stone farm pottery

Stoneware Pottery Vases

2012-02-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

An Assortment Of My One-Of-A-Kind Vases

blue denim vase has little "buttons" down the front

flask shaped pot has a squared neck

slender vessel has lots of little details

this pot has the look and feel of chiseled stone

stylish jug sports a bow tie and two loop handles

a firing fluke created this awesome glaze effect

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To see what pots are available for purchase!

assorted pots

2012-02-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

bottle vase

close-up of fluting

vase

stone farm pottery website

2012-01-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

I have a website which is soon to disappear thanks to Apple and their discontinuation of MobileMe.

I will now be posting all of my pottery pictures up here on my blog site.

My First Pyrometer

2010-05-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

I finally purchased a pyrometer.

I cheaped out and got an analog one with a needle instead of a digital display. But it doesn't need batteries or AC, plus it has an easy to read dial that shows Centigrade and Fahrenheit at one glance.

Today I installed it on my kiln after rooting around in the barn for bolts, nuts, screw drivers, metal brace, wood and other stuff. The photos above show the pyrometer connected to the thermocouple via a thick yellow wire. The thermocouple goes through the a hole in the kiln brick and is protected by a long refractory tube (you can see the tip sticking out inside the kiln in the last photo).

I have the kiln all loaded with glazed pots. I can't wait to fire and test out my new tool.

Bye Bye Pots!!

2010-04-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

random pots under the sun

soon almost all will be gone!

lots of planters....

vases, bowls.... all sold!

Wow! Today I set up a table at the Dublin Fire Company Flea Market and Crafts Show. I took with me 70 pots with deeply discounted prices—mostly because I wasn't fond of my workmanship, or the glazes hadn't turned out as expected, or they were too thick, too thin, warped, or wanting a new home.

I priced everything to SELL! My highest priced pot was $8 which I sold to a vendor set up next to me. Everything else was in the $1 to $5 range. What a bargain! I didn't want to bring anything back to my studio with me. I sold 66 pots!!! Took home only 4 ... and they were small pieces.

Not a bad day at all.

So, thanks to all my new customers and friends, I now have more room in my pottery studio for displaying newly fired pots, plus some cash to purchase a much needed pyrometer for my kiln.

sorry, no rain date

2009-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Weeks ago I registered to be in an outdoor Fall Flea Market/Crafts sale which is scheduled for tomorrow. The weather forecast is calling for a low of 33º with 90% chance of rain!

I have all of my pots priced, tagged, wrapped, boxed and waiting to be loaded into my car. I even purchased a new folding table!! I shall wait until 6AM to check the weather update before I decide to go or not.

It's not that I'm a wuss and can't tolerate a little bone-chilling rain. I just don't want to drive there only to find out no one else is showing up to check out the goods. Oh yeah, and there is no rain date for this event. This is the second year in a row I signed up for this particular flea market only to have it be canceled due to rain.

my avatar

2009-10-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is my avatar...

An avatar as described in some dictionaries is an attitude or embodiement of a person. In the computer world, an avatar is an icon representing a person in cyberspace. On Etsy, an avatar is a small square image that shows up in your public profile and various other places throughout that website.

I use this green winged chalice as my logo for my studio, Stone Farm Pottery. It is a piece I made a number of years ago. I've always felt connected to it in some way, maybe because of the freedom the wings may represent...or because of the M in the circle which stands for Molly (or perhaps, "My Hero"?). I just know that I will never sell this pot. It is my avatar. How can I give that up? Besides, I've printed it on 500 businesscards. Nope, this pot is mine for good.

I am now on ETSY

2009-09-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to my pottery which can be purchased on ETSY.

Bisque Firing

2009-06-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Fired up the big kiln loaded full of leather hard pots....most were mine but also had many pieces made by friend's and their children. Kids love playing in clay.

The firing was a success. Now I have lots of orange bisqued pots patiently awaiting their turn to be glazed and then fired to maturity.

Happy Clay!

2009-06-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

"I like clay!"

Clay is an amazing medium. It can be formed into endless shapes. It can be dry, brittle, wet, liquid, soft and malleable or hard as brick. It can be carved, pounded, coiled, thrown, molded, rolled and more.

I like working with my hands. I like getting dirty. I like the earth. I like clay. I like the way it smells. I like the way it feels. Sometimes it annoys me. Sometimes I destroy it only to re-work it, re-throw it, and re-enjoy it all over again. Clay is patient.

When I'm making pottery, I think about the clay and the shape and whether it's a good pot and whether the clay is happy about what it's becoming.

I don't want to disappoint the clay.

Ya Gotta Believe

2009-04-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

I think it was Katharine Hepburn who once said:

"Avoid your enemies... and an enemy, my dear, is anyone who stands in the way of your dreams!"

Everyone has the potential for being an "enemy". It could be your best friend, or a family member, or anyone who may comment on your work in such a way as to make you feel inadequate. They just have to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and a sensitive soul can be thrown into turmoil.

I realize that in order to avoid my "enemies" I'd have to avoid anyone who may criticize my work. Hmmm, maybe it would be easier to just toughen up. Besides, criticism isn't always bad. It's how you react to it that's important.

Believe in your art. If you don't, no one else will.

Stop Worrying!

2009-03-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

When you no longer care about what other people think about you or your art, then you are truly free!

Artists are hard on themselves. They are vulnerable. They create something from nothing and put it out there for all the world to see and admire—or disregard.

It's hard not to worry about what others think. "Will they like my pottery?" "Is this rim too thin?" "Does this handle fit the mug?" I never shut up inside. I'm always concerned about someone else's opinion. It's such a waste of energy! Nitpicking is human nature. People enjoy criticizing other people and I can't change that.

You gotta be tough to be a sensitive artist!

Up On Ebay

2008-04-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

I have finally gotten around to opening an Ebay account and have put up these 3 pieces so far. I've gotten a nice letter from a fellow potter, and have had a few views...no bids yet, but it hasn't even been a week. You can check out the listings under my Ebay seller ID stonefarmpottery.

Oh yeah.... all three pots sold by week's end!

soon to be on ebay

2008-04-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

I'm exploring the wonderful world of ebay as a marketplace for my pottery. That will be up and running by next week after all the PayPal/bank transactions are completed.

Winged Pots

2008-03-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to putting more of my pottery up on my website. I really like my new stuff. It feels good to say that. Usually I'm too critical of my work and can only see its flaws. But I'm beginning to respect my style of pottery. I like things simple. I like things to be fun. I like making plain objects and infusing a personality all its own.

Some of my newest pieces have "wings" and "things". They are fun to make. Wish I could spend more time creating pottery, but I do have a day job, and that takes priority ... bummer ... but it pays the bills.

Computer Crash !@#!

2008-03-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

I have fired my kiln with great success!

Plus, I've been busy taking pictures of my new pots and adding them to my website and now, of all things, the laptop that I use for my photos has crashed on me!!! This is the second Mac hard drive to die on me this year. What's up with that!!

I did have everything backed up!!

Funky Ware and Winter

2008-02-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

Again, my loaded kiln is awaiting its firing which I haven't been able to do because of wintry weather and busy schedules. Soon....

But I have been busy making new pottery. I'm working on off-beat dishes. They are not the kind for dinnerware, but for decorative use or holding jewelry, potpourri, soaps, etc. They're neat and fun to make.

Too Windy To Fire

2008-02-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

My husband, Chris, and I loaded up the kiln yesterday with all my glazed pots, but we still haven't fired. The weather is terribly windy! We had been thinking of going skiing, but would have been blown off the mountain! I don't like to fire when there's wind gusts over 30 mph because it can affect the draft on my kiln...plus I don't want to have a power outage which we have already had twice today!!

So, hopefully next weekend I will fire... or maybe go skiing?!

Glaze Time

2008-02-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

This week has been glaze mixing time at Stone Farm Pottery. I have been mixing small batches of glaze (usually 100 grams) and altering oxides and other elements to create new colors and textures. When I mix a new glaze for the first time, I only make a 100 gram batch. That gives me enough to glaze 2-4 pots, depending on their size. After I mix up the glaze, I go right ahead and paint it on bisque ware.

Only after a glaze has been fired successfully at least twice in various locations in my kiln, will I consider mixing bigger batches.

All of my bisqued pots have been covered with freshly mixed glaze, so now it's time to load the kiln and prepare for a gloss firing.

Bisque Firing

2008-01-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

Finally—I had a chance to do a bisque firing!

It wasn't raining, sleeting, snowing or windy—plus my mother was safe in her bedroom recuperating from her fall. I started the kiln at 8:00 in the morning and fired all day until 8:00 at night. Won’t know how things turned out until late tomorrow when I sneak a peak. I didn't hear any strange noises from the kiln, such as pots blowing up...always a disheartening sound.

The pottery for this firing was all at least two weeks dry. I did a fairly quick heat up, without a long pilot warm up (I have a gas kiln). I turned on the burners as low as they would go without flaring out, then kept ramping up the heat until it reach cone 06.

Mom's Broken Ribs

2008-01-13T05:04:00.000-08:00

I loaded my kiln for a bisque fire but had a few set backs, one of which was my dear mother had a spill and broke 3 ribs—ouch!! She's 93!!!

So, I've been busy running her to the hospital and caring for her. She's a sweetheart and doesn't complain much...but it's upsetting to see her in any pain.

Hello and Welcome to my Journal...

2008-01-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog.

Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful holiday...and if you are like me, you're probably glad they are over!!! Now we can get back to life as normal...whatever that may be.

This is my personal pouring out about my journey with clay featuring whatever's bugging me, moving me, stifling me or exciting me. You'll find words of wit and wisdom on surviving in the creative world of one-of-a-kind pottery...since that's what I like to make.