New Pots from the October firing listed on ETSY!

The above spoon jar is one of 5 that I have available.

And this Holly Hock tumbler is one of 5. Email me to find out how many are left!

Finished work from Montana

Just a few images of the work I made in Montana, at the Red Lodge Clay Center.

Hope you all are enjoying the summer!

New Pots on Etsy!

Red Lodge Part 16: Wood Klin (I know)

Images from the loading of the kiln at top and petrogliph images from a gorgeous hike on Sunday, in the Pryor Mountains.

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 Part 14: Broad Range

Have I mentioned this?

We have a show opening up tonight!

But, if you can't make it to Montana, the pieces from the show will be

available for purchase online starting Monday!

We'll have a short day in the studio! The opening is from 5-7!

Hope to see you if you are in the area!
Drop me a line if you'd like a post card!

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!

Cheers!

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!