Small Bowl: Bright Sky Blue over Licorice Black
Low Bowl: Raspberry Red over Licorice Black
Low Bowl: Licorice Black over Raw Sienna with Ginger Rust (Glossy Base Glaze 2 + 6% RIO + 4% Rutile) drizzle
Oct 24, 2009
Oct 23, 2009
Before:
After:
Well, I slept very well last night, thank you very much. We opened the kiln this morning (once I got back from the gym, hows that for self control??). I’ll be setting up my light box and taking some proper pictures of pots over the weekend.
Overall assessment? More good than not so good and some super good but I’m not done glaze testing quite yet. I’ve got some killer glaze combos that are consistent and work well. I’ve got some other glazes that show promise but need some tweaking. And I had a few glazes that were just too darn thick. I did get some blue mugs going:
And importantly, Nick was very pleased with his new Spurs mug. He promptly tested it out with a cuppa tea and deemed it a success (better, in fact, than his commercial mug). High praise indeed!
Oct 22, 2009
Can you tell that I have glazes on the mind??? Nick took this sunrise photo, as I was too busy watching cones. Yes, t’was an early one today, and not much sleep last night. I’ve weaned the kiln (well, myself) down to one visit (3 am) during the night but was up again at 5 am. Feeling a bit sleep deprived but definitely looking forward to opening the kiln tomorrow.
Oct 19, 2009
With all wares bound for my next glaze kiln carefully washed, waxed and covered in plastic (hey, with little lizards running around and leaving little, well, “presents”, you can’t blame me for being a tad overly protective…) today I started glazing.
This time around, I have most of my glazes in large quantities (I spared you all another “glaze mixing” post). And, for the first time, I have some very large bowls to glaze. So big in fact that they won’t fit into my 5 gallon buckets. I surveyed the options at my local PITUSA supermarket(pronounced “pitoosa”, and not “Pit USA” as we thought when we first moved here!) and decided to get 2 of these low wide blue bowls.
Ok, so the label might have influenced my decision a wee bit. Wouldn’t you want this cute dude keeping you company while you glazed??? Hey, one can never have too much moral support while glazing!
Oct 16, 2009
From the kiln….
And from the vegetable patch…
Prognosis? Thai curry for dinner and lots of glazing next week! Buen fin de semana a todos. 
Oct 15, 2009
I’m often asked why we moved to Puerto Rico, to which I usually give a long-winded answer, but here I can answer much more succinctly:
This is where we spent our morning…
Oct 13, 2009
Heliconias from the garden. Vase from the studio. Note to self: Need to make some larger vases!
Oct 11, 2009
Experience has shown that to cover up bare, rocky areas on a slope the only practical solution here is to get grass sod. Putting down soil and grass seed simply doesn’t work because the heavy rain washes it away before it has a chance to root.
This weekend we finally got around to putting down grass up front where the old asphalt drive used to be. Our neighbour Leo had the number for a guy who sold grass and she also helped us collect it in her pickup truck, which was fantastic.
I’d never laid grass before, but it wasn’t too hard. It was slow going though, trying to get it level and keep the pieces tight together. It was raining most of the time I was working on it which was great for the grass but not so much fun for me!
I’m going to setup a sprinkler to water it on the days it doesn’t rain enough. Hopefully it won’t all die!
Before
After
Oct 10, 2009
This week in the studio its been mostly about mugs. I’ve been working on new mug shapes and decided that the first batch I made were a tad too small. They were made from 12 oz of clay and hold 1 1/4 cups of coffee. This is plenty for me, as I drink a super strong cuppa in the morning (and that’s it for the day). But, I figure others might want a slightly larger mug for lots of coffee. So, this time around, I used 1 lb of clay and ended up with these bad boys:
Mas café (more coffee) indeed! Even with clay shrinkage (about 11%) they should still be a good size.
As I continue to ponder issues of size (in pottery that is, mind out of the gutter Stuart!), I’d love to hear from you:
Potters: What is your typical mug size/s (thrown from how much clay and final volume)?
Everyone else: What size mug do you prefer for your coffee? Exact volume would be most helpful! :-)
And while we’re on the topic of mugs, here’s a “special order” I’m working on for Nick (who will be mighty impressed if anyone on this side of the pond can identify the engraving).
Oct 8, 2009
It was time to trim one of the cacti yet again. In our household this now means one thing: Mexican for dinner! :-) This time, after boiling the cleaned and sliced pads, I sautéed them with garlic, fresh oregano, hot peppers, smoked paprika, cumin, salt and pepper and a bit of tomato paste. I then piled spoons of the mixture onto corn tortillas, with a bit of Mexican Chihuahua Cheese. More cheese on the top, and into the oven it went!
As I suffered no ill effects from my last cactus culinary adventure, Nick joined me in tucking into the tasty melty cheese-cactus concoction (served with salad and refried beans). And right tasty it was too!
Oct 5, 2009
Its been fairly stormy here today. The usual afternoon rain (usually gone in an hour or so) lingered on from 1pm until after dinner. We had some serious lightning shows AND it dipped into the low 70s! Brrrrrrr!!!! So I decided it was time for PUMPKIN SOUP! We’ve had pumkin curries (thai and indian) from our crop of 3 pumpkins thus far but this was our first soup. Our favorite pumpkin soup recipe actually calls for butternut squash, but that’s a pumpkin, no?
Quick ‘n tasty Pumpkin Soup:
- Sweat some onion and garlic in olive oil.
- Dump in about 2 cups chopped pumpkin (a smallish pumpkin) and grated ginger (to taste)
- Add water/stock to cover
- Cook until pumpkin is soft.
- Blitz with a stick blender (thin with more water/stock if desired) and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve in a hand-made bowl!
Yummy!
Oct 4, 2009
Its been a busy and fun week in the studio. After a longish break from wet clay, it was nice to get back into the studio to do some (ok, lots of) throwing. I’ve found that now that I’m working with clay on a much more frequent basis (this is the first time since I started working with clay that I have my own studio), I know what the clay should feel like for different types of throwing. So, I spend some time in advance making sure my clay is as soft as I need it to be (I like my clay to be quite soft when throwing big).
Preparation does pay off: I threw lots of low bowls and mugs but my favorites from this week work are these large bowls. The one on the right is well over 12″ in diameter (so bigger than my studio ruler). I guess its time to get a tape measure for the studio!
Oct 1, 2009
Our normally reliable car failed to start this morning. We’d already been out in it to do some errands so I was very surprised when we got back in 20 mins later to go out again and it wouldn’t start. Just a few loud clicks when turning the key.
By the time I had opened the bonnet (that’s English for hood by the way) a guy who lives in the neighbourhood and was working at our next door neighbour’s had come over. Francisco had heard our failed attempts to start the car and came to offer assistance. I’m not much of a mechanic, so was grateful for the help. He took a look and decided the battery terminals were dirty and corroded. They didn’t look that bad, but it seemed sensible to rule that our first. Francisco asked if we had any coca cola. We assumed he was thirsty, but no, it turned out it was for cleaning the battery leads. Dunking the ends in a plastic cup of diet coke and wiping them off with some steel wool was all that was needed to have them gleaming. Lo-and-behold when everything was put back together the car started first time!
We were very glad that Francisco had dropped what he was doing and come over to help, without being asked. We’ve experienced this many times here, like the time a complete stranger stopped as he was driving past our house and helped us unload some heavy furniture from the car. That’s the way it is here, people look out for each other and one of the reasons we love it so much. Muchas gracias Francisco!
Once the car was running we headed down to our mechanic and had him check the alternator, which fortunately was fine. He agreed that Coca Cola is good for cleaning off corrosion, but told us quite seriously that 7-Up is better. It’s more acidic appararently. So every good mechanic should have a can in their toolbox!
Sep 30, 2009
Our avocados are hitting their peak. They are literally dropping off the tree (its over 60 feet, so we can hear them coming down from all the way up at the house!).
With so many ripe avocados, I’ve taken to using them for more than just eating. I make a simple avocado mask for my face and next will try an avocado mask for my hair. Hey, waste not want not, right? And no, don’t be expecting any photos of my green moisturizing efforts! You’ll have to make do with another permanently green critter:
Sep 25, 2009
Introducing the “Rincón Pottery” Online shop!!!
Posted by Miri under Pottery, Puerto Rico, Shopping[18] Comments
Its finally here! We’re happy to announce that we now have our first online marketplace, hosted on Zibbet.com (think “Exhibit” and it all makes sense). Check out our store by clicking on the image at the end of this post. We’ve also added a permanent link on the side bar and at the top of the page (see “Pottery for Sale” above our blog’s title). So no worries, you’ll always be able to easily click through to our store, even if you can’t find this post!
So what are you waiting for? The holidays are fast approaching you know!
Go check it out and please let me know what you think!
