Blog

Well, we are still alive :)

It's been quite a while since I've updated anything, or to be honest, done anything at all. With Ayano visiting from Japan, my mind has been blissfully far far away from pottery and work for quite some time. With some wonderful trips to Niagara Falls, Montreal and even a glorious week of camping at Grundy Lake, we finally felt ready to return to the grindstone and get back to work. And just in time as well, as my father will be doing the Cabbagetown Art Show next weekend, and after that in September, we have the Norfolk County Studio Tour, probably our biggest event of the year!!

 

As I write this, we are getting ready for a firing tomorrow, and we've just gone through a marathon few days of glazing and preparing. A few things stand out, such as little surprises left in old glaze buckets left unattended, like poor mice who have fallen in and unfortunately can't get out. Not the freshest smell, and it required a lot of sifting to get some of the 'residue' out, but my father assures me the glaze will be fine, if not even better! So there's one secret from the world of potters you probably didn't expect (or more likely, didn't want to know).

May MIckey rest in peace.

On a happier note, we've got some glaze tests and new ideas ready for this firing, as well as some pieces Ayano made on my small bowls, which if they turn out well, will look amazing :) I can't say I'm thrilled that summer is almost over, but it has been nice getting back to work and producing again. More updates to follow soon!

Ayano's flowers :) Only her second attempt at making them!


The Guelph Potter's Market, May 24th and 25th

My father and I will both be participating in our favourite show once again, the Guelph Potter's Market, on May 24th and 25th, 2014 at the Goldie Mill, 75 Cardigan Street, 10 am to 5 pm. This is a wonderful show that features exclusively pottery in a beautiful setting, an old gorgeous stone mill. I hope you'll come and see some of talented potters there :)

~Peter

Having some fun

So, with the addition of a new(ish) shimpo whisper wheel, and a little bit of free time, I sat down and decided to make some forms that were less practical, and more fun for me. I used recycled clay, which lacks a lot of the plasticity and strength of a new bag of clay, which means there are a lot of imperfections and even ripping in the pieces. But I wanted to make thinner, lighter and more appealing shapes, something to make me happy and enjoy a bit of throwing, not worrying about how practical or dependable they are. Here are some of the cups, ~Peter

Two of my submissions to the Hamilton Potter's Guild Biennial Gallery Show

I've submitted 3 pieces, all featuring elephants on my bowls, and here are two of them, just fresh out of the kiln and already on the way to be juried. Hopefully some of them get selected :) Here is the website for the biennial information, http://www.hamiltonpotters.ca/hamilton/events/biennial/  it's held at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas from April 4th to 27th, 2014. There will be a lot of amazing work from potters in the Hamilton region :)

(oh, and I've added a 'pinit' button for all those people on pinterest, if you're into that kind of thing)

"A day at the beach" with some water colour paint put into the water :)

"Not another dinosaur! Where are all the pots?" Looking for some ancient pots in all the  wrong places.

New Work from the latest Firing!

Here are some pieces from the newest firing! I was extremely happy with the new celadon glaze my father mixed, it's a lot more stable, less crazing, AND the oxides came out nicely :) Again, the brown and black glazes are made from local clay, right from a farmers field here in Norfolk :) Among the pieces are a simple decorated tumbler, large, medium and small bowls, a sake bottle and cup, and a normal tea cup on it's own. ~ Peter

Elephant Surgery

These elephants, among several others, were the victim of my dads clumsiness, and have suffered tremendously. So I'm trying to do some damage control and reattach limbs, trunks and even heads. Some of them will make it through, others, like the one with only 3 legs, will have to soldier on as is. ~Peter

New Work, Ramen Bowls

Here are some bowls I've been working on, trying to make them a little heavier and deeper, hopefully perfect for eating large bowls of noodles and soup, like ramen or pho :) I've also tried making lips/side dishes to accompany each dish, allowing you to cover the soup while serving, they're definitely still a work in progress and I will have to do extensive product testing to see how they stack up ;) ~Peter

ramen bowls and lids

Making some sake cups

Here's a video of me making two sake cups, throwing off "the hump". This just means I'm using one large piece of clay to throw a lot of small pieces, rather than cutting the clay into individual chunks. It saves time and can be a lot easier, although I do find, for me, since I'm not used to it, that it's hard to establish the 'bottom' of the piece and that judging exactly how much clay to pull with takes a lot of practice. Anyways, these pieces are for some friends of mine, so I thought I'd share how they are made :)

 

here's the url if you can't see the video below: http://vimeo.com/80674959