WillowAK Pottery

Pretty quiet on the pottery side this past week. Tied up loose ends from the open house last weekend, ordered a few Christmas gifts, made an Anchorage run on Wednesday for appointments -- one with the surgeon who closed the hole in my left retina in Sept. 2011, and one with my regular eye doctor. Squeezed in a quick stop to say hello to the craft group. Two members were celebrating their 92nd birthday and it was the group's annual holiday luncheon. Stops to see family in Anchorage were abbreviated so we could get back on the snowy roads before commuters were headed to the Valley -- and before road conditions worsened.  Keith moved lots of snow again the latter part of the week and has pathways, driveway, decks and parking area looking great. No gym membership needed! A handful of us are making progress on putting together a potluck for UAA potters of the past -- some of whom are still involved with the studios on campus. We have a date in late December, a list of potential invite...

Hello!  We had our first WillowAK Pottery Open House last weekend . . . Thank you, John! It was fun to do an "open studio" event and great to see friends I'd not seen for awhile! Had visitors from Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla and Willow. Not lots of people -- but there was time to visit with those who did come, time to show the house to those interested, and time to wrap pottery for those wanting gifts for themselves or others. I'm very appreciative that some could come on Saturday and Sunday, and am looking forward to seeing those who said they couldn't make it then -- but want to visit soon. By arrangement, that's very doable. Baked snowball cookies, sugar cookies, and cupcakes to offer with munchies and beverage. Set up eight display stations with a variety of "pieces with personality" and folks had lots of questions about the process -- if they were not potters themselves.  Here are some of the stations: Fish, dog yard, bird, and b...

Thank you, Gail. Colanders and berry bowls waxed Three fish plates ready for chalks Pet moose smelling the roses...thanks, Sara The good news is that we mailed out the Christmas boxes that have to travel afar -- and also that the temp made it above zero here today!  Oh -- and yesterday I supported several local vendors at a Christmas bazaar here in Willow.  The bad news is that I've sure allowed myself to get distracted from getting glazing done so that I can fire a kiln load and get the studio cleaned up for the WillowAK Pottery Open House next weekend.   New target is to complete glazing on Monday, fire on Tuesday, unload and price on Wednesday, photograph and set up on Thursday, clean and bake on Friday.  That all sounds doable. Now it's just a matter of following the schedule! One end of the island. Nice to have enough space in the studio to spread things out between steps.  After going through the process a few times in my new spa...

Cleaned up the studio so it was in good shape as our Thanksgiving guest house; it's been a nice break from the mess of clay.  Am looking forward, however, to starting another cycle of work  after some glazing, firing, and yes -- a WillowAK Pottery Open House. We've decided on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 8 and 9, from noon until 5:00 on each of those days for an open house. Hopefully we can get the word out to those in the area and to others who may have an interest in stopping by to see what's being created in the studio.  I've already heard from a couple people I don't know, so this could be a good opportunity to meet neighbors in the Willow area, which would be nice.  If you're reading this blog and have time to come by for the WillowAK Pottery Open House on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9, please do. We look forward to seeing some longtime friends and acquaintances as well as folks we've never met.  Sour dough proofing Wood oven used for bread baking and more ...

My favorite glaze combination Second favorite, probably Pretty exciting to do the first glaze firing in a kiln and to see, for the first time, how the new glazes look when fired!  For the most part, I was pleased -- and  now have lots of information to use with future firings. Fortunately, there was no running of glazes onto the kiln shelves and the firing process seemed to go just as Skutt promised! Did learn, however, that "nutmeg" does not always like to be the bottom layer on a piece, so will try to remember that in the future. Porcelain mugs with colored slips covered by clear glaze Stoneware and porcelain Light and dark Lots of mugs Lots of bowls Test tiles to see how glazes behave     Large and small, happy together While this load was cooling, I waxed the bottoms of pots for the next firing.  Hmm ... wonder if I'll get better about judging how much work will make a full kiln load. Hope so.  ...

Winter arrived in Willow about a month ago -- cold temps froze the lake and we've now had about three weeks of clear, sunny, cold autumn that looks and feels like winter. Mt. McKinley's been in view each day. After the initial snowfall, there's been no more, so the John Deere garden tractor with snow blower is yet to be tested out, but we've seen skating, ice fishing, plane landing (on wheels), and snow machining on the lake this past week, so that says "winter" to me! Tiles for testing glaze color, behavior, and layering In the studio I've mixed eight glazes, three of which have already settled to a hard layer in the bottom of the bucket, so they were remixed with a drill today in anticipation of glazing tomorrow.  Will be starting with clear, white, blue ice, cadet blue, sage, merlot, nutmeg, and black glazes. Made 52 test tiles to see how these glazes will look alone and in layering -- but should have made at least 64 tiles. Guess my small pieces...

Bisqued and ready to glaze  Oops...thought I could skip a preheat period with a bisque firing since the work looked and felt dry, but I was wrong.  Certainly should have known better! After hearing popping in the kiln as it was heating up, I turned it off, suspicious of pieces exploding; that was confirmed in the morning when I opened the kiln for a look. Unloaded it, discarded blown pieces, vacuumed the kiln thoroughly, reloaded, and included a preheat period, which should have been done in the first place. With all the rain we've had during the past month, all unfired clay is probably holding moisture that needs to be released prior to 212 degrees.  Fortunately, I had stayed with the kiln and recognized those popping sounds early on.  Lesson relearned!! Mostly porcelain and a variety of forms: Covered dishes and bowls Mugs and tumblers Carving with clay Self-contained water system Liking the Cink for washing bats, tools and ot...