The Annual Mugshot

 

I always love the annual mugshot! This year taken by my patient and loving friend, Sherri Miranda. She has such a great eye!

All ready for Midsummer Scream? Not quite, but sooooo close!

It's a Process

Just a big ol' photo dump! You guys know the drill by now! 

OK, small explanation here. These guys are all for the Raku firings I do. They get a special type of glaze.

Homemade Raku kiln, below.

The guys above before the excess carbon was scrubbed off after I pulled them out of the post-firing reduction.

These cuties are scrubbed and ready to go! I may end up doing a "mug shot" shoot this weekend.

I actually had to stop before all the firings were done on Sunday, due to simple exhaustion. Multiple Raku firings in one day really take it out of me. But the results are delightful!

News from the Nest!

It's been a little bit, hasn't it? Have you been missing my gripping and enticing prose? No? I'm crushed, but I will sally forth with the latest updates.

First, I was lucky with my latest firing, as you can see above. I went off the reservation and did a bisque firing and a low-fire glaze firing, in the same firing! All mixed together, willy-nilly! 

And it turned out so well!

You may reasonably ask why it might be such a big deal to mix glaze and bisque. Honestly? I never looked it up! I just never saw it done when I was in school and thought that maybe it had to do with the chemicals released by the heat of the firing. But then I saw someone mix glaze and bisque when glaze and bisque firing were at the same temperature without major issues, so I thought, why not?

Some clays and glaze don't reach maturity until they're fired at higher temperatures. Low fire clays mature between 1945°F and 1971°F. When you fire low fire glazes, they flux at about the same temps, give or take. If you get into super-duper low fire like lusters or china paints, you're looking at around 1283°F, give or take. But this firing had both clays and glazes at the same temp, so no biggie! I love how the glaze pieces turned out, especially the Day of the Dead jacks!

In other news, I had a successful stoneware firing, which results will be in my shop shortly tonight at 6:00 PM PST! I got some more of those Supernatural-inspired cups, mugs, and tankards put together, because:

1. I am obsessed, still
2. I love the peace that carving clay gives me
3. I love making things for fans of SPN, because I know they appreciate my handmade work
4. Did I mention I'm obsessed with Supernatural?
5. I love carving "Hey, Assbutt!" because it makes me giggle like a thirteen-year-old kid

But there's other, not so happy, news. Etsy is being a collective, corporate, dickbag, with imminent changes to come on April 11th and how it will affect my shop.

Despite soaring revenues Etsy has made lately -transaction fees are going UP 30%. That makes this April 11 fee hike an increase of 85% within five years. (I literally got $8 for a $50 cup, recently. I'm sure you can see why this isn't a sustainable business model.)

On top of the transaction fees I must pay a flat listing fee, payment processing fees, and other service fees, including a 12 percent advertising commission each time a customer comes to my shop and makes a purchase from an ad placed by Etsy — a program anyone making more than $10,000 a year is required to join.
This means after April 11th I'll be adjusting my prices accordingly. I'll also be searching for a different online outlet for my work, one which is more sustainable for me and makes my work more affordable for my customers.

If you have something in your cart- or was thinking of buying, from my shop or anyone else's...I would do it now. Thank you, as always, for your support.

New Needful Things!

 

At last! The ShellHawk's Creations Etsy shop is getting updated! Some jack-o'-lanterns, some other cups, and finally, the Supernatural cups!

The last firing got more good results and only a few imperfect ones, which are in the shop at a discount. They're not all in, yet, so keep an eye out in the next week or so.

The shoulder injury I suffered earlier this year really set my schedule back, but I still managed to get a few things (over a hundred, I think) done. I really had a thing for cups, mugs and tankards this summer. Don't ask why, because I have no idea!

In other news, the Open House went really well! Totally worth the time, effort, and lost sleep!

Everything skeleton was gone! Bowl and mugs! And it really made me so happy that the kind woman from the ceramics studio bought four of my jack-o'-lanterns to take to Canada as gifts for her friends. It's incredibly satisfying, knowing my creations are going to loved ones!

I'm resting my shoulder for now, but soon, I'll be back at it. I'll be pushing through the holidays, stocking up on my Halloween things to apply for shows happening next years. It feels like a triumph to be doing what I do best and making my fans happy!

More WIPs

The weather continues to be strange around here, with an aborted attempt at rain (a tiny sprinkle for five minutes or so) and blistering heat. Since my Artist Open House is next Sunday, already, I'm taking advantage of the heat to get a few more jacks done before then. The heat will get them dry enough to fire and then get glazed and fired again for the event!

So much work, so little time!

More Jacks in the Shop!

I am beyond thrilled at the response to 2020's crop of handmade jack-o'-lanterns! The open house was a great start, and the continuing interest from collectors of my work - as well as new fans - has been humbling and thrilling, all at once! Because of you, I'm inching closer to my goal of purchasing my new kiln and all the things that have to go with it!

You can click on each picture to be taken to the listing in the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy Store.

Yes, it gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction to see the body of work I created this year! Once I get my kiln, I can play around with my fine art again, too. Maybe I can add to the award I received from that international ceramics show I was juried into, Feats of Clay!

Wouldn't that be a triumph?
 

Monsters Under Plastic

Right, the headless, armless pumpkin guy. Left, the guy who needs arms and hands!

It's been a little difficult to adjust to having such a full schedule. I work full time, have an occasional side job doing transcription, and I have monsters to make on the weekends! (So much for anyone who says I'm lazy!) Plus, there are the glamorous tasks of poop patrol and laundry! (I still wash my sheets on Sundays and the towels on Thursdays, as I always have.) And I take over cooking duties from time to time so my dad gets a break from cooking.

Because clay needs to dry to a certain point before I can assemble it into something, that often means I have to keep the incomplete pieces covered with plastic until I can get back to them. I check them every day even though they're covered, to make sure they're not drying out because I missed covering one spot or another. 

Today, I'll get to selecting a head for one of my pumpkin people. I threw three of them before work the other morning so I could see which one looked best. I threw a set of arms, too. I hope to get the whole thing put together today, as well as putting arms and hands on the other piece.

It's great seeing how many pieces I've made! All the smiles make me happy!

I'm toying with some other ideas, of course. I wish I had time for them all! I have other, unfinished, projects I need to get back to, as well. It's been a real blessing to only be listening to my interior prodding to make new things! Some ideas work out better than others, of course, but I keep moving forward and developing more!

Progress and Experimentation

The Pumpkin Person on the left is intended to go into the Raku kiln.

I was busy making Hallowe'en over the weekend. Big surprise, huh? ;) But since L.A. is still mostly closed down because of the virus (and I'm having one of those moments where I need to be away from people for a little, anyway), I might as well put my time to good use!

As you saw in my last post, I've been making some pumpkin people to add to the usual collection of jack-o'-lanterns. I made a couple this weekend with the intention of putting them through the Raku treatment, to see if they'll survive the thermal shock of the process. If they do and the results are acceptable, I'll make some more! 

I'd been thinking about how to make my jacks a little more fun and had an idea in my sleep the other day to make them sugar skulls. You can see I've etched some patterns into the jack below. I laid down the first layers of white underglaze on the one above and below, and I'm going to be inlaying some color into the carving. Again, it's an experiment to see how they turn out!

And I laid some color down on this little guy, who's ready to be fired once the studio opens up again. When that's done, I'm going to be putting clear glaze over the top so it has a nice gloss.

I have to say, I like his little bat buttons!

The next step after that is the one that I like least, as an artist, which is pricing my items. Since it's more expensive for me to fire at the studio and Etsy is taking a chunk out of my bottom line for shipping and their cut, I need to look at the cost of making my creations before I put them online. Clay, glazes, propane for the Raku kiln, shipping boxes and filler, not to mention my time! It all adds up!

I'm hoping to have an open house in mid-September, since pretty much all shows have cancelled due to Covid-19, but it remains to be seen. If it's not safe, I'll just be selling online this year. C'est la vie, right?