one of them.

I wanted to make some rectangular trays and she helped me make a plaster mold for that and I love the way the tray came out. Look out for these in my shop in the near future.

Ginger liked my extruder dies and had a design in mind for oval casseroles. We went through the process of designing it and I made the die for her which worked like a charm. Here is the casserole I made with that die. I am waiting to see what Ginger makes with that die in her studio.

It was time to spice up Ginger's Etsy shop. So we took pictures of her pots. I showed her how to edit them using picassa for Etsy and we listed her pots. Check out her shop. Really lovely work.

We had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we can play together.

New Teapot Design with cups

Last weekend I attended Ginger Steele's workshop on Form and texture. We made handbuilt mugs and a teapot with textured slabs along with textured roulettes and learning how to pull handles off the pot. I don't have pictures of the work I made there, but it sure was fun to learn.

What facinated most was the process of making a spout. I love those long elegant spouts which are next to impossible to throw on the wheel. Ginger's technique of rolling the slab on a mandrell was quick and efficient. I got back home and tried one of those spouts on my extruded teapots as seen in the picture above. This is one of my first handles pulled off the pot as well.
The cups are extrusions too which are rolled. I like this new design and will play with it some more.

Thinking about teapots, 5 years back, I made a 22 inch commisioned teapot for which I needed a long spout. I used Steven Hill's method to pull a spout from a pool stick. It came out fine, but it was a little heavier than I would like. I can't wait to play around more with teapots again but it will probably have to wait till the end of the year.

VPM-9 Peter Pugger Pugmill

So I finally bit the bullet. After a year or more of going back and forth thinking whether I should buy a pugmill, I finally did. I got the Peter Pugger VPM-9.. which is their small model having a capacity of 25 pounds of clay. This should be plenty for my usage.

For the last year or so, I have been debating with myself. I am not a full time potter, so do I really need a pugmill? If you want to know what was going on my head read on... You will see how I tackle and convince myself along the way. I guess if you have your mind set on something, you will convince yourself one way or another. This could be boring for some so just skip it and watch the video of the pugmill in action. It is noisy only when the vacuum is on, otherwise very quite.

The question of size came in because I don't have a lot of room to put a large size pugmill. The VPM-9 seemed like a decent size, 3 feet in length. Earlier I thought I would keep it in my garage rather than my studio. But I figured (with the help of my wife, Reema) that if I were going to use it often to condition, recycle and wedge clay, it would make more sense to have it close by in the studio. My large quantity glaze chemicals had to move to the garage instead. I am not glaze testing much and I am now set of using only on certain glazes, so the need to access the large chemicals is less. Problem solved!

The big question of price came in. Since I am not doing pottery full time, my consumption of clay is probably 1/2 - 3/4 ton a year and it is increasing. I had realized it would be quite a while till recycling clay and saving clay money would make the pugmill pay for itself. Clay is pretty cheap. But then there is the guilt of throwing it away. Because of trying to use of up clay, my slip decoration technique came about. Some of my slab pieces are also the result of just trying to use scrap clay. I still wasted a bunch and not to forget the time I spend in reclaim. On the other hand, having the pugmill would definetly be easier on my hands, neck, wrists and shoulders. I wouldn't be wasting much clay. It would be environmentally right to reuse than to dump. I also think I would be more productive, rather than spending time wedging and weighing clay. With the 3 inch pug I get from the pugmill, 2inches of length is exactly the weight I use for my mugs. :)

OK.. I am convinced... bring it on!

One of the main reasons I wanted to get one was to give me freedom to experiment and not worry about clay getting wasted. I use the extruder a lot and handbuild too. I feel a lot of clay gets wasted in that process, rather than throwing on the wheel. Last year, I purchased the expansion box for my extruder, and I had not been able to try new dies for it. Out of a 25 pound bag of clay, I got one 18 inch sculpture form and the expansion box has 10 pounds in it that I cannot extrude out. Once that clay is removed from the expansion box, it is very hard to reclaim it. It takes three times as long to reclaim that 10 pounds than to extrude. I stopped using the expansion box. But with the pugmill there is no guilt of wasting clay or spending time in reclaiming clay.

I bet this opens the door a lot of new work. I am really excited to see the direction my work takes.

More importantly I would like to thank several potters and friends who have answered all my bugging questions regarding pugmills and the VPM-9 in particular

Ginger Steele

Belinda

Anne Doyle

Meredith Kopp

Lori

Kristen Swanson

Bernie Short

Folks at Clay Art Center

Folks at Peter Pugger

and I am sure I am missing some, so Thank you all!!!

Learning from Ginger Steele

I can't even begin to describe how generous potters are in sharing ideas, techniques, glaze recipes etc... Since making pottery is so entirely handmade, every artist will have something different in their piece even if they are making similar items.

I have met several potters online and in workshop and all have added so much to my skill set but Ginger Steele truely takes the cake. I have always been struggling with lids. I managed somewhat but was never entirely happy. I spent last weekend at Ginger's studio learning how to make thrown lids for small/big jars, teapots, casseroles. It was all hands on and I gained so much. We also exchanged some patterns and stamps and I am very excited to see how we incorporate it in our work. We made casseroles, jars, pitchers, bowls... etc.. Attached is a picture of some of the work I did and later carved. I did it in her clay so I can get then fired in her kiln. I really like the way the lidded pieces turned out and I have never had such good fitting lids.

One key thing I realized was that I was working with very soft clay, which wasn't letting me manipulate the clay enough for lids seats. The most important thing was to make the lid seat before pulling up the wall. It might be second nature to everyone, but I had not realized this.

One big take away was that I really need to let go and experiment more... not worry about wasted clay, or waste my time thinking about how to use my scraps of clay etc.. etc.. So I am very convinced to purchase a pugmill and I will getting one very soon. I think it will change the way I work, evolving my work in different ways.

I am looking forward to working with her again on her handbuilt work.