Category Archives: Art and Motivation

No clay and time to play.

Art and Motivation, Fun and Family, Life in a small town., News, Pottery, Studio Life, Throwing, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week we had planned a clay run to Medicine Hat, but the weather was so miserable we stayed home. It has been around minus 20 with a lot of wind making it a good time to stay home. I have pots I should be making, but  I am almost out of clay, so I took some  time to play.

 

Face Vase profile.
Face Vase profile.
Front view of Face Vase
Front view of Face Vase

 

 

His eyes still need a little work.

I will rip his eyebrows off in the morning, I don’t like them. I will give him his pupils and add a bit more “meat” to the area. It is good to see a picture of what you are doing and get a different perspective. I don’t like his eyes, but I think the changes will help. I enjoyed playing with his face and it doesn’t matter, at this point, if I like his eyes or not. I like playing with them. It was a nice day of working with face while  talking to my daughter on the phone.

Friday was the first day back for the kids class. We had a good turnout and they made some Arctic Scenes. They did a wonderful job, even the little ones. I thought we might as well celebrate the winter as we certainly have been having our share.

One little boy thought that if a few extras on the piece were nice, more had to be better.  We are still working on, less is more. TCTInushuk6

I got the few pots trimmed that I made last week,

Trimmed and ready for the drying shelf.
Trimmed and ready for the drying shelf.

But then I had to clean all over again.

So much for tidy.
So much for tidy.

Tuesday we are planning the clay run. We have to drive to Medicine Hat, about 2 hours away. We will make it pay trip with a Costco shop, a stop at Super Store and a few more stops. After a couple of stores, I am more than ready to head back home. The longer we live in this small town, the more I prefer it to the city, even a small city like Medicine Hat or Lethbridge.

Until next time,

Cindy

 

 

 

AKA Mrs. Clay

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Out of the Fire Studio

The Clay Teacher

 

Ugly new glaze and no seniors walking, except us.

Art and Motivation, Glazes, Life in a small town., New Year, News, Pottery, Resolutions, Studio Life, Throwing, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jim and I have been am trying to get more people using the school. Here in Coutts, there is this wonderful old school that is no longer a public school but an Arts and Rec Centre. It houses my studio, the local library, a massage therapist, and a storage/ practice room for the local country/ rock band. There is some use of the facilities, but for the most part, it is underutilized. Monday was to be the start of the Senior’s Walk. The school has a gym and weight room that are almost always empty. Since I am at the school  and in my studio weekdays, I opened the doors to the local seniors. The idea was to get people out of the house and have a safe and warm place to get a little exercise. However Mother Nature had plans of her own.

 

Minus 20 Celsius and 70 Kilometer winds is not a good way to start the week, or to get seniors, or anyone else for that matter, out of the their house. The school was quiet this morning, so I cranked the music and cleaned the studio. She looks good, a great way to start the New Year. Clean and tidy. It won’t last, but ….. so

Looking at the wheel in a very tidy studio.
The studio after a morning of cleaning.
Another look at the tidy studio.
Looking the other way.

I should have had before pictures to go with the after shots, but trust me, it was an unorganized mess. I had the ladies clay classes with a Christmas party and then the kids class and party. There were orders to get out, a couple of little trade shows and the Galleria in Calgary. Last year, when I was done, I walked out and shut the door. It was on its way to Hell in a hand cart, but it got refused at the door for being too messy.

Last year I was playing with what I thought was to be a new blue glaze, but it’s not what I had hoped for. I plan on working on some new  glazes later this month, but I have never really liked experimenting with glazes. We will see how it goes and how much I get done. My next blue has to be better than this syrupy sweet, baby powder blue.  The test looked interesting.

Small light blue bowl.
Little blue test bowl.

But as it got onto larger pieces, it reminded me of eating chocolate. The first little taste is good, but once it gets big, it is just too much. Candy Blue will not be seen again.

Yucky powder blue platter with bland splash.
Yucky blue platter with bland washed out iron splash.
A table of an assortment of wet pots.
First pots in 2015.

It felt good to back at work today and in such a tidy work space. I use a blend of two clays, and I have to pug to blend  all the clay I use. Before the Christmas break, I pugged a couple of bags or so, and today I threw what was mixed. When I ran out of clay, I had the option of pugging more, or walking laps in the school. Jim came down and we walked in the school. Fourteen times around, the inside, is one mile, a bit boring and a lot safer than walking outside on the ice.

 

Until next time.

Cindy

 

 

 

AKA Mrs. Clay

Old Blog

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Out of the Fire Studio

 

 

 

Motivation, what is it and why?

Art and Motivation, News, Studio Life, Throwing, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last post I talked about being back in the grove again. Being motivated to work and really enjoying working. It’s true, I’m there. I have made more pots in the last month, than I have in the past 2 years. One of the motivators, I have to admit, is money. ‘Tis  the season. I like making pots and I like selling them.  The product is  doing well at Galleria Inglewood. The sun is shining so I am making hay…..well pots……. I will deliver my Christmas batch the second week of December. However money is not the only motivator, it if it were, I would never have become a potter. So what is the motivator, what is motivation, where does it come from? I am only asking the questions. I don’t have any answers,  to those questions and many others.

I am working on a batch of pots that I know will sell. The same old, same pots. Bowls, tea pots, casseroles, mugs etc.. I was checking out Facebook and a friend of mine, Dori Braun a potter and musician I have known for years, is working, I will assume, the same Christmas market and  making some very cool candy dishes.

DoriDish
Dori Braun’s Candy Dishes.

Now I have been in head down, flat out production mode. I have a good idea what will sell and have been working on that. The potter came back and the pots are  flying.  I plan to play in the clay in the New Year, but right now my motivation is making lots of pots, or so I thought.  When I saw her candy dishes, I wanted to make candy dishes too. I was motivated. Time is tight and play time is short., but I took a bit of time time to play, to listen to the motivation. Her pots are very different from mine, but the motivation was the same, play with clay and make candy dishes.

Two dishes
Raw clay dishes.

We need to pay attention to what motivates us, what makes us want to work, what gives us that drive to create. More important, we have to act on it.  I don’t know what motivation is or why it shows up, but if I listen to the potter inside, I know what it feels like. We all need to pay attention to that. Work with it. That’s where our best work comes from.  I made some candy dishes. It is not for me to say if they are good, bad or ugly. (odd and out of place Clint Eastwood reference) We can never judge our own work. If we didn’t think it was good, we wouldn’t have finished it. All we can and should do, is go with the feeling, the motivation to create. What could happen?

 

SantaDish SnowmanDish

It is a candy dish week. We, The Clay Teacher, are making candy dishes with the kids classes on Friday afternoon.

 

 

Since it is a candy dish week, if anyone reading is making candy dishes, or has been motivated to make candy dishes, please send me pictures and I will include them in a future post.

What can I say about motivation…..SWEEEET…..

Until next time,

Cindy

 

 

 

 

AKA Mrs. Clay

Out of the Fire Studio

The Clay Teacher

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