bisque firing

Fired up the big kiln loaded full of leather hard pots....most were mine but also had many pieces made by friend's and their children. Kids love playing in clay.

The firing was a success. Now I have lots of orange bisqued pots patiently awaiting their turn to be glazed and then fired to maturity.

mom a year later

My 94 year old mother is up and about and walking better then she did a year ago before she broke her hip!

Mom's Broken Hip!

On January 13, I wrote how my mother had broken three ribs. Well, this week she fell and broke her hip. Today she had partial hip replacement surgery.

up on Ebay

I have finally gotten around to opening an Ebay account and have put up these 3 pieces so far. I've gotten a nice letter from a fellow potter, and have had a few views...no bids yet, but it hasn't even been a week. You can check out the listings under my Ebay seller ID stonefarmpottery.

What's New!

I have created a new blog site myclaymyway which is going to be my personal perspective on pottery. It's kind of funny, and always true!

I have also signed up to add PayPal on my gallery/store. That should be up and running within a few days. This will make pottery buyers more confident in purchasing over the internet.

Plus, I'm exploring the wonderful world of ebay as a marketplace for my pottery. That, too, will be up and running by next week after all the PayPal/bank transactions are completed. Pots I put up on ebay won't be on my store (stonefarmpottery.com). I don't want to duplicate my stuff. All this internet jive can make one's head spin!!!]

Speaking of spinning....I'm going to go out to my studio now and throw a pot. Tonight I'm making 10 pound planters. See ya.

Super Hero Pottery

I am finally getting around to putting more of my pottery up on www.stonefarmpottery.com — my online store. I really like my new stuff. It feels good to say that. Usually I'm too critical of my work and can only see its flaws. But I 'm beginning to respect my style of pottery. I like things simple. I like things to be fun. I like making plain objects and infusing a personality all its own.

My newest pieces are Winged Pots and Super Hero Pottery. They are fun to make...and I hope will bring some good luck to those who are cool enough to buy 'em.

Wish I could spend more time creating pottery, but I do have a day job, and that takes priority. Bummer....

crash!!

I have fired my kiln with great success! Yet, I haven't been keeping this blog up to date because I've been busy taking pictures of my new pots and adding them to my web store stonefarmpottery and now, of all things, the laptop that I use for my photos has crashed on me!!! This is the second computer to die on me this year. What's up with that!!

I did have everything backed up except the last four shots of my "winged pots". I'd show ya a picture of them, but they're on my dead laptop. 

funky ware

Again, my loaded kiln is awaiting its firing which I haven't been able to do because of wintry weather and busy schedules. Soon....

But I have been busy making new pottery. I'm working on off-beat dishes. They are not the kind for dinnerware, but for decorative use 0r holding jewelry, potpourri, soaps, etc. They're neat and fun to make.

Kiln Loaded

Chris and I loaded up the kiln yesterday with all my glazed pots, but we still haven't fired. The weather is terribly windy! We had been thinking of going skiing, but would have been blown off the mountain! I don't like to fire when there's wind gusts over 30 mph because it can affect the draft on my kiln...plus I don't want to have a power outage which we have already had twice today!! So, hopefully next weekend I will fire.

Glaze Time!

This week has been glaze mixing time at Stone Farm Pottery. I have been mixing small batches of glaze (usually 100 grams) and altering oxides and other elements to create new colors and textures. When I mix a new glaze for the first time, I only make a 100 gram batch. That gives me enough to glaze 2-4 pots, depending on their size. After I mix up the glaze, I go right ahead and paint it on bisque ware.

Only after a glaze has been fired successfully at least twice in various locations in my kiln, will I consider mixing bigger batches at a time.

All of my bisqued pots have been covered with freshly mixed glaze, so now it's time to load the kiln and prepare for a gloss firing...my favorite!

Bisque Firing

Finally—I had a chance to do a bisque firing! It wasn't raining, sleeting, snowing or windy—plus my mother was safe in her bedroom recuperating from her fall. I started the kiln at 8:00 in the morning and fired all day until 8:00 at night. Won’t know how things turned out until late tomorrow when I sneak a peak. I didn't hear any strange noises from the kiln, such as pots blowing up...always a disheartening sound.

The pottery for this firing was all at least two weeks dry. I did a fairly quick heat up, without a long pilot warm up (I have a gas kiln). I turned on the burners as low as they would go without flaring out, then kept ramping up the heat until it reach cone 06.

Mom's Broken Ribs!

I loaded my kiln for a bisque fire but had a few set backs, one of which was my dear mother had a spill and broke 3 ribs—ouch!! She's 93!!! So, I've been busy running her to the hospital and caring for her. She's a sweetheart and doesn't complain much...it's upsetting to see her in so much pain.

Hello and Welcome to my Journal...

Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful holiday...and if you are like me, you're probably glad they are over!!! Now we can get back to life as normal...whatever that may be. I have a bunch of new pots ready to bisque fire...hopefully next weekend (it's suppose to rain this weekend so I'm not firing). I'll still have to glaze them and refire before putting them up on my website, but they will be added!

I've been spending all week updating my online pottery store when I should be making more pottery! My website www.stonefarmpottery.com is my gallery, showroom, online store and more. Hope you like the new look and I apologize if there are some areas which aren't yet complete. A website is never complete because it always has to be updated with new pots or info.