Red Lodge Part 15

The last of the pots are drying and waiting for the bisque!
I like these jug and crock forms, they were really so fun to make.
Made with a clay body that has 25%grog and sand in it.
Had to work pretty quick with it, no time to fuss.






We're having a bit of fun tonight at the studio, with a pot luck for everyone!
Last night's opening was well attended, and dinner at Foster and Logans was great too!
A big thank you to David and the Residents for a nice night!
Cheers!

Red Lodge 13 : PUSH!

BUY ME!
I haven't really advertised my work much here on the blog so I thought I would just,
well, you know...tell you to,
BUY THIS PITCHER!
The above pitcher is about 12" tall and is ready for shipping...$90 includes shipping and handling. It was wood and salt fired at Brush Valley this past fall.

Just a little Mountain blue laundry...

Carbonis trapitis...

Thought I would just drop a quick note to say we are happy and healthy and moving things along for the wood firing. We finish with wet clay tomorrow(no more throwing), and begin drying, bisquing and glazing over the weekend. It was a productive day! (thank you bollywood and eva!)
We didn't miss $6 growler night tonight. Pace!

Red Lodge Part12

I took a break from the wheel to return to these hand built bottle forms. The last time I made these bottles was as a resident at the Cub Creek Foundation. I think they'll look great in the crustier parts of the train kiln here at Red Lodge. Above are finished versions from Cub Creek in 2006.

When it comes to hand building, I love that as I finish them, they're done. No flipping, trimming, handles, etc. It take at least an hour for each bottle, but they're pretty much done after I add the neck and top. I'm sure I'll find a way to keep fussing with them tomorrow.

A few 10lb lidded jars that will get poked and prodded tomorrow. They stand about 14" tall. I think I like the one on the right with the higher shoulder and flatter lid...any thoughts? This type of lid, with the overhanging lip, is a little foreign to me. I usually drop a galley in the rim and the lid sits down in. (Like these or these). This overhanging lid will work a little better in zones of the kiln that may get quite a lot of ash buildup.


Above is another image from our trip to Cody.

And then there was a peacock. Chillin on top of a Circus-looking trailer. Just down from the studio on East Bench Road.
See you tomorrow...Cheers!

Red Lodge Part11: Cody images

Back on March 16th we made the last leg of our 3 day journey from PA to Red Lodge, late at night, drifting into town from Cody, Wyoming at around 1:30am. I was driving that night, and had no idea of the beauty that lay behind the dark as we sped through Wyoming and into Montana. Until yesterday! We made a day trip south on US Highway 120, retracing the route from that last night, down into the land of Buffalo Bill. I was just awestruck by the beauty! These photos, of course, do no justice to the majesty of what we saw. Though I was apprehensive to take a break from the studio, we all needed it, and I'm glad we went!
above, looking northwest from US 120 in Wyoming.
above, looking southeast coming home from Cody. I was struck by the similarity that the southern side held with The Badlands.
above, image taken near Belfry, Montana.
We stopped near the crest of the hill just south of Redlodge. This is looking back down toward Bearcreek, Montana, on US 38.
We got back to it today, and we'll be making our last push towards firing the train kiln.
Best to you all!
Cheers!

Red Lodge Part 10: Cody


We are taking the day off from the studio and heading south to Cody, Wyoming for a day trip. The rest of the Red Lodge folks are heading back from Philly tonight after a long week at the NCECA conference. We wish them all safe travels and godspeed. I'll have pictures to share when I get home and hopefully we'll find a brewery down that way. I've also added a link and photo of the Red Lodge Clay Center Gallery, way down at the bottom of the page. If you have a chance, peruse their sight! They've got some great work for sale!

Red Lodge Part 9

Just can't say enough about this. That snowmobile jumped right in the back of that truck.


Ole' Downtown is hoppin tonight with skiers and snowmobilers alike.
It is a ski resort kind of town.


We unloaded the soda kiln to mixed results. Love some of the surfaces, hate the loss percentage which is pretty high. Some really nice pots will end up in the shard pile.

A little cabin on the mug...


I lost one of my pitcher and melitta sets, and this one barely made it through. With some grinding it might make it into the show or onto the etsy site. Theres a big ole' soda drip near the stripes and on the handle. It looks good, though, and the melitta fits a #4 cone filter just right!

Well that's all for now! Cheers!

Red Lodge Part 8: Snow Falling on Soda

We got a bit of snow last night. The roads were slick this morning on the way to the studio.
12 inches are expected in the next couple of days!
A view from the apartment last night around 10:30.

View of the inside of the soda kiln.
Donn putting our first charge in the firebox. Using the Gail Nichols mix:
50 whiting
20 Soda Ash
30 Baking soda
I had trouble getting the mix to set.


A view of the burners blowing back. Too much gas? Not enough air? Seems like the flame was just bouncing off the bagwall?


We had a nice even firing, and naturally, we can't wait to see the results! You'll get to see them too, if you check back later this weekend!
We missed growler night tonight at Sams! Cheers!

Red Lodge Part 7

We loaded the Soda kiln around 5:30!
Hope to fire off by 4 or 5 tomorrow!
This kiln was built by none other than Matt Long. We'll let you know of the results!

Another gorgeous view from the studio!
We've all heard that Montana could use some more snow, and that the precipitation is down by 50%!
We hope that today helps!

Yes! Glaze those sugar and creamer sets! Everyone is chomping at the bit to
have one! I couldn't fire this Cone 10 Soda without a few glaze tests in the kiln load! The cabin mugs have versions of Weiser White in them. I've noticed that this Weiser White glaze looks like ALOT like Yellow Salt, but it's not so finicky, bubbling up around handles and in the bottoms of pots. So, I mixed tests with RIO, YIO, green nickle carbonate and copper carbonate as colorants.

Aside from glazing for the Soda Kiln, we've all got new pots in the works. These are trays I've been working on... Hope you like them!
CHEERS!!!
Don't worry! We miss you, too!

Red Lodge Part 6: Beaver Dam


It was a beautiful day out here in Red Lodge, Montana, so I stepped out for an hour or so to go check out the beaver dam just down the road from the studio. Along the way I snapped a few pictures. I love old sheds, falling down or not. The passage of time, some mysteries and weathered material.

At the Beaver Lodge Fishing Access,
I didn't spot any beavers, but snapped a shot of their handiwork.

After my walk I trimmed the lids on some of the jars and made a few more with a 50/50 mix of the B-mix and Death Valley. Today I'll trim the bottoms and start spraying slips, and carving a few images into them. I'll try not to play too much, I do like the clean surface. But I usually can't resist that canvas!

Betty finished up some really great flower bricks.
I can't wait to see some of these in the soda and the wood fire!
More on that tonight or tomorrow!

I'll post again tonight when we get back from another productive day in the studio!

Red Lodge Part 5

What a great picture of Donn and Betty on day 3 of our drive!
That was...let's see...holy wow! We've been here for 2 Fridays, now!
We left PA on Saturday, March 13th, drove all the way to Rockford, Illinois, then the next day made it to Sturgis, SD, and arrived early Tuesday morning around 1:30 a.m. the 16th.
I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks!

These are the new baskets for the cream and sugars!
Refine, Refine, Refine! Do you do that? Do you discover that one thing works better than another and go back and REMAKE the piece right away? It's a first for me. I usually say, "oh that works better than the other...huh... I'll remember it for the NEXT time." Of course, I forget!!! So, while I'm here at RedLodge, surrounded by such great work in the gallery and in the studio, I want to REMEMBER that it worked BEFORE I make 10 of the ones that didn't work.

Must be the elevation.

These 10" jars are made from 5 lbs B-mix and 1lb Death Valley, both Laguna products.
I've been adding the handles to the body as the forms are wet, right on the wheel. It seems to add to the shape of these jars. I sprinkle corn starch on the rim of the lid and I can fit the lid right away! The corn starch burns out in the bisque, but keeps the wet clay lid/pot from sticking to each other. This allows for the lid to conform to the slightly out of round shape of the pot.
It's a great technique for fitting odd or irregular shaped pieces!
I learned this from Betty, and she attributes it to Jim Brashear.
Until tomorrow!

Red Lodge Part 4

A view of Rock Creek behind the studio from a walk I took on Monday.

Some green peaking through the water.
A few pictures from the days events!
The 5 to 6" creamer and sugar sets aren't quite done, but here is a picture of them with colored and flashing slips. I made 3 more baskets today and will get handles on the new ones tomorrow.
I settled on a thinner rim for the baskets that seems to echo the rims of the pitchers and jars.
I like the set in the bottom right hand corner of the photo above,
though I'm still tweaking the handle!
These are the discoveries we get to make when we slow down a bit. It must be the elevation.
The 4 inch bottles will get trays too, made from the Death Valley dark stoneware.
See you tomorrow!

Red Lodge Part 3


We are really getting into the swing of things. The last couple of days we've taken a slower start, getting out to the studio in the late morning, then taking a break from 5-7 (7-9 est),
then back at it for a couple more hours!
The residents are working diligently at photographing and cataloging our work for the show! They work hard to make this place run smooth! I will be featuring the resident artists
and their work later, here on the blog!
Above are 6 creamers I made to match the lidded coffee pitcher/Melitta sets that I showed yesterday.


Each creamer/sugar has a little basket. I'll put handles on the last 3 when we go back tonight!

A picture of Betty Hedman working on a Dresser/creamer. I hope to have pictures of the canister set shes working on! Very cool!


Here's Donn Hedman working on some of his basket vessel forms. Babu Porcelain handled vases with Laguna's Death Valley stoneware bases.


We took a drive up onto the plain above Red Lodge, called a "bench," and our gracious driver (Donn) allowed me to get out and snap this photo!
Until tomorrow!

From PA to MT!

Here we are! In Beautiful Montana! This is as far west as I've been and I can't explain how incredible these Mountains are! For those of you who don't know, I was invited to come to
Red Lodge Clay Center by Donn and Betty Hedman. We will be here until April 15th making work, and will have an exhibit of our work opening April 9th.
Don't worry, you won't have to come to Montana! The show will be available online!
We left PA loaded down with pots, pottery making tools, and all kind of other things on Saturday March 13th and arrived unscathed 3 days later.
Badlands National Park, South Dakota, day 3 of the drive.
We saw three National Parks/Monuments that day, and arrived in Red Lodge around
1:30 am Tuesday March 16th .
Devils Tower!
South West view of the Beartooth National Forest from the Red Lodge Clay Center studio,
6 miles out of town.
Lidded Coffee Pitcher with matching Melita!
I have always wanted to make these, and now I have 6 of them in the works. We'll load our first bisque this week and fire the soda kiln early next week!
Until next post, cheers!

Ewers and Lidded Jars

these lidded jars are a little further along with some white slip on the bodies and small handles

these little ewers sure did take a long time to finish! Body, top piece, handle, spout and lid!
they'll have slab trays...



Moving right along...


This bottle was fired with my friend Scott Cornish, in his 2 chambered train/bourry box/cantenary arch wood/soda kiln west of Slippery Rock near New Galilea, PA.

These bottles were gas/salt fired back in 2008. They are the reason I keep returning to the
flask form.

fresh thrown bowls, drying on the ware cart.
Bisqued bottles await firing. Wood, Gas Salt or Reduction. So many choices.
I have been returning to a couple of successful forms. This time last year I was in the same space and things feel familiar. This time of year I end up making pots that relate to what's happening, like beer tankards, whiskey bottles, jugs, big soup bowls and bread plates. Aint much to do round here when the weather turns sour, except eat, drink and make pots...I think I'll stay.
The white slip on the bowl forms are a version of
Val Cushings S O T:
30 Grolleg
20 XX Sagger (the original called for EPK)
20 T-6
30 Custer
I wanted to see what ball clay would do to this slip. I've used it in/on all kinds of pots and firings. Though it tends to peal away from pots when you brush it on a leather hard pot, I have had success with dipping and pouring it on leather hard or brushing/wiping it on wet pots on the wheel. It has worked quite well on plates with shell flashing. The substitution of ball clay in the recipe may affect the flashing affects. The flashing comes from the high alumina content of the 70 percent kaolin slip(and the atmosphere of the kiln), but I'm thinking the changes will be minimal. I'm hoping the ball clay will aid in leather hard application. Time will tell, as we'll be firing soon. I've been using SOT on half of the work, including some pots I'll fire with a celadon or tenomoku glaze in reduction. The slip will fire white under a clear or glossy glaze.
The flasks(5 of the 12 I made) have been bisqued and are ready for a fire. They were made with a light firing stoneware and then dipped in a slip made from Laguna's B-mix for cone 10. My friend Donn uses B-mix, and orders it dry in 50 lb bags, so I'm trying it as a slip. All in due time.
I will most likely gas/salt fire this work here in Smicksburg. I hope to keep a few for other firings, as I've posted before.
Well, that's enough for now, I hope. Stay warm!





Jugs







Here are a few new pots in process. I've been working in the downstairs studio of Donn Hedmans pottery near Smicksburg. Donn has graciously offered me space in his super nice studio with a beautiful view. I'm making plenty and bisquing work for future firings. Out at Brush Valley, I don't bisque, so I thought I would store away a few dozen pieces that I can take to other folks firings in the coming months.
As for this recent work, I've been trying to hold back on my urges to use the colored slips and linear decoration that I usually include in my work. I struggle to not over decorate forms such as these jugs. The shapes, hopefully, will stand alone.
I have return to this form over and over through the years. I have always been intereste in historic jugs and the change in their shapes that trace the development of the industrialization of clay manufacturing. The closer you get to the 1900's, the flatter and straighter the jug shapes become. The more graceful forms of previous centuries leave wasted space in a kiln where the bellies meet and can be difficult forms to make. The early American jug shapes reference their German and English counterparts, with full bellies, long graceful necks and and a narrow foot.
I am also searching for relevance in these forms in today's day and age. How do these jugs fit in to contemporary life? Well, maybe they don't and maybe that's EXACTLY why we need them. These simple containers echo a time of simplicity. Not necessarily an easier life, just different and simpler. I hope I'm not stuck in the past but I think those folks made some nice jugs.
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays over the coming months...