Alchemy of Clay

 I said in 2022: "I am the proud owner of two pieces of Charlie Tefft pottery."  (His home page is ctpottery.com)

I  found this neat video of him describing his process, Here.

 Well, I already know how to make lots of things...whether I ever did or not. 

I had twelve good years after I retired. I never made myself into a great potter. I was more into exploring different shapes and glaze combinations. And once I found a few styles I liked, I did do more of them. 

When I haven't been making pots in my life, say as long as I can remember as an adult, I've purchased pottery from others...the ones going to shows to sell their wares mainly. But sometimes I've visited their studios or shops. So a local show was held last weekend, which of course had been closed during the pandemic. 

And after oohing and aaahing over a lot of beautiful things, I ordered one from Charlie Tefft, and bought one in person. An otter mug this time. I had an older mug (made in 2018) by Charlie, and it's pretty much the same shape.

The tails wrap around the sides...

I'm just keeping track here, so I understand if you've already seen these and are not interested. A record of sorts...all these before September.

 here the speckled brown stoneware clay shows through satin white and plum glazes...

Where the plum goes over white, there's that gorgeous sky blue...

And where the plum is by itself, it's a midnight blue tone!

Have you noticed I've tried to gradually bring my focus back from the southwest to the southeast! My life returns to normal...but I've still got lots of vacation photos!

The dark color isn't so much grey as a deep bluish lavender, called Plum in the studio.  When it has white under it there's that lovely light blue.

I made these to go with one of my favorite mugs that I've used all winter, because simple as it is, this shape keeps my coffee warm long enough to drink the bottom half. I hate having to go warm it back up when I've only drunk half a mugfull.

Yes, these were posted here a few weeks ago.

Yes, I've gone back to the studio.  But my work from last week is just now loaded into a glaze kiln.  It should come out tonight or tomorrow.
Yesterday I did some simple glazing on some simple mugs.

I'm still having difficulty with my fine muscle skills of my fingers...so no painted designs.

Today's quote: (we haven't had any in a while, have we!)

I'm slowly taking photos of most of my pieces with a black background.


It's a challenge to have black against black...which just requires lighting changes usually!


But a variety of glazes also means different amounts of reflection.  Here the reddish glaze shines and looks as a white, while the black and green are more matt.

What if...
I scurried around the shelves and piled the mugs that are unsold into one bin...and here they are.  I'm pretty happy with most of them, but a few will never be sold because I think they have defects.  And a few I really like myself.
The top left 2 green ones are simple cups...sort of tumbler size.  The bottom left is staying home.  The ladybug has a bit of a glaze problem (still food safe, but I don't want to sell a mug with a bare spot on the lip.)  I don't know why the others haven't sold yet.  Oh well.  I'll keep on putting them in front of people, and may learn why that way!

I like a design, so I go with it EVERYWHERE!

From the first 4 mugs, to now 2 more different sizes and shapes...there are now a dozen with hand painted poppies a la Georgia O'Keeffe designs.  I am thrilled with them, because I like her paintings.  They aren't decals, they aren't even drawn on first, but just brush after brush of different colors of Mayco Stroke And Coat glazes, red, black, orange, turquoise and yellow.  That's it.

The white is studio satin white.
The black liner is studio matt black.

Which shape or size would you prefer?

Jumbos on left are straight sided.  Curved shaped mugs (on right) start medium size and go up to a large!  All my mugs have Celtic Cross thumb knobs.



 We're the curvy girls. Sizes from 12 oz to 20 oz.

 And we're the straight sided differently sized ones!  Holding from 14 oz to 20 oz.


Straight? Curved?  Your preference...or maybe a bit of both!

The first medium size mugs look even a bit different - see HERE. (10 - 14 oz.)

Contact me at blackmtnbarb@gmail.com to purchase, just pay by check or credit card, and I'll ship them your direction (the shipping fee and insurance is about $15 per box for flat rate Postal Service shipping.)  Purchase price each mug is $30, so a couple get the same rate of shipping (or close to it).

Smaller mugs don't cost less, because after all, the same amount of effort goes into making them.
The clay is the least valuable aspect of the mug...so another ounce of clay might cost $0.01 or less . And larger mugs don't cost more for the same reason!  It's the various steps to make something collectible for you that counts.

Don't miss the vase which I posted earlier, and soon there will be a pitcher also with the O'Keeffe style poppy.

Quote for today:

 Using our studio glazes, matt black interior and on top edge of exteriors, then satin white over that down most of the exterior, and a final dip about the lower third into our raspberry glaze...which gives a different shade of grey.   And yes, there were 4 mugs made...one just lagged behind in the glaze kilns.

You've seen some of these in their "before stage" when the glaze had just been applied. HERE.

  The thought I'm following for the next batch is to use Georgia O'Keeffe colors and huge bright flowers. 

Monarch teapot - $60

Monarch medium mugs - $25

Tulip cookie jar - $55

Tulip Mugs - $28 each These are mostly new things I've made in the last few months.  Hope to see you in Black Mountain down by the Old Depot, Oct 28, 10-5 !

Chip 'n Dip bowl - $45

Surf and sand mugs $25 or set of 4 for 80

For those who have canopy tents, tables or shelves, and tubs of packed of priced pottery, I salute you.
I've made pottery for most of the summer (with a few months off when I was sick).  I wish I had taken a vacation, but it's hard to do when you're retired, everyone thinks your life is just one long vacation.  Ha.

Honey pot/jar $35

And so today I meet with my friend Cathy Babul, who will be sharing a booth with me, and the job of getting everything set up next Saturday for the Art by the Tracks show here in Black Mountain.

Large red sunflower bowl (10" diameter, 5" high) - $55

There are joys in this event, as well as some grueling hard work.  Physical work.  Like having a 40 pound weight on each of the corners of the tent.  We have cement blocks.  Hauling them from Cathy's pickup to the tent is one of our favorite pleasures.  Just think how we're saving money on membership in the gym.

Medium yellow sunflowers bowl - $30

The other hard physical labor is loading tubs of pots, tables, and paraphenelia for the show....bags for sales, shelving units, table clothes, clipboard to keep track of sales, petty cash for change, a "Square for phone" to take charge cards....etc.

Red sunflowers vase - $30  Red sunflowers jar - $40

This is the red sunflower series...and I think I've shown just about all of them.

Remember my lonely little teapot with Monarchs on it?  It didn't have any mugs or cups that went with it.

Ah, but I'm still able to make mugs.  Voila'

I made the one finger handle, for the first time.

Yep, there are three of them.  That's about a teapot full of nice hot tea.  Can't wait to wrap my hand around one of those mugs!

Quote for today: