Gallery style photos

Hi all! It's been a crazy busy summer and I know that I haven't been back here in a while but I wanted to share a new project of mine. I have been putting together a new photo studio for taking gallery style pics of my work. The goal is start submitting my work to a few gallery shows and publications. While I think the style of pictures I have been using for etsy (with the green backdrop) have worked for online sales, a gallery just won't take them for review. I will share my setup, which I did for under a $100 (not including my camera which I have owned for a couple of years now), but today I'm just going to post the pics I think look the best. I'm still working on lighting direction and detail stuff but this isn't so bad for a first try! What do you all do to take gallery quality shots?

Hi there!

Remember me??? I know it's been awhile since I've posted here but I'm hoping to get back into it now that school is over, I'm sure your curious as to what I've been working on in my newly renovated studio! The truth is I've been a little frustrated in the studio lately. I started working with the porcelain clay, which I really liked in the forms of mugs and cups but when it came to plates I found that much of the details in my painted surfaces got lost. I tried a stoneware thinking that maybe a little bit of grog and a buff background would help retain the brush strokes but sadly, no luck there either. I just really like the terracotta surfaces. I'm now on a quest to find a new red clay body that I can work with and in the meantime, I've been going through my stash of Stan's Red in order to have work for the Spring Shows. If anyone out there has a nice red claybody that they like working with, I'm open to suggestions! Thanks:)

More Studio Shots

Here are a couple more shots of my studio space starting with my painting table. This table came with our house and was originally an old door. Someone added some legs and it became a table! I just painted it to match the green color I painted the door. These baskets hold my stamps and decorating tools.
Here is where my little kiln lives! I was pretty much sold on this house when I saw that the basement had a small "kiln room" attached. It's the perfect size for my kiln and I love that it's separated from the rest of the basement so I don't have to worry about the cats (or eventually a child) getting too close to a hot kiln.
This is our studio sink. My husband and I share it which is why it's covered in screen printing ink. I didn't bother to paint that wall!
Here is my finished work storage, which I'm so happy to have added to the studio. I can't believe that I had such a crappy system before. Now I have everything separated by what it is (mugs, bowls, espresso cups...) so I can see what I'm low on at a glance. The bottom TWO SHELVES are filled with "seconds". Yikes!
This baby is my brand new work table. Bought from Ikea, it is supposed to be a kitchen island which makes it really sturdy. I have two boards clamped to the surface of the table. One is covered in canvas and one in smooth slab mats for hand building. I have another set as well so I can switch out boards when I switch out clay colors (white to red) and not get everything mixed up.

Today was my first real day of work in the studio and it was great! There is still a period of getting used to where everything is now but once I get into the flow I'll have so much more space to create! Hope you enjoy looking and PLEASE go check out my etsy sale and help me clear out those 2 shelves!! Everything is being sold at rock bottom prices:)

"After"

Hooray! It's finally back to working order. Here is a mini tour of my newly organized studio space. Don't mind the dark lighting, it's really not that dark when your down there but it is a basement and it only photographs so well:)
This is my throwing area. The table is new and I love how there are shelves on one side and space for me to stand on the other. It's super sturdy so I can wedge and throw slabs with no problem!

Here is my packaging area. I hung some tension rods from the staircase to hold my wrapping supplies and it makes it soooo much easier!

This is my glaze table and dry material storage. Through the door is the kiln room. I wound up keeping my old metal chair and giving it new life with a can of spray paint. I'm still hoping for a more cushy chair to use in other areas of my studio.

Here is my in progress work storage and a wedging table. Michael gave me a little radio (above the scale) that I can plug my ipod in and listen to my music:)

I have a few more detail shots that I plan to share later. Of course there are still plenty of little things to be done but I'm just so happy to have everything back in working order. Tomorrow will be my first regular day back to work since the Holidays!

"Before " Studio tour

I'm getting ready to post a photo tour of my newly re-organized and expanded studio space but first I wanted to be reminded of what it looked like before. This is a great shot because I think it was actually "clean" when I took this photo! Yikes!

STUDIO SALE!

Well, I've been super busy this last week clearing out the basement, painting and re-arranging my studio space. I have lots of new shelves and a new kitchen island from IKEA to use as my work table. I love it! I haven't been back to work yet but I did start listing some sale items in my etsy shop. I have boxes of old work that has piled up over the years....pots that didn't sell the fist time around, pots that are from an old clay body, pots that have small imperfections, pots that were testers or prototypes and pots that I just don't like that much! I'm weeding through them and posting the ones that are still totally functional for a big discount in my shop. If you see something you like be sure to grab it since there won't be another one! I'll be sure to post pics of my studio space when it's all set up.

Back from the Holiday!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a lovely holiday! Today is my "official" first day back to the studio after my holiday break but to be honest I'm seriously considering taking until the new year to fully get back into it. Michael has the week off from school and I'm really enjoying spending some time with him that doesn't involve working, traveling or visiting with family. For the new year I plan to clean out and reorganize the studio. My goal is to make enough space down there to bring on an intern next year. Plus, it's a dingy basement and now that I'm down there 24/7 I could stand to see it a little more cheery. We have a little money saved and I'm going to paint, get some new studio furniture (as of right now I work on a folding table and metal folding chair, yuck) and more storage. Any studio design suggestions from fellow potters working in smallish spaces?
Also, look forward to a HUGE sale in my shop as I clean out a bunch of pots to make room for my new digs:)

Bad day..

I don't know where you are in the world but here in Md we are getting pounded with heavy rain. All day. I came home from class today to find my kiln room 4 inches under water. Luckily the kiln is on stilts and the electrical parts are up higher than the water can get to. Apparently the guy who installed it did know what he was doing. No damage but I did need to use the kiln tonight to fire work for a show on Saturday.

My original plan for the day was to come home from class, glaze my work and get it in the kiln by 3-ish. What actually happened was this... After scooping up two 5 gallon buckets by hand and getting no where I got out the wet-vac only to find it broken so (tick tick tick) off to Home Depot I go to buy a new one. Back in the studio I spent at least an hour (tick tick) sucking up 100 gallons of water from the kiln room floor. I could only afford the 6 gallon wet-vac and after heaving multiple 6 gallon containers of water into the utility sink I was actually happy I didn't get the larger size 'cause I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to lift it.

Once I got the water up I went around the basement to suck up any little leaks that pop up on our floor when it rains really hard (tick tick tick). I came back to the kiln room only to find that while I was gone another inch of water had crept back in. So I sucked that up. And it came back.

I thought it was coming through the door so I plugged that up the best I could with some old towels. Still coming through.

Then I saw it. The waterfall streaming down the stairs coming from one really large crack in the basement steps. Really it's amazing it took me so long to see this because it was shooting water in a steady 3 inch stream out of the step.

Frantically I raced around the house trying to find something to stop the water from coming in. Epoxy, water proof tape... anything! Everything I came across had to be applied to dry surface (hello, it's a leak?) and wouldn't work. I didn't want to drive back to Home Depot for fear that all 4 inches of water would creep back in while I was gone.

Then I had a brainstorm. I just needed something waterproof and moldable to shove in the crack. It only had to hold until the rain stops and we can properly fix the stairs. What I had that fit the bill was old modeling clay from college. I dug it out of my studio drawers (hey, sometimes it pays to be a pack rat), pulled off a hunk, rolled it into a coil and shoved it into the crack. The water stopped. I can't even believe that worked. I found every other major crack and jammed some it to them too. It's still holding.

I wet-vaced up the rest of the water and started glazing my work. Of course I realized that I was out of black liner glaze and had to run to the clay store to get more (tick tick tick). By now it's about 4:15 and the store closes at 5, since it's about 20 minutes away across town I hop in the car and take off. Of course since the weather is so bad there is an accident on the way and it takes me twice as long to get there but I do, just in time. I pick up my glaze and race back home to start my glazing.

It is now almost 6 by the time I get back home and in the studio. It takes me a few hours to glaze but I manage to get everything loaded by 9, which is exactly when it starts to monsoon again and other leaks start popping up. Bah! I am wet-vacing again! I hate the rain today!

Lessons learned:
1. If it's the weekend before a major show do NOT drink too much wine at a wedding on Saturday and decide that you can have Sunday off to laze out on the couch.
2. In a pinch, modeling clay will stop a leak.

I will let you know how the firing comes out.

More white pots

Hi again! Two days in a row...aren't you impressed? Here are some photos I took quickly today of the porcelain pots I pulled out of the kiln last night. Like I said yesterday, still not there yet. I need the glaze to be thin but when it's thin enough to not pull the prints, it's too thin on the rim. Maybe my rims are just to thin structure wise? It's different from working with the red clay for sure. Any advice on glazing? I was thinking about a slightly more matt glaze on the interior and rim in the hopes that it won't break as thin. Any ideas or recipes for a good liner glaze?
I was also thinking of leaving the exterior bare with just a liner spilling over the edge like in these pots but I'm not sure how they will hold up to daily use.
This one came out nice, it most resembles my work in the red clay. I really prefer some sort of color on the interior.

Photo love

Ok, ok, ok! I didn't forget about you promise....it's just that things have been kinda busy around here and the blog had fallen off of my "to do" list. I'm putting it back on though....I swear! I've been playing around with a little more white clay, porcelain this time. It's not quite there yet but it behaved way better than the little loafers. I was getting some major weird cracking and it didn't like the pressure of me printing on it AT ALL. The porcelain is better at that but I still haven't gotten the glazing down yet. It takes such a thin coating for the prints to not run but then it can get too thin and the surface doesn't feel comfortable for use....if you know what I mean. I'll be taking some pics of the latest pieces soon but for now I'll just share this photo I took today for my Lillyella post that goes up tomorrow.
You can check it out...here (scroll down to Slow Food in a Modern Kitchen for previous posts) but you have to wait until tomorrow for my popcorn post! Really I'm just liking this picture right now and am feeling pretty proud of myself for taking a nice shot (among many many more that were not nice at all) that's kinda food photographer-ish. Maybe all those hours pouring over food blogs and home magazines "in the name of research" has finally paid off!

Technical Question

So it seems that last night my kiln took extra long to glaze fire. I'm thinking that my elements may be starting to go. I have had the kiln for a couple years and it's on it's 215 firing or so, does that seem like when you would need to change the elements? I've never had to do this before so I also don't know if it's something I can do myself or would need professional help. I have an L&L easy fire with the automatic programing. I also have only been using it for bisque and low firing until recently. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance:)

In a hurry

Yesterday morning I threw a bunch of mugs, here is one tray on the shelf. I trimmed most of them last night and today I am hoping to finish them up before my family from out of town gets here. I also need to run to the clay store to restock some supplies. It's gonna be a busy day!

Also...if your looking for something to do tomorrow evening there is an ETSY CRAFT PARTY going on! I'll be there with more members of the Charm City Craft Mafia and BEST. Hope to see you there too:)
Click HERE for more info on the craft party.

New Stamps

I'm so excited! The other day my new custom stamps came in. I found a site that will take my (and Michael's) drawings and turn them into rubber stamps for me to print with. I'll share more later but for now here are my new stamps:) I will be ordering more pronto!

Adventures in White Stoneware

I know a while back I promised to share some of my white stoneware work with you and today I finally have some pieces (espresso cups thrown off the hump) that work and that I have pictures of. I forgot how different this white clay behaves. My first batch I applied the glaze the same as I have been doing for the red clay and it ran all over! Low fire stays put but mid range runs when it's thick....duh! So I thinned out my glaze, added a pretty Celadon interior and got printing. I'm so excited that this is finally working out. I really love the throwing body (I use a white stoneware similar to a porcelain) and the way the final pot feels in your hand. It's such a pleasure to work with. There are still some kinks to work out but I'm having fun playing with the surfaces and experimenting with different slips and underglazes. Now I just need to see if my hand building techniques will still work on the white clay without major warping and cracking. What do you think? Any suggestions for hand buliding with a porcelain like body?

Planter Vases

My friend Jon is great at giving me ideas for new products to try, he's very creative. The last show we did together in Philly he suggested that I make these hollow stakes that are unglazed at the tip and decorated at the top. The idea is that you stick them into a potted plant, fill them up with water which slowly seeps out of the unglazed part and keeps your plant watered. Great idea. As soon as I was back in my studio I thought I'd give it a shot. The first batch really didn't work out. For one thing, they are way to small to keep a plant watered. The water would last about a day. Second, the top layer of glaze ran all the way down the interior sealing the inside of the tube. That totally defeats the point of the object. So I'm left with a few of these weird stakes that I'm not really sure what to do with. My best idea is to use them as mini flower vases to spruce up some potted plants. Sadly I don't have any potted plants in my house since my kitty is partial to eating them up. This looks like another "mom gift", she loves my rejects and can always find something to do with them!
On the plus side, I tried a new stain on top and really like how the unglazed surface came out. That may be showing up in my real work soon....not sure if I will give these plant stakes another go or not.

Terrasig Tests

Good morning! I wanted to share some dishes that I tested my terrasig on last week. I like the way they came out and how they reacted nicely with my glaze. I am able to print easily on the surface and there are a few more texture possibilities since the sig is so much thinner than the slip I was using. It also seems to work nicely with the underglaze. I still need to do a little more testing but so far I am liking it. If nothing else I really like the red sig on the bottoms of pots to give a smoother texture without glaze. Today I have lots of decorating to do and hopefully a kiln to unload. I might take a break this weekend to paint our upstairs and if I get a chance I will share some pics of the process since I think it will be a major change (it is soon to be our office/guest room) for that space!

A lesson in photographing jewelry

What I had intended to be an hour or so of photographing the pendants I got back from Clayworks yesterday turned into an entire day of frustration, a giant headache and oh yeah, no new listings in the shop to show for it. I'm kind of a perfectionist especially when it comes to my work which is why a few snapshots just will not do. There should be a dynamic photo for catching your eye plus enough descriptive shots to show the entire piece to someone who can't pick it up and try it on. I have pretty much figured out my formula for photographing my pots and can do that in just an hour or so depending on the amount of work that needs to be listed. Easy. Jewelry, not so much. I'm sure it doesn't help that for most of my shoot today I had left my overhead lights on and couldn't figure out why my sunlit photos had this yellowish cast over them. Duh. I finally built myself a modified white box with a dark gray backdrop and a sheet of picture glass on the bottom to try and simulate that professional looking reflection that you see in fancy catalogs. I tried some with props (pretty much everything in my house that is not nailed down), some without and some hanging. Here are my favorite from about 150 pictures I took today. Let me know what you think, I would love some feedback!

Spring sneak peek!

I finally got my thermocouples in today, yay! That means tomorrow I will be taking my kiln apart to try and replace the old ones. Then maybe I can get some of this new work through and listed in the shop. This is just a teaser but you can see some of my new designs for garden markers. I have both the kind that sticks right in the dirt and some that will hang from a wire. All of them are designed for you to write on. Can you tell I'm ready for spring???
Don't forget to check out my post on the Lillyella blog today. I highlighted some of my favorite ceramic soup bowls on etsy.

February is a bust.

I thought that February would be a little more productive than January but alas...not so much. As soon as I got going on my huge back order of work my kiln gave out on me. I am 99% sure it is the thermocouples which I have on order and hopefully will get here before the next snow storm hits. As of right now my bisque shelf is filled to the brim with work waiting to be fired and I'm going to have a mountain of glazing to do soon.

I did however give myself permission to try out this scoop I saw illustrated in the new issue of Clay Times magazine. The one they made was thrown but I used my hand building techniques to create my own version. I have been wanting to make a scoop for a while now and am pretty excited to have a prototype. I have also been working on some garden markers for spring! I'm ready for it to be here already!! Hopefully I will have pictures of the new designs soon.

Snow Days

Well we are officially snowed in out here on the east coast. It's deep, cold and still coming down!! I made it back home on Thursday just in time to be blanketed in 30 inches of snow. Luckily I work in my basement so I have still been getting some work done. I decided to take the day yesterday and clean up the studio. It's been a while and when I left I wasn't expecting to be gone for very long and I was in a panic so I left a few things out that I would normally clean up right away. So yesterday in the hopes of clearing my head, and some space for new work, I spent the better part of the day locked down in the basement clearing out boxes and dusting off my work space. I always work better when everything is in it's place. Here are some shots of my little corner of the world, nothing fancy but all nice and clean, waiting for me to create!