some assembly required

Just the usual Christmas rush going on here.  I took on a few things this fall that set me back from where I'd like to be with my inventory.  There's a lot of pictures I've wanted to post the last few weeks, but it's pretty much been out of the kiln and into boxes either to the co-op gallery or the farmer's market.  I really meant to get some things to the gallery yesterday, but too many of them required assembly, which took longer than expected. Of course.  Then I went to take some pictures and the camera's batteries died, so in the afternoon while they were charging I finally got around to decorating for Christmas.  Well, half-way.

Here's the pictures I got so far.  I managed to load these pictures with partially charged batteries, tried to take a few more pics, but it was back to the charger for these worn out batteries.

 Seems like I've made a lot of critters lately.  I had an order for six turtles which I delivered at River City Farmer's market last Saturday.  No pictures (rush, rush).  A little Quickcrete in the brick and steel rods for the birdies' perches.
 

 I have not made large quantities of anything.  Wanted to, but because of the time crunch I just made a few of this and that.  Have made only four of these bowls.  Sold the two from the last firing.

Here's another of those assembly projects.  You can't see it, but there are holes in the end on the spoons and I shaped the end of the twigs to fit (thank you Dremel tool).  I'm sure a woodworker person could do this much more efficiently with their special something-something tools, but I got it to work. The stuff in the bowl is a mixture of glue and sawdust, which I dropped into the opening of the spoon to get a really good bond.  The sawdust is from what I trimmed off the twigs- what didn't end up all over my hair and face and glasses and clothes. Won't mention what it did to my nose.  Next time I will try drilling a hole in the end of the twig and inserting a dowel rod. Delayed logic.

 

So I started out with this on Tuesday and now, two charged batteries later, it is Wed.  Usually I keep a couple of spares charged, but I used one of them for something else so...
I worked at the gallery today and brought in everything you see here.  I may stop in the gallery on Friday afternoon and pick up a few things to take to the farmer's market on Sat. if they haven't sold by then.

Owl ornament.  I went with the Barred Owl this year.  Only made six of these.  One is set aside for a farmer's market customer who wanted one and the rest are at the gallery.

I made several sets of these "preppie bowls".  All different glaze combos.  I don't use tags on everything but I notice people seem to like them when I do. On some tags I might explain how the item might be used, other times I describe the process of making it, and/or what inspired the idea. I started doing this because I felt I should explain my flying nun baskets. That was 10 years ago, or so, and I had a great response to the little note I attached to those pots.  If I'm not present when customers are looking at my pottery, like at the gallery, then they will know something about my pottery they wouldn't have known otherwise.  It's one of those things that adds on the time when you're trying to get things ready to go, but can be worth the extra effort.

One of those magic glaze combinations.  This is a plum-black with a chun glaze over the top part.  I make several shapes of mugs.  The roundish shape makes it one of those cup-your-hands-around mugs. I expect to be using more of this glaze combo in the future. 

 

 

 

that conversation again

The frequent topic of frustration and sometimes bafflement- pricing.  I had an email conversation going on last week with a woman who makes and sells butter from an upstate New York dairy.  She was inquiring about getting hand crafted french butter crocks to sell with her butter rounds. Great idea, and I was flattered she tracked me down.  Course, I don't know, she might have sent the same email to a dozen other potters. So, I quoted her the price I sell these locally- $35.00, knowing it would be a little high for a bulk order, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Too high.  I came down to $30.00.  Silence.  Dead Air. In her response after my first quote, she suggested a simpler design for a lesser price.  My reply, along with the $30.00 offer, was the factor that dictated the price was the time spent fitting and measuring while throwing these.  If you are not familiar with a french butter crock, the part that holds the butter also functions as a lid.  So you have to fit a pot, which is also a lid, inside another pot.  A lot of stop and measure time.  Plus, basically, you are getting two pots in one.  Maybe it's just me.  If I made more of these maybe I'd be able to churn them out like a machine and instinctively know when I achieved the right height and width. Or, maybe I could be less fussy about the fit.  Not going to happen.
After a few days went by I emailed her again and suggested that a local potter might agree to make these at a cheaper price in exchange for the publicity plus there would be no added shipping cost.  I guess if someone lived within 30 or so miles of this dairy they could pick up a little business that way.  With me in southeast Ohio and her in upstate New York, I don't see that working out.

Freshly thrown french butter crock parts. Lid (left) holds butter.  Crock (right) holds water.

Once both parts dry to leather-hard they can be trimmed. 

Working on these honey jars too.  Same kind of lid as the french butter crocks, but a lot easier to fit.

Also threw a lot of knobs and some small nesting bowls.  The bowls are meant to be used as prep containers.  I'm looking forward to having fun with glazes on these.

Some mugs for a commission and more honey jars. Once pieces are well on their way to being dry and no longer need covering to make sure they dry evenly I take them out to the shelves by the kiln.