annie singletary ceramics

My big push for the shows is over and they went great.

I was pleased with both of them and had a great time. My home show in my town was a great event and i loved introducing my pots to the town i live in. It is important to me to have a presence in my own town.

I have pots left from the shows, so check my etsy site for updates if you missed it and wanted to get something special for someone.

www.anniesingletary.etsy.com

order before Dec. 18th to get by Christmas.

Or contact me: annsingletary@gmail.com for other inquiries.

ok, here’s what was most popular. I called this the triple dipper and i sold out of them. you can use it for so many different things that i think that’s what is appealing about them. It’s very funny though, i can never predict what will sell. this is something I always hear from potters.

Is there a way to know? you make 5 of an item and sell out, so you make 12 for the next show and don’t sell one.

Interesting ways of retail…..always keeps you guessing.

here’s some items i have left

I’ll be back in the studio after Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Until then I’ll be trying to post a little about various things.

A few new pots.

I’ve been working on creating depth in my surface without overwhelming the detail in the form. I am having so much fun playing with some white gold  luster and these precious little floral decals.I have loved English china for a long time and am finally getting an element of what i love so much about it; the small details that give intimacy to a piece.

I’m trying to work on taking my images with this glossy clear glaze without getting

I have been also using some new colorants for my slips. I ordered from US pigments and found some really great deals on some pretty expensive mason stains. I’m excited to get them in the mail, but in the meantime I am using some that were given to me a while ago, like this orange shown above. This new color really gets me excited about Fall.

i’ll let you know about the mason stains, the prices seem almost to good to be true.

check out my etsy site: new pots up for sale www.anniesingletary.etsy.com

I’m settling into my studio quite well. I was told to not be surprised by it taking a bit of time to get used to things and start making work that i am excited about.

Making my glazes and getting all my chemicals into their 5 gallon buckets was quite a task. I think I’ve been spoiled by having the nice glaze bins at other studios, because a 50 lb. bag of chemicals does not fit into a 5 gallon bucket. Somewhere throughout the years i had thought they fit perfectly. Apparently I was wrong. But, it’s fine, I just have about 1/4 of a bag left and they are rolled up tight. Hopefully Will won’t get into them out of curiosity one day.

The sink is in and the water. Do you see that in the picture below. It’s beautiful. I was desperate to get going glazing so I made 2 of my glazes with the hose outside. Glad to have water inside now so I can use warm water. I really like to mix glazes with warm water as it helps them settle in….I’m sure there is a scientific explanation but i will just be simple about it.

Speaking of simple, nice transition huh. I am really excited about simplifying my designs a bit. I am using a clear glaze that I have found to be quite perfect, it’s called Kate the Younger Clear. I like to fire to about cone 5 1/2 and it works well with that. No crazing and no pin holing. Being a clear glaze, it really needs to have these qualities for my pots because I want the body of the pot to show. The lines that I do at the wet stage show up really well in this glaze. It brings out the slip decoration really well too. I’m working on simplifying the patterns and cutting back my time of working on each pot. Between the colored slips and clear glaze I think I’m headed in a good direction.

I’ve also included pictures of some patterns around my house that I have brought into my work.

I used to paint all my patterns with glazes i made and commercial glazes then wax resist them and then glaze the pot. Now, I can do most all the work at the wet stage, which is called the green stage and is my favorite time with the clay. Then I can use this clear glaze and another clear with a little bit of titanium dioxide, which will be in another post specifically about glazing. I’ll put the recipes in that as well.

Whew! and most of this during 3 to 4 hr. nap times for Will. my new motto, “sleep will sleep”.

Thanks for reading.

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.