Glaze Testing

I've been working on new glazes and firing schedules.  I found a nice cool down schedule that makes my coffee glaze look richer.  It gives the appearance of a wood fired piece.  My other glaze that I'm doing is a teal celedon.  It continues to settle and powder.  I added more bentonite and hopefully that will help.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80699501/handmade-pottery-ring-dish-leaf-motif

Glaze testing is labor intensive but much less discouraging than using glazes on finished pots that end up ruined because of bad glaze.  Glaze can make or brake a pot... and I mean literally... I take a hammer to bad pots!  So after much pot smashing over the years I try to remind myself to test twice; glaze once.

"better" batter bowls

I finished with the wet work on a set of batter bowls today.

I can't count how many times I've made batter bowls and I've always wondered who are all of these people making and eating pancakes?

I mean batter bowls are a big seller and I've often thought they must be making alot of pancakes.

Like some kind of revelation from heaven I realized today that people use batter bowls for other things - like...say... CAKES,  or COOKIES, or WAFFLES, or BROWNIES, or MEATLOAF!

Man,

I'm making myself hungry!  I obviously don't cook much but maybe I should get some of my friends to come over and give these "better" batter bowls a lesson in how it's done ;)

I feel like my eyes have been opened to a whole new realm of possibilities.  I might even make a batch of these puppies for myself!

set of three nesting "better" batter bowls

Bet you can't say that three times fast!

Welcome to OlliePots on Etsy

Hello all,

Come see our shop on Etsy!  Our address is  http://www.olliepots.com/
Feel free to shop around.  Of course for my local customers there in no shipping cost if you stop by the studio ;)

Recently I've been focused on the subtle beauty we see at the ocean. So often we think of our trip to the shore as being about blue skies and white sand. Yet, the quiet beauty of the smallest details of creation is captivating. I have tried to reflect some of that serenity and a connection to the sea in my collection.

Today I worked on the finishing touches for a bunch of mugs.  Sometimes it feels like the clay is talking to me!  It's like it says: "not".

My clay is sentient

I have one thing in mind and the piece has another.  Well being the peaceable person that I am I will let the clay have it's way.  Why wrestle with an inanimate object?  “We” (that’s the clay and I) decided to decorate with slip dots.

It’s a simple process of squeezing liquid clay onto the surface of the piece but really can bring it to life (visually speaking that is, since we’ve already established the clays sentience).

“We” really look forward to having you visit our shop!!!