TWO WEEKS AWAY

Well, we're off to the mainland tomorrow, and just as well- it's been really hot and humid here- over 30 deg C with 90+% humidity every day for the last month. Hope that's not the new normal due to global warming.
The latest things I've been making are large fermentation jars; people here are making their own sauerkraut, and pickling jars are hard to find, or expensive to ship. So I'm starting to throw big things (for me) again, so far 10 lbs of clay has been my limit. Also some new teapots, trying some different handles. I'm not too happy with commercial bamboo handles, and came across an image of a pot that had these interesting lugs to hold onto bent wood handles. So I tried to bend some wood in our steam oven- and it worked. Can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!

Jars- 15" and 12" high, app 8" dia

Teapots, 7" high

POTTERS ARE CHEAP?!

I was cleaning up my studio (140 sq ft gets messy very quickly) two days ago, and realized how much scrounged stuff I have. So the title of this blog came to mind- and then I thought of how much work we do, for how little money/hour. I guess we must love doing it...
And the stuff I noticed- I use tiles from the local Habitat for Humanity Restore (a dime a piece) for small bats; for big bats I bought bigger tiles there, and cut the corners with a $10 tile saw, also bought there. I usually don't use calipers; instead I made gauges for inside and outside measurements out of cheap linoleum tiles. I cut the 12"x12" lino tiles into four pieces to use as bats for my faceted mugs, and even use the whole tile, with holes drilled in the right places, to throw bigger bigger pots (I layer two on top of each other so I don't hit the bat pins when throwing). And yes, the pot distorts when I lift it off, but comes back into shape when placed on a flat board.
Of course, part of the incentive to make do with stuff like that is due to geography- When I need something quickly, most of the time I can't just go and buy it- that's the price I pay for living on Maui.

Tile bats

Large lino bat

Throwing gauges for lids

MUG DAYS

Well, the last few days have been "mug days". And I've been thinking again about how hard it is for me to make good mugs, and how I seem to approach the "ultimate mug" in a really slow fashion. In the image below the first on the left was made years ago, and I liked the fluidity of the lines, but it was too small for today's caffeine generation, and not that easy to drink from. Then came the next one- better capacity, and better lip, but I didn't like the way the handle stuck out. The next two were sort of standard for a while; I'd throw the round mug, let it get leather hard, cut three facets with a wire, put the handle on where the facets were cut, and then facet the rest. OK, but they look sort of stiff, the facets were too small, and there was none of the fluidity of the first one- and I always lost a few by cutting through the wall with the cutting wire. After all that work! So now I'm on the latest iteration- I facet it while still wet on the wheel, then expand the body from the inside with a rib to give it a nice full shape. And because the clay is still soft, and the rib drags a bit, the facets have a slight twist, which makes the mug visually much more interesting- to me, at least. Let me know what you think!

Mugs, from 3.25" to 5"

MORE VASES

Well, more vases. I seem to get started on some shape, and then others come. It usually takes a few iterations to work out what works and what doesn't. Too bad I can't really immediately get the right form in my head, and just make that. And then there are the subtle differences in proportion that are even harder to work out. So I'm still spanking round forms to make them less boring; this time the base of the vase is more shapely (I think); I still like the twisty neck. It's fun extruding the different shapes of neck and twisting them as they come out. Of course, now I have to decide on the glaze....
Thankfully hurricane/tropical storm Guillermo was a non event, like most other major weather events so far. I'm not complaining- the one tropical storm that got us a few years ago drenched all the furniture on the lanai because we didn't realize the wind direction would change as the center passed us. Now we know!

Two sided paddled vase, ~14"

Three sided, ~14"

Four sided, ~14"

11" to ~14"

MAKING VASES

Well, second post, and I'm already a day behind. As they say here: "That's Maui"- a different pace of life. Anyway, my Ikebena vases have not been selling well, so I thought I'd try some different sizes and shapes- small table vases for individual stems (which get quite large here in Hawaii). Made a few round ones, then started playing with the extruded necks. And then I got tired of things always being round (my mentor and friend Tam Irving calls it "the tyranny of the wheel"), so I started paddling the bases to change the shape. Still a bit too regular; the next batch I want to change to freer facets- and then extrude a neck to fit. Well, we'll see. Also threw a bunch of tea bowls, mostly to test some glazes on surfaces larger than a test tile.
On a different note- made a fruit salad with all homegrown fruit: papaya, pineapple, passion fruit and banana. The pineapple was out of this world- tastes like perfume. And easy to grow here: just root the cut-off top in a beautiful tenmoku container- when it has roots plant it and wait two years. Bananas just keep growing; to get papayas just throw out the seed and wit for the tree to bear fruit, and passion fruit grows wild. Probably not a balanced diet, but I'm not complaining.

about 8"

About 9" stoneware

About 9" tall stoneware

Creating more pineapples

FIRST POST FROM MAUI

Well, another challenge. Like moving to Maui isn't enough, now I'm going to write a blog about making pots in paradise!
 We moved here from Vancouver, BC about three years ago, after visiting and snowbirding for about 5 years. Bought some land and built a house on the North Shore of Maui; the property had some old buildings on it, and my studio is a 10'x14' space in what we call "the barn". Funky old hippy building, no floor is level and no wall is straight, but it will probably stay up for a while. Bought a used Skutt wheel and a small gas kiln, which I use only to bisque at this point; luckily had brought my pugmill from the mainland. And here it makes sense to recycle- transportation almost doubles the price of clay.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, we're totally off the grid, so the pugmill requires a small generator to run. Next time I use it I'll post a photo.
Maui has a wonderful community studio about 20 min by car from our place, at the Hui No'Eau (look it up!). Great facilities: wheels, slab rollers, several electric kilns, two gas kilns, the usual collection of studio glazes, and a very friendly and lively community of potters. So my glaze firings, as well as some production of larger pieces that won't fit into my kiln, is done there; usually I bisque here and bring the pots up there to glaze and fire.
One reason I decided to try publishing a blog was to see how much time I actually spend working with clay. I plan to write a page every day I do some work. We'll see...

KILN

STUDIO