The new Barley Hollow Pottery stamp

Also in this firing were the first of my pieces to bear the new Barley Hollow Pottery stamp. I designed the logo based on the symbol I’ve been using since the Double Diamond days, my take on the Egyptian hieroglyphic for “barley”. I had it laser cut by www.4clay.com and had it in hand at the beginning of the year. The results were what I’d hoped. While I’ll probably still scrawl on everything, the stamp will hopefully lend a nice bit of consistent branding. (I can’t help but snicker as I type that.)

I also had a first in this cycle. I threw a nice big bowl, possibly my biggest to date, from reclaimed and reworked clay. The reworked clay was a set of 14 mugs that dried to much to take handles. I rehydrated it, worked it, wedged it, and then threw 9 pounds of it into the closest thing to a punchbowl I’ve gotten so far. It seemed to dry nicely, but in the bisque firing, it exploded. That’s the first piece I’ve ever had explode. It didn’t damage any of the other pieces, and the kiln seemed ok. The bottom of the bowl, however, shattered in hundreds of fragments spread across the top shelf and all through the kiln below. So, I guess that’s one more milestone I can mark off. The bisque cone will do garden duty this spring in the bed outside the studio, making a fun, if not tiny, raised bed for some flowers.

And now I’m already looking forward to getting the next cycle going.

Also of note, starting March 10, 2012, the Kinston Arts Council, and their resident artist, potter Yu-san Ishimaru, will be offering a 4-week raku workshop. For more information call the Arts Council or visit their web site, www.kinstoncca.com. I hope you’ll consider signing up. It should be a great workshop.

Here’s the contents of the February 4th glaze firing, my first for 2012.

Mustache Mug

This Saturday, December 17th, we will be at the Kinston Farmers Market. I have a few new pieces to offer including a new item that may be of interest to iPhone owners. This will be my last sale at the market until next spring.

Merry Christmas, and thanks for your support. I hope you’ll enjoy something home-made for the holidays. Cheers!

This load included several pieces dipped in Lustrous Vert, a rich, glossy deep green. I’ve had several pieces with this before, but this is the first big batch, and it worked pretty well. The kiln fired just short of cone 5. The last firing with Lustrous Vert was slightly over cone 5 and the Lustrous Vert dripped from several pieces. This time, the application of the glaze was lighter, which probably made the difference.

There was one larger jar which was dipped in Indigo Float. It finished great. And as usual, the Indigo Float dusted the shelf about an inch around the pot. It would be interesting to know why this happens.

All things considered, it was a good firing. I’ll take photos and post them this weekend. And speaking of photos, I’m starting to use ZangZing more for photos. I’m planning to put all the Barley Hollow pottery pictures there from now on. I’ll post a link here when it’s set up. If you haven’t tried ZangZing, you should. It’s a nice photo sharing site, and at the moment, it’s free.

My plan for the rest of the year is to try to get one more throwing and firing cycle in before Christmas. Free time is nearly non-existent, though, so, effectively, I may not have anything more before 2012. If so, we’ll have it at the Farmer’s Market, or possibly an informal open studio. Check back here to see if there’s any news.

Mrs. B. told me about the knitting bowl and showed me an example. It’s a medium sized, more spherical bowl with a small slot cut in from the rim. The knitter’s yarn is stored in a ball in the bowl, and it feeds out through the slot. In the photo below, there are a pair on the top shelf.

Also in this weekend’s work, a set of 4 matched bowls, about as close a set as I’ve thrown to date. I’m crossing my fingers for drying and firing.

Here’s a snapshot of the weekend’s production…

There’s also a lidded sugar bowl. I haven’t thrown many lidded items lately, so it’s about time.

I did some studio maintenance, too. In the last glaze firing, I had some glaze drips on the shelves. The indigo float dripped off of the big blue bowl, which didn’t surprise me. It does that sometimes when I apply glaze by pouring on a large item. Indigo float tends to make big bulging puddle drips that pop off the kiln wash easily. I also had some unexpected drips from the new Vert Lustre, which dripped and soaked through the kiln wash and into the shelf. It didn’t pop off nicely. I chipped off what I could, but ultimately had to resort to an angle grinder to remove it, also removing a bit of the shelf at the same time. I’m not worried about what’s left on the shelf, but I’m concerned about the change to the shelf itself. May be time for a replacement. I then did a fresh, heavy coat of kiln wash on all the shelves. We’ll see how it holds up.

I’m hoping to get a bisque load fired before Thanksgiving. We’ll see.

There was a big blue bowl, about 14″ across…

…and a wider big blue-green bowl. It picked up some nice trout spots in firing…

…and my personal favorite, the lustrous green lantern. This was made as a monument for a cat, and includes a solar light. The effect is subtle and comforting.