Working on Hallowe'en

 

(This post contains links to Amazon and I may get a commission for qualified purchases.)

Good grief, it's been busy! It's been so long since I've made a significant amount of ceramics with the intent to sell them, I forgot about the sheer volume of work needing to be done. Things need pricing. I need to make an inventory spreadsheet. I need to enter everything in my Square Up. I need to take pictures.

And, oh my gosh! The annual mug shot! I have to figure out how I'm going to shoehorn that into the schedule!

There are so many tasks needing attention. Back when I lived in Folsom, I had everything I needed close to hand; my point of sale setup, my business cards, the shopping bags I use for my customers, price tags, hang tags, etc. I had a very kind crew of people who would come out and help with whatever needed doing. Clear-glazing. Tagging. Packing. Data entry. Good friends and good neighbors, for sure!

All of it is in storage, now, and I need to make a special trip to get what I need. And I have no crew, though my dad is willing to help, as always! It's just too risky to have people close together with Covid-19, and they'd have to be for the help I need.

The good news is, the low-fire glaze firing went spectacularly well! The owner of the studio gave me a special consideration for the necessary firings. I think this is the first time I've had both the bisque and the glaze firing done in a gas kiln.

I messed around a little with layering the glazes for some of the pumpkin stems, and I really like how they turned out!

Ceramists will want to know that I used Amaco Velvet underglazes under Mayco Stroke-n-Coat. They worked together very well, with no pitting or bubbling.

 

I included this quick video to show how different the glaze is when it's applied (above) as opposed to when it's gone through the firing process (below).

I was forced to sell my Raku kiln before I left Folsom, but it gave me the opportunity to build a new one out of a trash can and fire wool. As always, if I used this type of kiln again, I'd change a few things, but I'm still pretty happy with my firings, even though I'm getting used to a smaller chamber and thus, things heat up faster than I'm used to.

I got a high temperature no-contact pyrometer to start gauging my temps inside the kiln. I'm still learning, but I'm getting better at it!

Of course, Grace had to supervise the kiln setup!

And she helped supervised the guys who were working on our electrical box upgrade! Yes, all this going on at the same time. It's just a perpetual motion machine, here! Oh, and please note how nice the blue on our old table is! ;)

Some friends came by to pick up a couple of pieces, and happened to get to the house when I was pulling out some jacks from the Raku kiln.

It's a productive chaos, though. This is the first year I've gotten back into what we call a "making cycle," and it's been easy in the sense that there haven't been outside sources of distraction for me. I'm really looking forward to next year!

Annual Jack-o'-Lantern Mug Shot

 I had to take the annual mug shots last night, since the idea is that these will be gone after tomorrow's venture to Halloween and Vine!

I only have a couple of minutes, as I have to finish packing and getting the house ready for the house sitter, so more of these next week, plus some H & V pics!

Lucky You

I'm too busy to change the shipping profile on my Etsy items, so enjoy free shipping until Sunday the 19th.

Come on. You know you want one!

Ghostly Pumpkin

Now available in the shop. ShellHawk's Creations on Etsy.

Fresh Out of the Kiln

I've been a bit remiss in my posting, because I've been pushing to get some pieces done for the show in September. The one that's taken the most time has been Pumpkin Head, who is pictured below, pre-bisque firing.

Here he is, just out of the kiln this morning. I layered a couple of different glazes on his head, and I really like the slightly mottled result.

Here he is with a couple of new friends. I've been playing with some new glaze colors, so all my pumpkins don't look exactly the same.

I've also thrown a couple of larger bowls. There's the bat and moon pictured below

and this guy is actually made with a slump mold. I wanted his edges a little raggedy, hopefully someone will like that, too. I'll make another with normal edges.

I'll get some better pictures later, after dark.

Alright! Back to writing my podcast!

Faces for Show

I've been playing with making some new faces and making a few of my pots more "pumpkin-y." I've also been trying out new glazes, and one client wanted a radically different, non-pumpkin glaze.

I have so much to get done before the Fine Arts Festival, it's crazy! But I think these guys are a good start.

Did I Mention I'm Doing a Giveaway?

Just to encourage you to officially get off your duffs and join the growing crowd of folks taking part in this giveaway, I have posted my new mini-pumpkins, one or several of which will be added to the giveaway. Though you can't see it in the pic, their smiles glow in the dark. See the giveaway details here.

I don't think I'll be doing another giveaway of my handmade stuff this year, so if you want to win something, now's your chance! If you just can't wait to own one of my hand-thrown jacko pots, head over to ShellHawk's Creations to see the new guys I've put up there.

Custom Faces

Just got a bisque firing finished and opened the kiln this morning. Unfortunately, I had my first home kiln explosion the other morning, within an hour of starting my kiln. I ended the cycle as soon as I heard it (I happened to be talking to a neighbor by the garage when I heard it), so that it wouldn't continue to explode and damage the other pieces in the kiln. My own fault, really. I had a feeling I should have let the two pieces that blew up dry out for another couple of days, but I thought I could get away with it. Lesson learned!

Fortunately, the three comission pieces I had in there did just fine. The client sent me the designs and let me know he just wanted them to look similar, but I think I got them almost precisely duplicated.

Since I'm starting to throw larger pieces and was on a roll for the three above, I decided to try a new face on a larger pot:

I'm looking forward to seeing how he'll turn out after glazing!

Oh, and remember: I have a giveaway going on right now, so don't forget to check the original post for how to enter!

I have also added a few more pumpkins to the shop, as I have nearly sold out of the ones I have on hand. Feel free to browse!

Summer Pumpkin Giveaway!

As promised, the latest installment of Halloween joy will now commence! For the first time, I'll be giving a hanging jack-o-lantern pot away, and I'll be including my brand new mini-pumpkins (Pictured below, unfired and unfinished) which can be worn as pendants.

So here are the rules and how to enter, boils and ghouls:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Become a new follower and let me know you became one. Since a few folks did join specifically to get this giveaway going, I'll include folks who have become followers since June 30 if they'll leave me a comment on this post letting me know they're interested.

3. Follow me on Twitter. (Leave a comment to tell me.)

4. "Like" me on Facebook. (Leave a comment to tell me.)

5. Post about this giveaway on your blog and leave me a link so I can check it out.

6. Tweet about this giveaway and let me know you did.

7. Do a status update on Facebook and leave me a link.

8. Two entries for a vlog post! Send me the link...

With each ten comments (only comments telling me you want to win the pot, not any other letting me know you've tweeted, etc.), I will include another item. The first person chosen randomly will win the pot above. The winners will be announced on July 23rd.

Thanks for joining me and good luck!

Pumpkin Artistes

I don't usually have a lot of real pumpkins in my display, not because I don't like or want them, but because I normally buy a few and then run out of time for carving. In spite of planning to carve the day before, so they're nice and fresh, something else gets zipped to the top of the priority list at the last second, and all my good intentions of amazing jack-o-lanterns go out the window.

This year, I got smart. I unloaded the job on my houseguests!

Yup, under the guise of wholesome, family bonding time, I palmed this time-consuming task off on my dad, sister-in-law,niece, and neighbor's kid. While I heard my dad grumble, "What was she thinking of buying all these pumpkins?!" he pitched in and did some good work.

Here, sis references Tom Nardone's Extreme Pumpkins for her masterpiece.
Niece Hannah has the potential to be a great Halloween nut, and certainly has a future in carving sick and disgusting pumpkins.

Paper mache pumpkin looks on as the graveyard is populated with new and evil brethren...

Here's one of mine. Tom Nardone would be proud as I carved this one in about a minute with a jigsaw and no pattern.
One of niece Hannah's contributions. Sis added some ketchup for that bloody effect.

One of my homegrown pumpkins eating another homegrown pumpkin.

Neighbor child donated the baby doll parts for this masterpiece by Sis and Niece. Eyeball swiped from a string of eyeball lights for the occasion.

A shot of some of the other kinds of pumpkins I made this year and last. I love how the hanging pumpkin pots turned out. I will definitely make more for next year. As soon as I dig out my studio.