All Fired Up Pottery

Making Forms

2009-05-22T03:28:00.000-07:00

I was up at 5 am this morning. Danny forgot his glasses and came back to get them. Might as well get up, I was wide awake by then. I decided to clean up the pottery wheel and throw a form I had been wanting to throw for some time. You use these forms for making other objects. This one below will be used to make a open weave pottery basket. I think you'll really be surprised. The pictures below are of a freshly make greenware pot. It has to sit for at least a week to completely dry. During that time, I'll get Kojak to come and replace the breaker in the breaker box so we can fire it. After that, I think I'll make a movie of the basket making. Can't wait to see how it turns out. J

Getting Back

2009-02-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Do you know what this picture is? It's a picture of an idle pottery
wheel. I hope to get it going real soon. I've been very tired lately,
my asthma is way out of control and I don't feel good most days. I
have some really good ideas for some new pieces, so hopefully I will
be able to start something soon. Keep dropping by and keep your
fingers crossed.

Gettin' Ready but Still Idling!!

2008-11-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well, this is Jen again. Just stopping by to let everyone know we are trying to get started again doing some pottery. What with Ambre's classes and my work, we haven't been able to do much. I have an order for some Christmas mugs, so I will be posting again soon. In the meantime, everyone have a great Thanksgiving and thanks for stopping by.

Idling

2008-09-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! This is Jen. Just checkin' in! Sorry the blog has been in idle mode for a while. There has been a lot going on here. Ambre' hasn't had much time to make any new pieces. Kojak has found a new job with DirectTV. He has been in training for a few weeks now out of town, so Ambre has had the kids all by herself during the week and studying hard on the weekends for her class. I have a few pieces made that have not been fired yet but I also have been sick with a flareup of my asthma and very busy at work. They let our clerk go a few weeks ago and I have had to do her job and mine too. This past week the site manager took a week off, so I have been doing his job also. Very tired by the time I get home. Hopefully before long we will have some new pieces to display. In the meantime, please bear with us as we get through this harsh period. Thanks, Jen

New website

2008-08-29T20:17:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I started another blog today. This one is for Poppy and I to post news and happenings about the family. The name if Hodge's on the Hill and the address is www.hodgesonthehill.blogspot.com. Come and visit. I promise I will try to keep it fresh.

Well here they are....

2008-08-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

The pictures aren't that great but the pots turned out so nice! Thanks for stopping!

Funky Pots from Foothill Country

2008-08-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

Well, here are a few pieces that I'm working on. They are currently in the drying stage. I will be bisque firing them soon and will hopefully get them glazed and finished. They will all have the same glaze effect as the pot picture below except I will be trying out some different glaze colors. The pot below was dipped in glaze and then scraped in places to reveal the natural clay color underneath.

I really fell in love with the design of this pot. Apparently so did Beth!

These two are vases.

These are going to be tumblers. They are just the right size and fit perfectly in the hand. Each one of these new pieces is different in pattern or shape.

That one on the right says things like Faith, Hope, Love, Laugh!

I just thought this one was so sweet and whimsical!

The next 3 pictures are of the same cup from different sides so you can get the full impact. I love it!!! And absolutely true!

Just in case you couldn't make it out...the top line reads 'Haley, James & Cameron' and the bottom reads 'My cup runneth over. Ps. 23:5'

And again the next 3 are of one cup.

Top line: Live~Love~Laugh
Bottom line:Well~Forever~Often

I just love the versatility of pottery and these pieces are no exception. They are not the usual "stick-them-on-a-shelf-and-never-use-them" pieces. They are functional and fun! What more could you ask for?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the lastest installment of 'Funky Pots from Foothill Country'. Leave me some love and your opinions. Thanks, Ambre

Jennifer's New Pieces

2008-08-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I have some new pieces to show, so let's get started. This first picture is of the Japanese style teapot I made. I changed my mind at the last minute and painted it with Poppy Fields Crystalline Glaze. I just need to add the bamboo handle and she's all set. I think it turned out very well.

I made two more rice bowls but instead of painting them red, I tried another effect that I think turned out well. The inside of the bowls are done in Peacock Eyes Crystalline and outside is Stormy Blue. Yeah, Yeah, I know it doesn't look blue. But this is fired to cone 5 and this is the effect that you get. I still think they turned out well.

The next few pictures are of a set of cups and creamer and sugar. They are dipped in raspberry and nutmeg. I overlapped the two colors a little and that is the effect in the middle.

The next three pictures are of some new birdhouses that I made. They were a lot of fun to make and kinda whimsical.

The top of the birdhouse in the middle was done by coiling ropes of clay. The weird thing about this is that the glaze on the top of this is Stormy Blue. I'm wondering if the blue effect we got with this is because I dipped it in clear glaze too. I'll have to do some trials and see. Anyway, do you remember the platter below?

Well, how do you like it now? I had a hard time deciding what to do with it. But finally decided to dip it in Brown Glass and trim in white.

That's all I have for right now. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave your comments. We will probably be showing and selling all these new items at our next sell. So if you see something you like let us know.

Coming Soon!!!

2008-08-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

Unloaded the kiln this morning. Beautiful stuff. Will have pics up later this afternoon. Thanks for stopping by. Jen

A few new things.....

2008-08-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

We fired again finally but it's all mine. Mom is working on getting her stuff painted so we can get them in to fire this week. This first one was my favorite piece from this run but it's gone already. I gave it to Beth for her birthday cause she loved it so much.

Below are the tops for the windchimes I'm putting together. I think they came out really nice!

These are a set of bowls that I made and they turned out beautiful! They are dipped in Ryoko and Moss Green.

Bowls again!

And this is a platter that I did as an order for a lady. It came out nice.....the edges came out not as curved as they were supposed to be but it's still a beautiful and functional piece. It's also done in Ryoko and Moss Green! I am really digging these colors!

Well, that's all I got for now but I hope we have more to show you soon!
Thanks for stopping in! Ambre

Waiting!!!

2008-08-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Waiting!!! Waiting!!! Waiting!!! I hate waiting. It's a cruel thing, this waiting. We are still working on some upcoming pieces and waiting for them to dry. We have a few pieces that can be fired to glaze and a few pieces at the college that are already fired but not picked up. Class is tomorrow night. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we will have some posted as soon
as possible. Thanks, Jen

FIRING!!!!!

2008-07-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it took longer than we hoped but we are firing a bisque load as I type. I've been glazing some jewelry pieces all evening. I found out there is a glaze that I can put on greenware and I only have to fire the pieces once instead of twice. Nice huh? I guess we'll see once they come out. We've got some other pieces in there that need to go to the college and be glazed, so hopefully within a couple more days, we'll have some finished pieces to add to the blog. Be on the look-out. See ya later, Jen!

Things To Come

2008-07-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it's been awhile since I posted. Things have been a little hectic around here. Ambre has been studying a lot. She had her final exam in micro-biology last Thursday evening. She's really been worried about that. But we have been going to pottery class on Wednesday nights and trying to make things here at the house when we can. The following are a few of the things we have in the works. They are all greenware right now. We will be doing a bisque firing sometime today. The first one is a birdhouse that I made. I'm trying new styles. The roof was done in three pieces that were joined together. The next picture shows the detail on the roof.

I made the detail with a pine cone. It kinda looks like a thatched roof. Really neat. I have two more at class that are similar but with different roofs on them. I'll take some pics and post them next week.
Your gonna love these! Their windchimes. Ambre came up with these. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Here is another pitcher that Ambre made. These are really popular. And very beautiful.
This is a few coffee cups and a chili bowl that I made. The next picture show a sugar and creamer to go along with the cups.
This picture below is of a new kind of teapot that I made. I made it in the style of the Japanese teapots. I can't wait til it's done. I think I'm going to do it in a deep red trimmed in black with Japanese writing on the sides. It will have a bamboo handle when done. Also working on some teacups to go with it. I'll show those later.
We're going to do one more sale out on the road. Then we'll be working a lot to get stuff ready for the Hilltop Festival in October. We are hoping that we can make it into the Hickory Show coming up in March. That show is very hard to get into, but we are hoping that we can. That's all for now. Keep checking back, we'll try to get more on the site and we'll be firing again and hopefully these pieces can be seen by midweek finished. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave your comments. Jen

Today's Results!

2008-07-12T19:00:00.001-07:00

Hi! Everyone! Well , we were back out displaying our pottery again today. I think next time we may start a little later. The only customers we had to begin the day were looking for directions. The real customers showed up after 2pm. We had a pretty good day and sold a lot of stuff. At least we came home without one huge box and one container empty. Yeah! I made some more little pieces with my jewelry pieces. I made another key chain with my dark beads and a zen piece attached. It sold first thing this morning. But after that we were afraid no one was going to come. There was a long dry spell. Then afternoon rolled around and here they came. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed meeting all the new people that travel thru. Below are some of the pieces I worked on today. Ambre is wearing one right now, so it is not here.
The one on the far left is for Gabby. They came by today and she picked out her piece and asked if I would make her a necklace. We got a lot of requests for special items and an invite to furnish some pieces for a new shop opening in Inman, SC. We are really looking forward to it. Well, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave your comments. Jen

A New Thing

2008-07-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

I made some beads and things. And after they were fired I made this. What do you think?

The beads have variations of black and light brown. They turned out stunning. I made some red ones too. Will post those later this evening. jen

We're doing it again!

2008-07-10T18:34:00.003-07:00

We're doing it again ya'll!!! We're gonna be out there again this weekend selling some pottery. So ya'll come on by and check us out. We had such a good time last weekend and I hope we'll do even better this weekend. See ya there!

Independance Day Sale Done!

2008-07-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over. We made it through the whole two days and really didn't have any bad weather to speak of. It drizzled a little on Friday afternoon. And was cloudy and overcast this morning. It was drizzling this morning but by the time we got to the store it had stopped. It wasn't so awful hot today either. Here are a few pics of our tables after we got them set up. This last one is of a hawk that came by and settled on a pole across the street. Sorry I couldn't get a closer pic of him. Anyway, we want the thank everyone who stopped by and especially those who made purchases. We appreciate your business. Hopefully we will have the shop finished before long.

Oh, and just to let you know. We are thinking seriously about doing this again in about three weeks. We really enjoyed it. And got to met some really nice people. Thanks again for stopping by the site and please leave your comments. We like to hear what you think! Bye now! Jen

Beautiful New Pieces

2008-07-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well, they are done. We were so busy that we could not post before going on our special Independence Day Sale. So I took pictures as we were setting everything up. We had a really great day. Ambre sold a few of her birdhouses and one of the feeders. Traffic was especially slow today, don't know whether it was due to the price of gas or that everyone had plans to spend the day with friends cooking out. There were a lot of trucks hauling big cookers today. So here we go.

Here are a couple of coffee mugs I made a few months ago and decided to finish up for our special sale. They were dipped in cobalt then white. I think the white got a little to thick on these. But they turned out pretty good.

This is that large vase that Ambre made. She dipped this one in cobalt blue then drizzled rutile green on it to get this effect.
These two turned out great. The pitcher on the left is one that Ambre made. She dipped it in floating blue. Can you see the top edge? The glaze broke into another color. This causes a beautiful two toned effect. Now the other piece is mine. Ambre calls it my spittoon (did I spell that right?) Ambre dipped it in cobalt blue then raspberry. It looks great and on the inside you can really see the raspberry.
Ambre tried something new with these two. She made the bowl and I made the pitcher. She dipped both first in raspberry and then in white. They both have a pinkish tint to them.
I love these two pieces. I made them both. The one on the left you've seen before. It's my garlic jar done in Herb Garden Crystalline glaze. I decided to try the same glaze on my pitcher. Turned out great, what do you think.
This one is beautiful. You have to see this up close to really appreciate it. Ambre dipped it in floating blue and matte iron yellow. It is truly a great piece.
These two pieces are Ambre's. The vase is done in Little Loafers clay and painted with Cappuccino Mint Crystalline glaze. Go back up to pictures # 2. See the brown cup in the picture? That was done in Speckled Brownstone and also painted with cappuccino Mint. That's the difference in glazes used on very different clays. The little cup next to it is done in Tahiti Grape.

These little beauties were made by me. Ambre throws her houses in one piece. I threw these in two pieces. First I throw a cup type bowl and curl the top inwards. Then I throw a lid off the hump and attach the two together. The two on the outside were stained with red iron oxide. The middle one was done Terra Cotta underglaze and dipped in clear.
Here are Ambre's bird feeders. I painted to two on the left, and Ambre dipped the other two. She really disliked the dark one and said it was ugly. Well, guess what, it was the first thing she sold.
Ambre made the one on the right and did the little squigglies. I think its gorgeous. I made the other two. One is done with Christmas Red and the other is done in Herb Garden.
A very large birdhouse made by Ambre dipped in Ryoko.
Ambre dipped this one in cobalt and drizzled rutile green over the top.
Here is one of Ambre's bird villages. We were heartbroken when we opened the kiln and the base was cracked. It's still all together and sealed but has a huge crack in the base. Well, that's all for now. We'll be back out there tomorrow. Have a great 4th and be safe. Jen

Special Note From Ambre: I wish you all could see these pieces in person. While these pictures are nice they really do not do these beautiful pieces the justice they deserve. I am sorry if that sounds like bragging, but I must tell the truth. And while I'm on the subject of truth, my word was it ever hot today? It was smoldering, we are exhausted but we are going out again tomorrow! It's so nice to chat with all the people that come by to see us. Meeting new people is always fun. Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence holiday, love to all and I'm going to bed now....but only because I want to be up early, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Well that and I'm very close to falling out of this chair nad sleeping in the kitchen floor. Goodnight Neverland!

Come out and see us this weekend......

2008-07-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

I promise you won't be disappointed. We have 2 new glaze loads of some very wonderful pieces. We have been so busy getting everything fired and ready for this weekend that we have not been able to post any pictures. It's almost 2 AM now as I'm typing this and I should be in bed but I wanted to invite you all out to see us one more time. I think I might need to set the timer on the coffee maker.
Okay, sorry I got side-tracked. Mom and I will be there from about 8 am on Friday and Saturday mornings into the evenings. When the mosquitoes start biting I'm usually ready to head indoors. I am a bullseye for those things. So anyway, if you're out and about on this Fourth of July weekend, stop by and see us!

Mom's pendants

2008-07-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Remember these? We fired them last night.

Here they are now. Much prettier, yes? I have this feeling these will be gone pretty soon.

There are more of them in the kiln, including some crosses but I wanted to save those for when I post the pictures of everything that fired last night. I will have them up later today.

Pics.......

2008-07-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

New pieces coming out today, pictures will be up this afternoon. Stop in and check them out.

A Peek at Things to Come

2008-06-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

We're firing again!! We fired a bisque load yesterday and we're firing as I write this. Tomorrow and the next two nights we will be firing glaze loads. I thought I would give you a little peek at some of the things we are working on right now.
The first is a pitcher which I made and a vase which Ambre made. I painted my pitcher to match the garlic jar in Herb Garden Crystalline. Ambre did hers in Cappacino mint.
This cute little birdhouse is one that I made. I painted it in Herb Garden and did the leaves in dark green highlighted with mint green. The bird feeder, Ambre made, but she allowed me to paint it. I think it turned out pretty good. The birdfeed will still need to be dipped in a clear glaze, and the leaves on the house will need to be painted with clear, but other than that they are ready to go into the kiln.
Here's one the bird villages that Ambre is working on. It's really time consuming on these pieces. When you use underglaze and regular glaze for that matter. If you brush it on, it has to be brushed on three times to get the maximum coverage.

Now, don't freak out!!! Ha! Ha! I know it looks kind of garish right now but once it's dipped in clear and fired, the colors with sorta of blend together and soften up a bit. Also, the bluish color on the leaves is actually light green. It has to be fired to bring out the green in it.
Here's another garish one. These are the plaque type birdhouses that I like to make sometimes. This one is supposed to resemble the sun. Hopefully when it is fired and the yellow and orange kind of blend together I will get that effect. Keep your fingers crossed.
Ambre likes to make jewelry pieces and has done some beautiful Raku pieces. I decided to try my hand at making some. I had a few made and we bisque fired them last week. When Ambre started the kiln the next day, she painted a few of my pieces and threw them in there just to see how they would turn out. Well , she sold all but one the next day. Here we have some more pieces looking very dull right now, but they well be shiny when done.

Here is a couple of close-ups of the jewelry pieces. As you can see they need to be shiny. The ones that look as if they have bumps on them, those are the crystals in the glaze that burst and cause special effects on the piece. Well, that's all for now. Just stay tuned, we should be able to share some finished pictures by Thursday or Friday. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment. We really love to hear from you. Jen

For our local folks.....

2008-06-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

We will be having an Independence Celebration Sale on Friday and Saturday, July 4th and 5th.
We will be set up outside the Stop & Go on the corner of US 221 South and Tanner St. in Rutherfordton.
We will be there from 8 AM - Until on both days.
We will be displaying a lot of new pieces unloaded just this week!
Come by to see us and be the first to get a crack at the new stuff!
Thanks!

PUPPIES

2008-06-27T12:16:00.001-07:00

They're here! And they are adorable. We have 3 boys and 1 girl.

The 3rd from the left is the girl!
I want the one on the far right.

Okay now she's on the left and my little man is next to her. All that brown just kills me. Casey is such a good little mommy!

Are you ready for this?

2008-06-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, here they are! They all turned out so unbelievably well, it really makes us feel good when we open the kiln to find such awesome things. Okay, here we go!

This is a jug that I made for Kojak. It is dipped in Floating Blue. The blue in it breaks to reveal a dark brown over ridges! It is awesome but also unpredictable.

Coffee mug. I painted it with Tahiti Grape!

This is Mom's garlic jar! I painted it with our new crystalline glaze, Herb Garden. We have fallen in love with one. It's the best piece out of this load, I think! You can't really tel but it is a minty green background with dark green, golden yellow, blue, and light brown specks! It really is lovely!

This is my pitcher. I think it is dipped in Ryoko and Twinkly blue. Twinkly Blue is not really blue though, it is more of a light green.

Birdhouse in Floating Blue, can you see the breaks in the blue that show brown?

This is another birdhouse that I think I dipped in Matte Iron Yellow and either Moss or Twinkly blue. Cute huh?

This is one of my birdfeeders. I know it is Matte Iron Yellow but can't remember what else.

I dipped this mug in Floating Blue and the unpredictable happened. It turned more brown that blue. I still love it though.

This is my tall pitcher, dipped in Ryoko and Moss Green.

This vase is also Ryoko and Moss.

This birdhouse was dipped in Twinkly Blue and nothing else. See, it's more of a green than blue.

This is my cookie jar that has been sitting on a shelf for a while waiting to be glazed and fired. i think it turned out really nice!

This is the front view of one that I tried something new on. It is dipped in....well, I don't remember. Anyway, I placed a piece of stained glass on top of the handle.

And this what happened. I like it, it's different but I think I would like it better if I had dipped it in a darker glaze. Tell me what you think?

This the other vase I did. I think it's Ryoko and Moss but with my memory I can never be sure.

So, we would like to know what you all think? What's your favorite piece? New glaze combinations, yah or nah? Your opinions matter greatly to us!

Note: We have PUPPIES! Casey had them late last night! I will post a picture later, they are way too adorable!

Teaser post.....

2008-06-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

I loaded the kiln this morning and then I peeked in it this evening after class!
The End!

Ha Ha Just kidding! No really I did load the kiln and I DID peek in there this evening. We even peeked long enough to snap a quick photo but believe me when I say, You DON'T want to see it!
Don't get me wrong it's a nice peek pic but it would just ruin all the fun!
I will be going to Mom's in the morning to unload it and will have pictures up tomorrow asap!
I'm so excited!!!!!! Stay tuned!!!!

A new kind of birdhouse

2008-06-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ambre and I started back to pottery class tonight. This will be the last time for a long time that we will be able to go together. It's very relaxing to just go and work in an atmosphere where you don't have a lot of disturbance going on. Everyone there is enjoying themselves as they learn to do new techniques or just learning a new hobby. Anywho! I digress. I threw a couple of things tonight. One was a bird house that I had an idea for. First I threw the house itself on the wheel, sorta like a bowl but with the top drawn in. This first picture is of the house.

As you can see it just looks like a cup with no handle. I added the log feature under the door and scratched the sides to give it a tree like look. Next I threw the top. It's shaped kinda like a cone.
To the top I added some leaves and scratched the exposed area to resemble a tree. The only thing is I forgot how fast things can dry in the classroom because of the fans, so my little roof dried out too fast to get attached to the bottom. But not to worry. When I glaze both pieces, I will rest the top on top of the bottom and let the glaze adhere them together. Believe me that will work. I know, Ambre and I forgot to take a lid off of one of my canisters, and now I have a sealed canister. Anyway, the picture at the bottom shows the completed house.
Ambre did a lot of glazing tonight at the college, so be prepared, we are going to start the kiln tomorrow after the glazes dry a little more. We should have some pics up by Friday night. Keep your fingers crossed that everything turns out OK. Have a nice evening and God Bless!!

Oops, our bad.......

2008-06-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have realized, our Picasa Web Album link does not take you where it should. It was set to the Picasa sign-in page. I'm so sorry, that's probably a result of trying to type something with one child jumping on the couch, one dancing on the table and the other making a disastrous attempt to paint her nails. Oh well, it's all fixed now.
So, if you have tried to view our album but were not successful, please try again. Thanks! Ambre

Special Note: We are firing again soon so be on the look out!

Maybe an Old Woman Can Learn New Tricks

2008-06-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ambre has been telling me I need to throw some birdhouses too. I tried a couple of times and they turned out horrible. Well, you know the old saying, "If at first......yada, yada yada!!!!"I tried again today. These turned out pretty good. (I've been watching Ambre more closely- so don't tell her). Here are my two tries for today.

This one is about eight inches tall. I did it in Little Loafers. At the top I put an acorn and leaves and a couple of leaves to shed the door. The next one is also LL but is only about 6.5 inches tall.
It also has an acorn at the top with leaves. I think I'm improving. Ambre also threw some today.
This one is a nice big round one. I love how she used the larger stencil leaf to shed the door. I think I may try that on my next one. But I saved the best for last. Another bird village. This one has a church. You'll love it.

I made the cross for the decor and she added little steps. Isn't it the cutest. The next two pics are the other views. Then I'll sign off the night. Thanks in advance for visiting our site. And don't forget to leave your comments. There are two ways. At the end of each blog or inside the c-box over on the left. Just type in your name and tab to the message box. It's that easy. Have a great week and ya'll come back soon. J

Update on Casey

2008-06-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I know that this has nothing to do with pottery and clay but this is an update on Casey our dog. She is due in less than a week. And Ambre posted a blog on her a couple of weeks ago. It has been unseasonably hot here and we had a problem with our air conditioner. But we replaced it and the house is now cool. She's not suffering so much from the heat now as she is the burden. Poor thing. She had gotten so big.

As you can see, she has spread out a little bit. She can no longer jump up into her Daddy's lap. He has to pick her up. But she can still sit up and beg, although to me it looks kind of painful.
Anyway, she's due in less than a week, so we'll let everyone know when they are born and post some pics. Ambre is having trouble with her computer today. It won't let her on the blog, something to do with her anti-virus protection program. So she'll be back on her spot when everything is straightened out. Bye for now and thanks for visiting. Oh yeah! We'll be posting some more pottery soon.

Houston, we have a problem......

2008-06-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, Tom Hanks is not here and this one can't be fixed with spare parts. Okay, all jokes aside, this is a serious problem.

I went to get this:

But I found this:

Does anyone else see the magnitude of this situation?

It must be rectified immediately.

Like tomorrow morning!

See this is what happens when I have no mud to play in. I get a little panicky!

I need therapy!

ANOTHER VILLAGE

2008-06-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! Ambre has created another village. She's getting pretty good at this. What do you think?

This is one side, notice the little stump to the left and the bent log on the right she added for perches.
Moving on around to the right is this little doll that sorta looks like a dimpled golf ball. We also see another perch to the right.
And the last one in this village resembles a beehive. I love the leaf overhangs she has added on these to keep the rain out. These villages are great and I can't wait for them to dry so we can fire and paint them. Beautiful work, Ambre!!!!!

Introductory Post!

2008-06-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Every great once in a while I have a really good idea and yesterday was one of those times. On our way down the interstate Mom and I were discussing our pottery biz and out of the blue I had this awwesome idea. It completely took me by surprise. Within a few minutes I had explained it to Mom and knew exactly how to go about it. This morning I got up, went to Moms house and got busy.

I'll stop rambling now!

I'm calling these Bird Villages!

This is the front and left sides.

Front and right sides.

These will be a post type bird village. They are too heavy to hang so I will be selling them with or without a wooden plank that can be attached to a 4x4 post and the bird house will need to be mounted on top with some form of glue. You don't really want to try to screw them down because they may crack. I am so excited about this new project, this one was so fun to make.

I made this one today by request for a bigger bird house, although you can't really tell how big it is in this picture.

This one I made about a week ago. It's right at 12 inches tall and I love it!

On our way home yesterday we stopped in South Carolina to see Bo and Millie. They are doing good, they're both still workoholics. And while we were there I took a few pictures of some pieces that they had of Moms. this one is a casserole she did last year.

This is one piece of a canister set she made. I hope she makes more of these this year.

On the subject of Bo and Millie, Bo makes furniture. Very unique furniture. He just started a blog page today and will be featuring his hand made furniture and home decor. It is rustic and beautiful. Below I am including a few shots of pieces he had available for me to shoot. Take a look at his blog and his creative wonders.

www.carolinarustics.blogspot.com

I think I need to get busy!

2008-06-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Mom's prediction was correct....these birdhouses are selling like hotcakes!
Mom took them to work with her last Thursday and sold 3, then sold 2 at the bank this morning! How cool is that? I am very excited but worried at the same time because I only made 11 to begin with. I gave 1 to a friend who was in the hospital after breaking her leg in 3 places! So we only have 5 left!

I guess I need to get a move on. Only now I have a problem, I hurt my finger yesterday and I can't do any throwing until it heals. I do have some up there that need painting so they can be fired so I guess I could do that. I also have some more from the first batch that need to be glazed. Or I could talk Mom into making some birdhouses.

I also got my birdfeeders bisque fired so they are almost ready for their debut. Mom's 2 large platters have been bisque fired and came out perfect so they are ready for painting.

Mom and I both are signed up for pottery class this summer again. We haven't taken the class in a few semesters and I figured if I get into the nursing program we won't have very much Mother/Daughter time for a long while. So, we are going this summer to spend time together. And make pretty pots of course. Plus, it gives us both a chance to get out of our houses and do something for ourselves.

Also, I would like to say "Thank You" to everyone for all your comments and encouragement. They are all greatly appreciated!

Gotta start somewhere, right?

2008-06-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I wanted to show everyone some of our first pieces so here they are. And just so you know, I am not ashamed to say Mom and I have come a long way!

The first projects we had in pottery class were a pinch pot (right) and a coil piece (left). These two are Mom's!
These two were mine!

The next project involved using slabbed clay. This is Mom's birdhouse and cup!

This is a taco bake dish that Mom made from slab!

This is my slab bowl!

This is a mosaic cup that Mom made.

These are a few more pieces that I made....that one on the far left is a crocus pot.

And this one is a coil flower pot that I made! It is so heavy!

Anyway that's all the pictures I could find for the moment! Can anybody else see the improvement?

Water water everywhere......

2008-06-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

And all the pots did shrink!

Hahahaha.....sorry, sometimes they just pop in my head.

Okay, there really was a point to that and it is thus. Clay stinks~I mean shrinks. During drying our clay usually shrinks about 12%. Drives a girl nuts!

But even with the shrinkage I am still impressed with these babies! Check them out and tell me what you think!

The handle on the right one has been removed (AKA I broke it) and it's now just a vase.

I love these two, they are very tall for me and turned out great!

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post which will contain pictures of some of our first pieces.

Ambre's Buildin' a Big One

2008-06-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Ambre got a big ball of clay last night and sat down to build a big one. Didn't really know what she wanted to build but it turned out pretty good. This first picture shows the pot already up and started.

Next, she's expanded a little more. I'll add a couple of more to show the progress and bringing it on up and out a little.

Now if you will notice in the above picture, the bottom was getting a little rounder. Well, the bugger tried to sit down on Ambre. You'll see a wider bottom on the next picture. She had to work fast to get it to come back up before it sat down completely and ruined the piece.
She's working hard to keep it from falling. But she made it and in the next picture you will see the finished product. Mind the piece looks whiter at the top but that is because it is in the drying stage now and drying from the top down.
Now, I'm going to throw in one more picture and another piece she threw after throwing the large vase. I have to say that while I know I am bragging ( forgive me Lord!) my daughter is a very talented artist. Well, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget the leave a comment.

Boosting Bloggers

2008-06-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hi! Everyone, Jen here. Just wanted to let you know about another blogger. Her name is Dana and she designs jewelry. She's very talented. Her blogspot is called "Charmed Designs" ( catchy huh?). Anyway, her link is on my page, so go visit with her. Her jewelry sells almost as fast as she posts them. There is one that I love and I am hoping I can get her to make me one for the cruise. Will match two of my outfits. Visit her site, you will not be disappointed. Bye for now. Jen

Ambre here......

2008-06-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

You know, sometimes it takes a while to get things done in our mud slinging high-fired world, with waiting for pieces to dry, ('cause you DO NOT want them to explode in the kiln) sanding, bisquing, cooling, dipping, the endless decisions and the final firing! Man, that's a lot of waiting! And honestly, I'm just not a patient person. (yeah, I said it, I'm not ashamed....I have LITTLE patience) Although, it's hard for me because I'm also a procrastinator.....don't even ask how that works.....I'm not sure myself!

Okay, enough with my deep-seeded personal issues.

The point of today's post is that I know some of you have as much patience as me and I thought maybe ya'll would like to see some of our pieces we have done in the last year or so! I think we started pottery classes when the boys were around 7 months old so I guess we're going on 2 years now. It has been fun! Ya know, I should really post some pictures of our very first pieces, that would be cool. Keep your eyes open for that one! Okay, so here we go!

This is my EYEBowl...it's kinda cool! I carved and painted it so that as you turn it each set of eyes looks different (AKA.....CRAZY).

This one is my very first Wicked Tree! Just an oval plate but I loved it! It was sold to a Log Home Builder who wanted it to use in a display home!

These are Mom's Rice Bowls! They turned out so cute and sold pretty fast. I'm hoping she makes some more this year!

My Big Pitcher! This thing is about the size of a soccer ball and dipped in Raspberry and Nutmeg!

These are some of the pendents I did last year!

Above and below are pictures of birdhouses that Mom and I did last year and Boy Oh Boy, did they sell fast! I am here to say the number of homeless birds in Rutherford County dropped last year, I'm sure of it!

This small pitcher was dipped in cobalt and white which have a really nice effect!

Mom threw these cups and I got bored, so I stole them from her dried shelf and painted them! Cute huh? I don't think she was mad so it's all good!

Kojak calls this my Irish Pot....I don't really know why! Anyway, I threw it, carved it, painted it, fired it and said goodbye to it and it's new owner! I hope they planted some beautiful flowers in it!

So, all of these pictures and more can be viewed in our Picasa Web Album....the link can be found on the right! Go check them out!

Thanks for stopping by....and for putting up with my tendency to ramble!

Your comments are welcome and appreciated!

Spectacular Birdhouse

2008-06-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ambre came up to the house today and made another birdhouse. Folks, this one is the bomb.
It's two tiered and very large. The first photo shows how big it is with Ambre and Haley in the picture.
The next picture show the house a little closer up. It kind of resembles an acorn. Ambre used some twisted vine around both doors and added a ring around the joint. Then she added some oak type leaves for decoration. We know it will be fine when we bisque fire it but when we have to glaze fire this one, Oh Boy!
I made the next plaque style birdhouse today also. I threw this dome on the wheel and added it to the plaque. It did save some time and was much easier to work with. Please remember that these pieces you have seen today are freshly made and greenware. They are extremely fragile. Wish us luck in keeping them from breaking til their fired. Thanks for stopping by.

More Birdhousees

2008-06-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

I made another birdhouse yesterday. It's part of an idea I had with plaques. This first one is one that I made a few months ago. Unfortunately, one of the points broke off. But I'm going to try to make another one again today.

This next one was made yesterday. The face part was formed by hand using slabwork. But this morning it hit me that I could throw the bulb part of the house on the wheel. Well, that's an idea that will save a lot of time. It's kind of time consuming to do it by hand and the clay dries out very fast. It's sort of a race against time. I added a small feature on the back of this one. I'll add the pic but I'm not sure it can be seen very well. When its fired and painted it will show up much better.

Now, the next picture is the backside of the one above. It reads, " Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare", Ps. 124:7 Well, that's all for now. I'll try to have some more soon. And thanks again for stopping by.

Little Loafers

2008-05-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here's some more pieces that I did yesterday.

Kojak says he likes the coffee cup because it might actually be big enough for his hands. I guess he keeps forgetting that I made him a coffee cup about the size of this pitcher. See below!

Okay so it's more like a coffee MUG!

I made these birdhouses last night also and added a little biult-in perch below the door. I made these four pieces with Little Loafers which is a white clay! You would be surprised how differently a glaze looks on this clay!

I love using Speckled Brownstone but sometimes I like to use this one for the difference in finished color! It is a much smoother clay easier to manipulate on the wheel! It also has a few drawbacks, for one, it's become nearly impossible for me to throw something without getting the bottom too thin. I have to make and attach a new bottom on these peices, which is still okay! Second, because it is so smooth it takes some effort to keep it from completely going all womple-jawed and ending up in your lap! And yes that has happened to me! I slung one at Christopher one time too, but that was funny!

Moving on!

This is a cookie jar that I made a few months back, it's been bisque fired but I ahve no clue as to what I'm going to do with it now.

Ambre

THEY'RE DONE!!!!!!!

2008-05-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well, they're finally done. We had a really good turnout in the kiln. The four you see below were all hand painted, then dipped in clear to glaze. I painted the one on the far left and the third one over. Ambre painted the other two. The one with the white dots was supposed to be mint green, but because it was speckled brownstone, it turned gray instead. You can't see it but the middle two are full on tiny little flecks from the specks in the brownstone. The little yellow one is one of my favorites.

Next, are the three we tried the new glazes on. The cup is cappachino mint and the other two are Tahiti Grape. They have little flecks in the glaze that when heated to the correct temperature burst and cause the spots you see.

These are fantastic. Ambre first dipped them in cobalt and Rutile green. The deep blue in the colbalt turned the green a bluish color. Aren't they beautiful.

Ambre let Haley paint one. That's the one on the left. The one on the right is the Whoville house. Ambre painted it with blue underglaze, then carved the glaze out of the trees. It turned out pretty good.
These three pieces were dipped in raspberry. The bowl on the right was only dipped once. and the other two twice. I like raspberry, it is a gorgeous color and turns out beautiful, especially on speckled brownstone.

I almost forgot this one. It's my little teapot that I painted last year and it has been sitting on the shelf waiting to be glazed. I turned out beautifully. This one is going in my china cabinet.

Well, that's all for now. We have five more pieces that are ready to glaze. But we don't have the glazes here. Danny's sister, Diane, has one and the other is at the college. Ambre is going to take them down there Wednesday night and dip them. So keep checking back and we'll have them up asap. Thanks again for stopping by. See ya later.

Sorry Everyone!

2008-05-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

We had to leave early this morning and we just got back home! We will have the pictures up in just a little bit! Thank you so much for all your comments and your patience. Sorry again!

P.S. We have some awesome stuff in this kiln load!

Good news, Bad news!

2008-05-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Bad news is we didn't get to glaze and fire yesterday so we got started this morning.

Good news is I should have finished pictures up sometime tomorrow!

In the meantime, I wanted to give you a little preview of what's to come!

This is a picture I took after some of the pieces were painted/glazed! If all goes well in the kiln tonight they will look alot different than they do here! Most of the pieces you see here were painted and then dipped in clear glaze!

This is a shot in side the kiln after we dipped everything that needed to be dipped! This is only the bottom shelf! Anyway, we turned it on about 6:30 so it will shut off sometime tonight! It takes a while for the kiln to cool so tomorrow I should have some pics! If everything fires properly!

Okay, so I'm really looking forward to this opening tomorrow...(trust me, I'll be peeking in it all day) and I hope that you all come back to check it out!

Thanks, Ambre

Inspiration....

2008-05-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

In the last couple days I've seen a few comments on the birdhouses and there was some mention of watching birds at their feeders (Aunt Joan). I too enjoy watching them fly around the yard but you know those comments really got me started thinking! Inspiration! This is how my thoughts developed, (bare with me it might get scary)! First, I thought "I need to refill my feeder" , then " I need to get some more feeders" and "maybe I should". "What if I took some....", "it wouldn't be too hard", "if I pulled it up", "closed it off", "made the holes", "slabbed some cups", "perches", "removable tops", " HEY, I can SO pull this off", " let's go see" and I immediately went to Mom's!

So, I threw, pulled, closed, cut, slabbed, holed, cupped and topped! Then I thought, "Yeehaw, I did it!" And then I did it a few more times! Check them out!

They're like little feather-friendly diners! Those are removable stopper tops to make refilling easier. The smaller holes will have little stick perches in them for the birdies to sit and chow!

I will keep these updated in pictures as well as all the other pieces!

Moving on!

We loaded the kiln this evening for a bisque firing and I wanted to show some of those pictures!

This is inside the partially loaded kiln. There's quite a few birdhouses in there.

See that little red looking thing in the center of this picture? That's the cone! Cone o4 to be exact. It's sitting between those prongs and a lever on the top side, when the kiln gets to a specific temperature that cone is designed to bend and the lever falls! That lever shuts the kiln off and the cooling process begins! There are many different types of cones and each kind is designed to bend at varying temps. It takes several hours for the kiln to get hot enough to bend that cone and then several hours for it to cool down enough to look inside! It takes a bit longer to do a glaze firing! I honestly can't wait to show you all what it looks like to open that kiln after a glaze fire and see all those beautiful colors staring back at you! MAGIC!

Anyway, here's a few more pics that I took to show you!

A cookie jar that I threw and then carved! It has been bisque fired already but truthfully I am at a loss for what I want to glaze it with!

This sweet little teapot is Mom's! She threw it, altered it, and painted those pretty little flowers on it! It has been bisque fired and is waiting to be dipped in clear glaze and fired! Very talented, that mother of mine!

And here we have a garlic jar that Mom threw a couple days ago! It is green (not bisque fired yet, FRAGILE)! When dry it will be sanded, fired, glazed, fired again and soon used to store someone's cloves of garlic!

Thanks for visiting, come back soon!

No, really come back soon because I'm gonna be posting finished product pics in the very near future and you don't want to miss it!

Ambre

Birdhouses Bisqued!!!!

2008-05-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

Here are the four birdhouses that were bisque fired yesterday in Diane's kiln. See how they have turned a pinkish color? The clay is called speckled brownstone but they bisque to this color. Weird! Oh well, they make a pretty "tink-tink" noise when you tap them so they are done and ready to glaze for the next and final firing!

I love these birdhouses! Can you tell? I don't like taking pictures!

Okay, so these babies are ready for the next act!

But first, we need to get the rest of them bisque fired. I am hoping to get that done on Friday evening so they will be ready to glaze and put back in the kiln on Saturday! So, if the Good Lord will it and the creeks don't rise we may have the finished photos up on Sunday! Everyone start praying for a good turn out, okay? I know I will be!

Once again, thanks for stopping by!

Ambre

Progress and Pretties........

2008-05-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Ambre here: I wanted to give you a little update on some progress! Aunt Diane (Daddy's sister) called me today and she only had a few pieces ready to bisque but wanted to get them done asap. She had some extra space in her kiln and thought I might like to fire some things....very sweet huh? So I took some bird houses and a few coffee cups up there. This is a picture inside the kiln! Sweet!

I will post some after bisque pictures tommorow. Moving on!

While I was at Aunt Diane's, she was showing me some of her recent pieces and I thought it might be nice to do a blog featuring the work of another local potter....and when I say "local", I mean she lives like less than 2 miles up the road. Diane does alot of sculpting and handbuilding, especially cowboys, horses (amazing) and some other awesome stuff! Just take a look!

This pot was thrown, altered and that rose up there is actually a stopper! Creative!

These "Woodsmen" are slabbed and sculpted! They are stained instead of glazed and this picture does not do them justice!

This is one of my favorites! If I had ANY blue in my kitchen this would SO be on my table filled with oranges! It is slabbed and then formed! That glaze is cappucino and cobalt and the combo makes my heart sing!

Side view: you really can't tell but this thing is so big and beyond beautiful! I would say that a basketball would fit or almost fit in it! AWESOME! Seriously, I'm thinking about painting but Kojak would shoot me if he had to do it again!

This is another slabbed piece and I like it because it's funky! And I'm a funky kinda gal, ya dig?

These sweet little people are called "Rufftons", get it? We live in Rutherfordton, AKA Ruffton to locals who talk too fast to pronounce it right! Anyway, they are slabbed and sculpted then stained!
This is one her cowboys, very original I think and so cute!

Closer pic of a "Ruffton".

Becky, this one I put on here because he's awesome and I thought you'd like him!

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this post, stay tuned people, I foresee some awesome posts in the near future! Thanks for stopping by!

Ambre

Did someone say Orangestone?

2008-05-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ambre usually works with Speckled Brownstone, while I tend to go for Little Loafers. But there is a clay out there that is as close to the color of real Georgia clay as you can get. It's called Orangestone. We picked up a bag at Highwater Clays over the weekend and Ambre tried some out tonight.

Here is another birdhouse. If you scroll down to the post before this one you can see the difference. If you look closely you can see what appears to be white dots sprinkled around the top. That's sawdust. Ambre sat the birdhouse on the top of the kiln out on the porch. It has to dry for a little while so she can cut the holes in it. Well, we have a problem with wood boring bumble bees and apparently there was one boring right over the kiln. Don't worry it will come off when it is sanded.

Here is a soup cup made with Orangestone. I'll keep these posted thru to finish also. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave your comments.

Some more great birdhouses

2008-05-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a few days since I added some birdhouses that Ambre had done. She has really made good use of her time off from school. She has made some more birdhouses and a couple of cups. I'm going to show these and some close-ups of detail on a few. These houses will be dry enough in about 5 days that we can bisque fire them in the kiln and then they will be ready to glaze. First we have two houses. One of them is made with two different clays that has been swirled.

The second one is a double tier one that kind of resembles a dome on top of the Kremlin in Moscow. Next we have a couple of coffee cups with handles.
Beautiful, aren't they. They will be gorgeous when they have been glazed. Next we have two different sized and shaped ones with ribbing. I think these are going to sell like hotcakes.
The ribbing is created by turning the wheel while pressing against the clay with a small carving tool. It's very easy to do but she has to take care that she doesn't cut all the way through because the walls on the house are thin.

This one is especially beautiful. Ambre carved three wicked trees in it. I am going to show the view all the way around, so you can see all sides.

This is the back and left sides.

And here we have the full left side with a Welcome sign for the bird to come on in and make himself a home.

I think these are two of my favorites, they also resembles the dome caps on the Kremlin. Ambre added a twisted embellishment around the doors on these. The next picture will show some of that detail.
These last two that Ambre made are both double tiered. The solid one is actually the one in the first picture with the door cut in. The second one is a double tiered swirl pattern.
Now, last but not least, I'm going to throw in a couple of items I made from slabwork. Slabwork is made by taking a large lump of clay and running it between two rollers to flatten it out. You can then cut and shape it into different things and even use molds and forms to shape the piece in a design you like. They are both made with Little Loafers clay. It is about the whitest clay you can get besides porcelain.
This square platter is about 11 1/2" square. I will make four plates to go with it and paint them all with an oriental design to be used with stirfry. I used a glass light cover as a mold for this one.

Here it is from the top. On the bottom I added a four inch square piece to raise it up from the table and give it some height. Next, I made a tray using an very old, very large ( turkey size) platter I found at a flea market years ago. I can't wait to paint it. I think I may paint some roses in the center.
OK, well, that's all for now. We'll keep you posted on these items as well. Let us know what you think. And thanks for stopping by.

Projects in the Making

2008-05-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here we have a few pieces that Ambre started today. We'll try to follow them through the process, 'til they're finished.

Here we have the ball of clay before it is turned into a piece of pottery. It is shaped into a ball and then centered which I will show later.

This is the piece after Ambre has thrown the clay. This will be a birdhouse, so after opening the clay in the center and making what looks like a small bowl, she began to bring the top in and close it up to form the cone at top. It is completely hollow on the inside.

Now, here is the birdhouse looking more like a birdhouse with the little door cut into the side and a lip formed for the perch. At the top point a hole is cut through for the hanger. Well, I'm going to show a couple more pictures of Ambre's work today, then we'll wait until these pieces dry and are ready for the kiln to bisque fire.

A small pitcher with a rib design around the top and heavy handle.

This is the other birdhouse Ambre made today. It is a little smaller than the first and has a rib cut design all the way around. It looks a little like a beehive, doesn't it?

2008-05-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here is our first picture. I made this bowl and two coffee cups a while back. The glaze is brown glass with the top re-dipped in white. It is a very beautiful glaze, and presents an intriguing pattern when fired.

An Introduction

2008-05-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, this is our first blog, so I guess an introduction is in order. My name is Jennifer Hodge and my daughters name is Ambre Hodge. We are the potters of All Fired Up Pottery. We are located just outside of Rutherfordton, NC. We have been into pottery for two years now and love it. We have started this website to show and possibly sell some of our pottery items as well as some of the other items we create when we can't get into the shop. Ambre does some quilting, scrapbooking and bead work, while I also quilt, crochet and generally sew all kinds of things. I know nothing of blogs, so Ambre will be helping me to put everything together. We will be posting pictures of out pottery soon, so stay tuned.