A few more pictures

This is a flower ring - I should have put some flowers in it to show how it looks in use, for people who aren't familiar with them. I'll do that and take a picture. But for now I wanted to show off this glaze, reminds me of a "hare's fur" glaze at higher temperatures and in reduction atmosphere.

Below is a 5 to 6 cup casserole dish. That bigger green one behind, to the left, looked great except for all the running blobs at the bottom !

This is another casserole, much bigger and harder to show how the brush worked turned out . Looks better in person as it has a nice flowing design, makes a person want to keep turning it to see where the design goes. Makes me want to take better pictures !

Small vase or pencil holder with funky flowers. The flowers just have a barnard stain brushed on them, I didn't want to obscure the texture with glaze. And no, the table isn't crooked, my eyes are !

Bigger vase, more funky flowers.

Small plate. Deep texture with copper wash brushed onto the bisque and then a satin matt over all.

Really large squared handbuilt bowl with handles. Love this glaze and the way it pools into texture.

Close-up of the handle on the above bowl.

most recent firing

These are some mugs from my most recent firing. I'm really not too happy with how these pictures have come up but thought I'd post them anyways.

I like layering different glazes to see what happens.

This mug above and the two bowls below have a semi matt on them that reminds me of the ^ 10 Mamo glaze that I loved when I had access to a gas reduction kiln. I do prefer the matt glazes over the shiny because I can see the form so much better. Too bad the buying public wasn't on that train !

Plum Blossoms

The weather here has finally become more springlike.
The blossoms on our plum trees in the yard are in full bloom.
 Field work has been progressing quite well - long hours and not much time for the pottery.

Yesterday I had just gotten well into a project that I had been planning for for quite awhile when the phone rings and it is a neighbor putting the word out that another neighbor had a bad fire raging in their field. So, I made the call to the men in our field and while they took the necessary steps to leave their equipment, I readied the water truck and lined up rakes, shovels and personal water bottles. Once the men raced into the yard there were running instructions and everyone jumped in trucks and raced down to the site of the fire. ( sorry, no pictures ! ) There was a huge amount of smoke and fire flaming into the sky visible for miles. Once we got there it was about a 2 hour battle to get things under control. Many acres had been burnt and alot of brush will no loner protect the fields from wind damage. But it could have been worse. After our own fire last fall we are starting to get a better "to do" list when the call goes out. Not the kind of wood firing I like to be invited too but we know how important it is that everyone pitch in when there is an emergency.

Oh, and I made cookies yesterday morning. They turned out great; crunchy on the outside, soft, chewy and delicious on the inside.

The plate is made by Julia Rand of Edmonton, AB.

 Here's the recipe:

Nutella Cookies

 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, at room temp.

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

400 g. jar of  Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup toasted & skinned hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

Cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in Nutella and vanilla extract. Mix in egg.

Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips and hazelnuts.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for about 11 minutes until the edges look set. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully remove to cooling racks.

Mother's Day

Early May on our farm has always been about getting the crop in the ground.  My own family always finds a way to pause and show their appreciation. This year was marked with beautiful flowers, sentimental cards and loving phone calls.

So, during my married life,  I have rarely been able to spend Mother's Day with my Mother. 1990 was the exception when my mother made it a point to travel hundreds of miles to be with me on my first Mother's Day. 

That's a great Mother !

Belated Birthday Greetings

Apparently it was Robin Hopper's birthday this past Friday. So, in celebration of his birthday, I am sharing these pictures of my visit (July 2008) to his pottery. Robin and his wife Judi Dyelle have their pottery just outside Victoria , on Vancouver Island, Canada. It is very easy to find if you are in the area. They have quite a good website here : http://www.chosinpottery.ca/pages/thepottery.html

This is where I found him, busy loading hundreds of test tiles into the kiln. He was in the midst of teaching a glaze development class.  Students were everywhere asking him questions while he was loading the kiln and visitors ( Jack and myself) were snooping around. Yet, he was still able to pause and muster up a smile . 

 Jack peering into the kiln which is located at the rear of the studio.

Robin and Judi have a magnificent garden which visitors are welcome to walk around and explore. These pictures don't do it justice. I think there are some much better ones on their website.

As you walk along the garden pathways there are wonderful treasures to discover !

New Gadget

This was in my latest haul from Dollarama. I can’t believe how much stuff I bring home from that place, I’m gonna have to go in a twelve step program. I bought a couple of these for the studio… and then went back for more for the garden for which they were intended. Maybe they'll be used in the garden, maybe not, depends how well they will spray glaze. They're great for a water gun - pump them up once and they stay pressurized for hours.

Studio Pal

Here's a picture of my longest surviving studio buddy. The spec plate on her says she was made in 1975 but I got her when the University of Alberta was selling off some of their equipment in about 1982. This old wheel has served me well and never given me a moments trouble The splash pan was one of Shimpo's better designs. The bottom pulls back and off completely for cleaning out trimmings or hosing down and the top tray has enough room for my water bowl and more than enough tools.

Not identical twins

... but in the same family, these mugs are.

No one would ever call me a production potter - I'm too easily distracted and waaaay too slow.

Here's the mugs I threw thursday afternoon and handled yesterday.

A good day to be inside

Yes, it was a good day to be inside and finish fitting lids, adding handles and trimming casseroles, bowls and bakers. Another potter blogger wrote that she never makes the same thing twice - me too !

Here's the first robin I've seen this year... probably wishing she had taken a later flight !

A view across the lane from my studio. Love those huge fluffy flakes.

Soup, Bread and Claybakers

Since telling Hollis that I would trade him soup recipes I thought I would publish the recipe here for all with a picture. Friday was a great day for soup. This is a family favorite, it uses many ingredients that are part of our western lifestyle: high quality lean beef, any root vegetable you care to throw in the pot and, of course barley. We grow lots and lots of the best barley in the world !

I hope you give this a try - feel free to experiment with your local ingredients... maybe not clams though. Check out Hollis's chowder recipe for those.

Hearty Hamburger Soup ( makes 10 servings )

1.5 lbs lean ground beef

1 medium chopped onion

1 - 28oz. can diced tomatoes

2 c. water

3- 10 oz. cans consomme

1 - 10 oz. can tomato soup

6 carrots chopped

1 bay leaf ( I'm not a fan, so leave this out)

3 stalks of celery chopped

1/2 tsp. thyme

1T. of dried parsley or fresh if you have it

8 heaping T. pot barley

pepper to taste.

Brown onion and beef in a large heavy pot, drain if needed.

Add all the other ingredients, cover and simmer for at least 2 hours or all afternoon while you are out in the studio !

Some homemade bread goes great.

BTW, the bread is baked in an unglazed baker that I made. This works so well that I will never go back to a metal loaf pan. The baker is sitting on tiles that I made as a first year student at Sheridan College (Oakville campus ) and later set into a large coffee table made by a friend, specifically for the tiles.

Spring Time in Saskatchewan

One of the great things about Saskatchewan is the variety of weather we experience here. Take Friday for example, here's a picture of my husband, Jack (on the left ) and a friend visiting from eastern europe out for a stroll. That evening he commented that he now knows why so many people here on the prairies drive half tons and SUV's.

Superstitious, Who ? Me ?

It was the ancient Japanese potters that fired with wood who believed that sacrifices and offerings must be made to the kiln god, Kama No Kami. Even the great masters could not control the kiln to perfection -- there are just too many variables -- how much air, how much wood, what fuels to use, when to use them, how to control temperatures, how much stoking, how to stack the pieces, where to place the pieces. The potter controls about 85% of the process but other factors are beyond control, like weather, wood-condition, and kiln atmosphere, which are left to the kiln god.

Years ago, even though I fire with electricity, I began collecting masks and hung them around the door frame of my kiln room to discourage evil spirits from messing with my kiln.

These fierce masks were mostly bought on travels to South America, Cuba,Florida and Mexico. The African masks were a gift from a friend. My youngest daughter, who has been known to send the evil spirits running, contributed a plaster cast of her face that was done several years ago as a school project. The round, three headed one I made as an example for a summer camp kids class I was leading.

Home on the range

Today has been a beautiful sunny winter day.

the sunshine belies the actual temperature : -24 c. with the wind chill it feels like -34 c.

this picture was taken from up the road looking at our 'back 40' and equipment entrance.

The Graduate.

June 9th, 2009. Without a doubt, one of the hottest days all year.

Tuxedoes and ball gowns at the rink !

bubble wrapped, tagged and bagged.

I wanted to use the grad colors for the bags but the grad committee was taking too long to finalize their colors so I went with white.

A batch of mugs waiting to be bubble wrapped and bagged.

2009 Retrospective

I thought I'd post these pictures of an undertaking I began this time last year. My son graduated high school in June last year. Since my daughter had graduated 2 years previous I knew that there was to be a lot of gift giving in June. My son is such a terrific young man, I really wanted to mark this milestone in a special way. Making these mugs is what I came up with. They are all different on purpose. I wanted him to be able to pick and choose colors, sizes and shapes for each individual recipient. They went out to each fellow grad, grandparents, almost every teacher, a teacher that had retired but had been significant to his time there and even the bus driver.

Happy 2010 Everyone !

This post is a bit late but... what the heck -

My daughter saw this sign posted at a local restaurant when she was home from University for Christmas. Something you'd only see in a small (redneck) town !

Surface design, Texture & Pattern

This tray was in the second to last firing before the show and I was really excited about the direction this new work could take me in. I love textiles for surface design,pattern and texture and this new work is a way of getting a textile look on my clay pieces.