Into the Bisque

Last Thursday, I put work in the Fairplay co-op, Coyote Creek Gallery.  When I checked in over the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to hear I'd already sold a piece!  The more work I sell, the more space I have for my new pieces.  Here are some pots I set out to dry yesterday for this afternoon's bisque.

Bowls, mugs, tumblers, serving dishes.

The brown pieces are all slightly squared (except the bowl in the middle - that was my very first piece in the new clay, and it will be glazed differently than the others). I made tumblers, mugs (back left), bowls, and a serving platter.

Iris stamp

To accompany the new year and new clay, I also made a new stamp: a stylized combination of Siberian and Japanese irises that I hope will look nice under glaze. I plan to replace writing my name or initials with my stamp--except for the Corral mugs, below, which I've already stamped the side of, and I don't want to overcrowd. This new clay body has a lovely color when fired, and I'd rather leave the bottoms of my pieces simple.  The stamp is hand drawn, so that it has a uniqueness of a signature, but it allows me to express something other than just my name. At a workshop by Takashi Nakazato a few years ago, I was surprised to learn that the mark he makes isn't related to his name; it means "money" or "sell" or something like that. He is a businessman besides being an artist, and truly intends to for his work to be purchased.


The light-colored mugs are for The Corral, a condo complex on the South side of Breckenridge where I do property and HOA management (aka, my day job). I've found a lot of opportunity at work to involve my creativity, including overseeing the web site project, where you can also see the photo shoots I coordinated.  The President of the HOA saw my show last summer at the Breckenridge Theatre Gallery and asked me to hang my pit fired masks in the office, so there's art around me all day.

I'm quite happy with the stamp I made here. Usually, I free-hand (backward) any design or lettering for a stamp. This design posed a challenge in presicion, so I X-acto'd the logo from regular paper, moistened it only enough to stick to the clay, and about five hours later I had what I hoped would turn into a usable stamp. After the stamp was bisqued I breathed a sigh of relief. I wouldn't have the patience to replicate the stamp any time soon, so I'm extremely careful not to lose it or break it.

All right, enough time goofing off! Time to load the kiln. I'm not sure I have time to glaze before Monday, but if I can high fire these pieces next Tuesday, I'll post the results asap!