ShellHawk's Creations Shop is Open!

If you've been waiting for my shop to reopen after my annual Artist Open House, wait no more! It's open and expedited shipping is available!

I'll be adding more pieces over the next few days, so be sure to check back frequently to be sure you're not missing out!

Artist Open House Today!

This here baby is already in his new home, scaring the spooks away from his new owner's front door!

Yesterday... Well... It was a long day, and I was on my feet for almost all of it.

 It's my yearly "deep-clean-before-people-come-tomorrow" day, and that took a couple of hours. I do wash the patio down from time to time to keep the clay dust to a minimum, after sweeping up the larger chunks while wearing a KN-97 mask (inhaling clay dust can lead to silicosis, which, um, no thank you), but a deep cleaning requires moving the furniture and the lion's share of my ceramics equipment off the patio area and the trash cans from their nook. 

Dead wasps? Washed away. Cobwebs? Gone. Literal, garden-variety dirt? Swept up and dumped back into the garden beds. I even take the pressure nozzle and knock the dead leaves off of our old wisteria vine so there aren't many to deal with the next day.

So today is setup and I have to get rolling. Keep an eye out for my shop to reopen in the next day or two so you can grab a Halloween thing for yourself!

Next up in my making cycle: Krampuslauf!

Ohhhh, He's SO GOOD!

And to be honest, I don't even care if some of you read that post title a little dirty, at first! Lol! 

I worked hard on this guy and I couldn't be happier with the results!

I took him over to UPS today to get a ballpark idea of how much he would be to ship, should someone need that service at Midsummer Scream, and everyone there was ecstatic to see him and know I'd be entrusting him to their care.

As with my other jacks, I glazed his inside yellow, so that whatever lighting goes in his head really pops!

I also re-fired this jar. I had used a lavender celadon over obsidian celadon, but when I pulled it out of the first glaze firing, the lavender was almost unnoticeable. I decided to slop on another thick coat of lavender over it and take the chance it would show up when it came out.

And it did! Not as much of a contrast as I would have liked, but I like the quality of how the lavender blends in, almost like cream getting poured into black coffee. Next time, I'll fiddle with the application and see what results I can get.

I am so loving firing at cone 6, again. I have some really fun stuff in mind (when don't I?) and as always, it's going to be a matter of being able to make time for some experimenting. Work, aging parents and creating Halloween ceramics. What more is there to life? 

Success!

 My first Artist Open House in three years went beautifully, in spite of the 'Rona! It was a real push to get everything done on time, especially with having a full-time job, too, but it got done!

Here's the part where I plug my awesome dad. He was incredibly supportive and helpful at every turn. Coming from the background of a VFX producer, he kept tabs on all the little tasks which needed doing and kept things moving along on his end. He made signs, suggested changes on the Craigslist ad and the personal invitations, and was an all-around good sport! He was a soothing presence to my artist's anxiety and pre-show jitters! 

A friend came by and helped with setup and hung around to help wrap and bag each piece sold, so they'd arrive in their new homes in one piece.

 

 

 We got lucky with a beautiful, clear day and light breezes.

 

Our patio is a mixture of wisteria-covered trellis and solid wood, so we set up in the comparatively cooler shade so people could shop in comfort. I didn't get pictures, but dad made up a "masks required" sign with that cute German Shepherd showing you how to wear a mask, so that people would be a little safer.

 

I wasn't able to get pics once people started showing up, but we had a busy time there, for a bit. Busy enough to make doing the Open House worth it. A number of my old high school friends showed up to support my little business and they were really surprised to see not only the volume of work I had made, but the quality and variety! Many of the cups and bowls I had on display had come from my old digs in Folsom, and I even brought out my Christmas ornaments.

As always, people were drawn to the Raku-fired jack-o'-lanterns I had made. As far as I know, you can't get them anywhere else.

Eventually, the day wound down and folks ambled off with their purchases, looking happy behind their masks. Their pleasure reminded me of why I make ceramics; my pieces make people smile! It gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction to know, for instance, how much joy a set of cups will give my friend for years to come!

We sold a respectable amount of pieces, but of course there were some left. Lucky you! If you keep an eye on my shop, you can have one in your home, too!

These guys are already in my Etsy Shop, ShellHawk's Creations!

 

I'll be adding more as the week progresses!

The Annual Mug Shot

I got it done! W00T!

"The Annual Mug Shot," as I like to call it, got done this past weekend! The Mug Shot consists of the lion's share of jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkin people I create in a season. Sometimes, they're missing a few friends, who have gone home with their new families. Sometimes, unfortunately, the friends they started out with have suffered too much in the firing and have broken or been otherwise damaged.

This year, however, there were so many of my jacks which came through, I had to do two separate mug shots to include them all!

Part of the reason is the fireplace I have now is smaller than the one I had in previous years. But I think they still look good, don't you?

Remember how I mentioned that a few have already gone to their new homes? Below is a jack I made for Chad Savage of Sinister Visions, from a jack design he did, called, "Howler."

Pic courtesy of Chad Savage.

 

Other folks I know have been collecting my jacks and other work for years! Above is a picture they sent me of their mantle. Below, my work is joined by a piece made by one of my favorite artists, Chicken Lips!

I've said it many times; I love making things people love to have in their homes!

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!

Odds and Ends

Every summer garden needs some corn in it, right? Man, fresh corn is so good! Throw in some BBQ chicken and a potato salad and you have the quintessential summer meal. So when I ordered seeds this year, I decided to take a gamble and get some corn planted.

Normally I would say that corn needs more space than what we have, but I also know that corn likes being planted in squares for purposes of pollination. So even though my space was limited, I had hoped that my corn-planting experiment would work.

And voilà! I have some ears growing! Hooray! (Seriously, it really doesn't take much to make me happy!)

 Everything else seems to be pretty happy, too. The peppers are going to be ready for picking, soon. I haven't grown this variety, before, but I'm pretty sure they need to turn red before I pick them.

 Predictably, the tomatoes are going nuts. I'm going to have to try my hand at making some mozzarella for a nice caprese salad! There are a bunch of these guys looking like they'll be ready all at once!

The cucumbers are a day or two from harvest, and we're going to have some nice zucchini. I ordered one of those food slicer/shredders to try to make zucchini noodles. (I mentioned the plan to my dad, who quipped, "Sounds awful!" Little does he know!)

Of course, I've been chugging along on my Hallowe'en ceramics, too. 

I've started to inlay the color on my sugar skull jack-o'-lanterns, which will go into the Raku process after they get their first firing. Whenever that happens. 

Tomorrow, I'm supposed to receive my new colors, and I've been delaying inlaying more until I get them, although I'm laying down the second coat on the colors I already have. Meanwhile, I've been making some more pumpkin people for Raku. (You can see the process of making a Raku jack-o'-lantern from start to finish here. I need to make a new video soon, since this was from when I was still with the ex and I don't work in that space any more.)

And last, but certainlay not least, Robert Santos of Necrotic Creations passed away from complications of a massive stroke. He is survived by his partner, Stacy Fitz, the children of his heart, and his parents. He was 52.

Like many people in this country, he had no medical insurance. If you want to help with the medical bills and his final arrangements, please go here and drop a few bones. Even if it's just $20 or even $5, everything helps! (The ambulance, alone, was over $10k!)

UPDATE, JULY 18, 2020:

Robert's internment:
July 27th
10am
Gates of Heaven Cemetery
22555 Cristo Rey Dr
Los Altos, CA 94024
United States

There is a 60 person limit, so anyone who wants to attend can.

Masks are required

There will be a place for flowers

Meet at Gates of Heaven at 9:45

I was lucky enough to know Robert and to spend time with him and Stacy. He was a funny, uplifting, good human being who had a smile for everyone he met. The Hallowe'en community will miss him deeply. Rest well, my friend.