annie singletary ceramics

as i’ve been getting used to my studio i’ve been thinking about how to get my design into the form so it doesn’t look so “plastered” on. I want it to look like it belongs on the surface not like I stamped on. Maybe as if someone has upholstered it.

i love pattern and when fabric patterns wrap around an arm of a chair it takes on it’s infrastructure, as i think this sanderson fabric reflects. the pattern is somewhat boring if you’d see it on the wall, but on this chair it takes on interest because of the skeleton underneath.

this is important when placing my pattern on the form, i want it to compliment the shape and line.

here are some forms with slip i’ve been working on. layering colored slips and scraffitoing through the layers then putting my pattern on top of the layers. this effect seems to be giving me what I’m looking for, we shall see in the end.

Picking up an order of dry materials to make my glazes this week So, then hopefully I will be able to do my first firing in the new studio!! For having fired so many kilns of so many types and for this being electric, I have to admit I’m a bit apprehensive about it.

I have to laugh at myself A LOT.

On another note. I recently discovered that Liz Zlott Summerfield, an awesome potter in the area, has developed cancer. this is such sad news but the community around where she lives has surrounded she and her husband by hosting a fundraiser  and will have an online auction to help raise money for her treatment.

There will be an online sale that will be held on Etsy.com and will begin September 1st.

You can make a monetary donation to a PayPal account created for Liz’s benefit.
By using this link below, you can be assured that all donations will go quickly, safely and directly to Liz.

The link to this account is: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=XMYBAEHMPQXEE&lc=US&item_name=Liz%20Zlot%20Summerfield%20Benefit&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted

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this is hard to understand, and as i worry and fret about where my patterns will go o firing my kiln, i am reminded of how fragile life is and how we are not promised anything, every second is precious.

i’m enjoying my time in the studio vey much and so are Dan and will…..look at those batman pj’s. so sweet.

thanks for reading. see you soon.

I’ve been in the studio working.

It’s gotten me thinking about how grateful I am to have space. Space breeds creativity for me. I used to throw pots at the Black Mountain Center Studio and bring them home to alter and finish.

Because I work on my pots so extensively, from altering the thrown form to painting the patterns on, it is just great to not have to take up my entire eating area in my house. I’m sure my husband and son are grateful too.

I’ve got some orders for larger serving pieces for wedding gifts. So I decided to start with large bowls. The bowl is a difficult form to me. I know  a lot of potters find this the easiest, but my professor in college, Meagan Wolfe set such high standards for bowls that I have a hard time.

One high standard: completely smooth inner lining (absolutely no sagging drawers), this bump they call the beginners hump I like to call saggy drawers because it basically is just that, the outer wall not being supported by the clay at the base, so the weight just falls and forms this hump.

After all these years of throwing I still manage to get the occasional bump and so what do I do first in my new studio. Throw my most difficult form thinking that maybe all this space will cure me.

Guess what….I’m not cured because of space, but because of time. Time is awesome. Being able to stay in there and throw and throw until my son wakes up from his nap.

You know what they say, Time

Heals all wounds.

Now, I’m working on doing my altering without disrupting this smooth inner curve.

Splitting the rim and foot are also things I love to do to create this layered look, like the pleats in fabric. This is something I’ve done for a long time. I remember when I learned how to do this when Val Cushing came to visit my school in college.

What a hero.

Thanks for visiting.

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