It is now over two years since the pandemic first started shutting down our lives. The virus is still around, but the situation has evolved to where the healthcare systems are not overwhelmed. Art fairs and craft shows have been back since last fall. I still wear a mask when I am in indoor public spaces. And I take an at-home Covid test a few days after I’ve done a show (all negative so far). It’s worth taking these easy precautions, in exchange for being able to run my business using my preferred format again. 

I was forced to make one big change. My claybody was a mixture of two clays, and one of them became very difficult to buy, due to supply shortages caused by the pandemic. My clay was still being produced, but the manufacturer could not produce several of their more popular clays, and therefore they would not make any shipments to my local supplier. Last fall, while I was still hopeful that the supply issues would be solved quickly, I had the manufacturer mail me 100 pounds of clay, just to tide me over for a few weeks. The postage cost as much as the clay. 

When I posted this photo on Instagram, someone commented “Pre-wedged via the USPS!” Ha ha, yeah, the texture was great, after apparently getting dropped many times. It soon became clear that the shortage would not be resolved quickly. I calculated exactly how much clay I would need to get through the rest of 2021, and had the manufacturer send it to me via a freight shipment. The freight shipment was a little more expensive than USPS flat rate shipping. But as you can see, USPS beats up the boxes pretty hard. The manufacturer did not want to send 400 pounds through the mail. 

When this shipment arrived, I could finally exhale. This was very stressful, all the uncertainty and the extra expense. The situation wasn’t over, I had a big decision to make. Should I stick with a clay whose manufacturer was having serious problems? They weren’t alone, other clay brands were having shortages too. There is one that wasn’t, and they have a clay that is very similar. They sent me a sample so I could start testing it. This takes a few months and a lot of test tiles. I had to figure out how to mix it with my other clay. Was the ratio the same or different? I had to figure out how to fire it. It turns out it needs to be fired a little hotter. The new clay is a slightly different color. A little less red and a little more yellow. It also has no speckles, which is a feature I never thought much about in my old clay. But once they were missing, I realized how much I needed them! I solved this by buying some granular manganese, and adding back the speckles. That involved a whole new round of tests, to figure out how to mix in the speckles, and how much. 

The right amount of speckles for me is between 0.1% and 0.2%. Many thanks to the Digital Fire website for clear guidance on adding granular manganese to a claybody. 

So I had my speckles back and the glazes fluxing (almost) the same as before. I was still nervous about the color being slightly different. Would customers notice? Or care? It turned out I was way too close to the situation to be able to judge that clearly. I made over 450 pots for my first two shows of 2022, using the new clay. I sold all but five of them. I guess the slight difference in color is something only I can see. (Or it’s just in my head.)

Going forward, it’s possible I will switch back to the old clay, if the supply problems get worked out. The new clay does not present a shortage problem, but it does require a special order through my local supplier, which takes some lead time. (btw, my local supplier, Clayworks Supplies in Baltimore, was really awesome to work with through all of these tribulations. No doubt they were going the extra mile for countless other customers too.) Mixing in the manganese speckles also takes some extra work. So the old clay is more efficient, but only if it’s available. The way I see it, I have two good options now, which provides some insurance during times when supply chains are unstable. 

I mentioned in my last blog post that I've been studying hand bookbinding since last summer. This is a serious option for me, in terms of what I'm going to do with myself after I retire from pottery. I don't want to sit around with nothing to do. I also don't want to do any more heavy lifting, or to be tied to a bunch of heavy equipment. A bookbinding operation fits on a desk, and can easily be moved from place to place. It seems like a good fit for how I want to live.

Even though my retirement is several years away, I think it's important to start learning this now. I need to figure out two things: 1) Do I like doing it enough that I would be happy doing it a lot?  2) Can I make a decent "beer money" income with handmade books? 

And there's another reason why I'm starting this now. Some people think that being a professional artist means you get to do fun things every day. Total fallacy! If you achieve full-time professional status as a creative person, your life involves doing the same things every day, over and over, day after day. It's important to get off your hamster wheel once in a while, before you forget how. If you depend on your creative work for your income, falling into a rut is deadly. I've seen it happen too many times, when a very talented person grows to hate their own work. It's sad. Shifting your brain into "learn mode" can do wonders for the way you feel about your daily work.

There's nothing like cutting off all the stitches of your hand-bound book, because you realized you made a crucial mistake at the beginning, to remind you what it feels like to be a beginner again. Which then forces you to see how far you've come in your own area of expertise, and to contemplate all the years of practice it took. It makes you feel pretty good, not bored or burnt out.

Bookbinding brings me back to all of my favorites aspects of my previous career as a print graphic designer (an almost extinct breed nowadays). Such as pawing through pretty paper samples, cutting and folding, knowing how to make tiny adjustments to accommodate paper's third dimension, among others things. And of course ... measuring! My favorite verb. And I get to say hello to my old measuring friends, Pica and Point. 

Since last summer, I've taken two workshops at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Hyattsville, MD (which I highly recommend). And I've started reading a series of books by Keith Smith, which were recommended by my instructor. These are the first projects I've made by myself at home, without the guidance of an instructor. 

I'm calling this first design the "List Book." I am a zealous list maker and note taker, and go through lots of these little notebooks. From now on, I'm going to make them instead of buying them. The first one took me over five hours, as I figured out the design from scratch. You can see how many times I changed my mind about the details. And like I mentioned, I made sewing mistakes that forced me to start over. 

Here are the text signatures. I printed the rules with my laser printer, and was able to space them for the size of my own handwriting. And once again my previous career training helped, because I already knew the definitions of signatures/sections, sheets, and pages, and how to count them. 

Here is the book's cover mapped out. The back cover has an extended tab. It can be folded inside the back cover out of the way, or slotted into the front cover to keep the book closed, or used as a bookmark. 

After spending five hours on the first one, the second one took only thirty minutes. 

Here's a closer look at the stitching on the spine.

I have already begun using one of them. The size is just right, the cover and pages hinge very easily, and I like the way it holds itself open in a relaxed stance when you put it down. Overall, it's very comfortable to use, kind-of like a handmade mug or bowl.

After finishing these small books, I decided to try something more ambitious. I also use a lot of 8.5 x 11 spiral notebooks. I call them "Show Books" because it's where I record my before + after inventory lists for every show, and where I add up my sales. This book has fabric-wrapped hard covers, and is stitched together with a form of "coptic stitching." This stitching allows a thick book to lie open by itself, and even to flip the front cover around to the back. I'm a little skeptical that the linen threads will hold up to abuse, because this book gets carried with me to every show inside a messenger bag. But so far it feels nice and sturdy. And just like the List Book, the covers and pages hinge very comfortably. I guess time will tell how well it holds up. 

I've already started using this book too. I have a growing list of reservations for my upcoming 2019 shows. I like that this is on the very first page of the book, which means it will be easy to find and edit this list. 

I would also like to develop a journal-sized notebook, and possibly a calendar/planner. My plan is to have a few prototypes of these available for sale at my next Open Studio in December. 

This has been a productive year in terms of exploring some new ideas. If you are coming to the Open Studio this weekend, you'll be the first to see them.
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I recently blogged about these new glazes, Snow and Cloud, with hakeme background textures. I plan to use this combination on minimalist, down-to-earth, functional forms. The cups are part of the Whiskey Sipper line (introduced last year) and are $35 each. The medium sized serving bowls range from $65 to $75. The larger bowl is 9 1/4" across. 
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These rectangular trays are also part of the new Snow/Cloud line, with the addition of fine-line illustrations carved into the hakeme. 4 3/8" x 10 1/4". For serving sushi or snacks, or for displaying treasured items. I'm still figuring out how best to glaze them, so for now they will be sold at the "prototype" price of $22 each.
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UPDATE: The rectangular trays are now ​sold out. I will be making more in 2019.

 

I've always been fascinated by clock face designs. I made clocks many years ago when I was a beginner potter. (they were pretty cheesy.) I am coming back to the idea now, with much better craftsmanship and design, and with silent continuous-sweep clock movements. Some are meant for wall hanging, and some are meant to sit on a desk or shelf. The white one in the middle is 6 1/2" across. Introductory priced this weekend at $65 each. My plan for these going forward is to make these occasionally in low volumes, with a wide variation of designs. 
 
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The Boat and the Mini Boat. The Boat is 15" long, and can serve bread or salads. Or it can be used in your entry way to hold your mail, wallet, and keys. Introductory priced at $55. The Mini Boat is 10 1/4" long. Perfect for olives or other finger snacks, or filled with pencils on your desk. Introductory priced at $20. 
 
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I'm now offering a second version of the Maryland Platter. I'm still making the one with the silhouette of the state of Maryland, but now there is a second one featuring a blue crab. 8 1/4" x 11 1/2", $75 each. Can I take a moment to rant about people who try to sell crab-themed artwork to Marylanders that features a dungeness crab instead of a blue crab? Those people should be deported to a different state. 

​UPDATE: The Maryland Platters (both versions) are now sold out. I will be making more in 2019.
 
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Here is this year's lineup of School Pots. These are the pots made during the filming of my Online School videos. Prices range from $24 to $75. 
  
 
Of course I will be fully stocked with all of my usual line of work. There will also be a "scratch and dent" table full of steep bargains, and a table full of snacks. Hope to see you this weekend! 

Good Elephant Pottery's 12th Annual Holiday Open Studio
December 8-9, 2018
10am to 5pm both days

I am introducing two new glazes at my upcoming Open Studio.

Snow is a white, semi-matte, semi-opaque glaze. I’ve been using Snow occasionally for over a year, but haven’t given it a name until now, and haven’t officially announced it’s arrival. Don’t let the soft-looking surface fool you. This glaze has the same recipe basis as Flannel, my light gray semi-matte glaze, and the surface is incredibly durable.

Cloud is light gray, glossy, and semi-opaque. It is brand new. I developed it for use in combination with Snow.

There is a third element that goes along with Snow and Cloud, the use of hakeme to create a surface texture underneath the glazes. Hakeme is the brushing of thin, white slip on top of forms made of dark stoneware, using a coarse brush to create fluid and spontaneous patterns. I have dabbled in hakeme for years but recently took on a greater interest in pursuing it more seriously, sparked by a pure accident. The porcelain I had been buying to make white slip was out of stock, and my supplier recommended a different one to try. This new porcelain is far better suited for hakeme! It flows better off a brush even when mixed thicker, which means it holds onto the brushstroke patterns more clearly. It also fires to a brighter white color. Once I recognized the greater potential provided by this new porcelain, I started developing Cloud to go with it.

Hakeme is hard. I still need a lot more practice at it. The slip must be the right consistency, the brush must be loaded correctly, then you basically have a few seconds to apply the slip and leave behind an interesting pattern. No do overs. So I shake out my arms and wrists, loosen my neck, try to clear my head, and go for it. I’m often not happy with the results, but trust that I’ll get better over time.

Aesthetically speaking, this is not a big departure from my current work. I’m still making gray and white pots. These pieces will play a minor role in my line for now. They fit right in with my current work, which I am not abandoning.
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And there is one more conceptual step I’m taking with these glazes, which is to combine hakeme backgrounds with a new approach to carving illustrations, using a pointy tool to carve finer lines with a looser, sketcherly attitude. These rectangular trays are still works-in-progress, and will be sold at low “protoype” prices at the Open Studio. But I can visualize lots of new directions with these ideas going forward.
  

It’s time to mark your calendars for Good Elephant Pottery’s 12th Annual Open Studio, December 8-9, 10am to 5pm both days. Complete details will be posted on this website, sent via email, and on facebook and instagram. Hope you can make it!

I wrote an article about my efficient approach to reclaiming clay, which has been published in the December 2018 issue of Ceramics Monthly. My method boils down to making small batches, and keeping an eye on the slop bucket everyday. It's not that much work, and I gain about 20% more clay for free. Better still, incorporating reclaimed clay into my workflow allows me to manage the softness of my throwing clay, which is much easier on my body. If you don't subscribe to Ceramics Monthly, you can download a high-res PDF of the article here.

Every pot that I sell gets wrapped in a piece of paper before bagging. I go through a lot of paper. I've been buying kraft paper rolls for this purpose, which are not very expensive. But the rolls are heavy, and in recent years, the cost to ship these rolls to me has become painful. Lately I've been paying over $100 for about 9 months supply of this paper. 

A potter friend from the Ceramic Arts Network Forum, Mark Cortright from California, said that he uses "end rolls" from a local newspaper printer. I decided to look for a similar arrangement near me. There aren't many newspaper printing plants left, but I found one in Frederick, Maryland. Turns out they sell their end rolls for between $1 and $4 each, depending on the size. Jackpot! I drove out there yesterday and drove away with this. I think this will last about a year, and I only spent $47.

To any other potters within driving distance of Frederick, Maryland, you can buy end rolls at:

Frederick News Post (FNP) Printing and Publishing
351 Ballenger Center Drive
Frederick, MD 21703
https://fnpprintingandpublishing.com/

They typically have some available everyday. Though not TODAY, because I just cleaned them out. You can contact them in advance to make sure they have some. Or, you can walk in the main entrance and ask at the front desk. 

I often get asked at shows "how long have you been doing this?" I made my first pot in 1994, and I remember how fun it was a few years ago when I could answer that question with "20 years." I like round number milestones. This past weekend, I had another fun realization, which is that the answer is now "23 years." And that I am now 46 years old. Which means the answer to the question is "half of my life." I plan to use this answer as many times as possible until I turn 47.

This is the very first pot I threw in 1994. I have saved it all these years. It has a job in my studio, holding stretch-loops. If you look closely, you'll see that it suffered an accident at one point, and I lovingly glued it back together.
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This is a vase that I threw during my holiday break back in December. It is 13 inches tall and thrown in two sections. The form is a definite nod to my Korean heritage. The skinny vertical stripes are my own modern spin. I love the way the lines get distorted by the form. 

I call this a "vacation pot" because it's not the type of work I make for my business's inventory needs. In fact, this is a ball-and-chain in terms of business value. These oversized pieces take up so much space in my studio and kilns. They are cumbersome to pack and transport, and tough to sell! My customer base is looking for everyday functional wares. Not many of them have this much available space in their homes. I'll be happy if I sell it before the end of the year.

This doesn't stop me from making pots like this when I have free time. It's important to indulge the non-business areas of my brain sometimes. I have a running list of idea that I want to explore and attempt. 

Does it bother me that, as a creative person, I don't get to do this more often? No. Not even a little bit.

Indulgences only mean something if they are limited in opportunity. If you indulge yourself all the time, the value disappears. I get annoyed when someone declares that being an artist means they are entitled to indulge their creativity at will. I want to say "That doesn't make you an artist. That makes you a brat." Pick any artist you admire, and behind the scenes you'll find that they treat their work like work. Structure, standards, linear processes, repetition, consistency.

There is no loss of creativity in this. The opposite is true. This approach grows your creativity into something better and stronger. 

"I think the real free person in society is the one that's disciplined."  -Dean Smith

Baseball is my favorite sport, and college basketball is my second favorite sport. When legendary coach Dean Smith passed away in 2015, columnist/author Sally Jenkins appeared on the Tony Kornheiser Show (my favorite podcast) to talk about Smith. She explained the above quote. He was referring to players who are fresh out of high school, exceptionally talented, but full of themselves. Products of overpraising and a lack of discipline. He tried to teach these players that the so-called "freedom" of taking every shot that you want to take, in a self-aggrandizing fashion, doesn't lead you anywhere. You won't win games with that approach. On the other hand, if you learn to play within the structure of a team, your talent will yield actual accomplishments. The more accomplishments you accumulate over time, the more opportunities materialize for you, from which you can choose your future. That's real freedom. 

If you are fortunate enough to have talent, channeling your talent into a structure is so much more valuable than indulging your whims. After years of working this way, I have gathered some big accomplishments, such as being published in national magazines, and being in the Smithsonian Craft Show. And my work now yields a reliable income, which might be the biggest accomplishment of all. I see what these things have brought to my life. I am free to make only pots that follow my aesthetic values and nobody else's. I am free from having a boss. I am free to choose whom I will work with, and whom I'm won't. I am in charge of my own schedule. I have cool opportunities presented to me all the time. I am free to say "no" and I say "no" to most of them. I say "yes" only when something really makes sense.

(I can think of other analogies between professional athletes and professional artists. These may pop up in future blog posts.)

So this is the perspective from which I view an "indulgence" such as making a giant, unsellable pot from a purely artistic and egoistic motivation. I am grateful that my life includes time for this, however limited. The idea that I should feel "stifled" because I don't have more time for this, given that my daily life contains so many important forms of freedom, seems crazy to me. 
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... and I am in the mood to celebrate! I can't believe I've been doing these events for ten years. Doesn't seem that long. I need to say "thank you" to everyone who has made these events work. My thanks will come in the form of t-shirts!

Free with purchase and while supplies last. I'm pretty sure I have enough shirts for everybody, I'm saying "while supplies last" just in case. I have sizes from SM to XL, and the sizes will be first-come-first-pick.

Don't worry, I haven't only been working on the t-shirts. I've been making lots of pots, including some new designs. I will have a few more of my new teapots with stainless steel handles. Priced from $125 to $140.

I have redesigned my Breakfast Bowl. Very similar to the previous design, but easier to fit in the kiln. The new design includes a subtle pointed spout, so it serves as a pourer too. This will also replace the Small Spouted Bowl going forward, however I still have a few SSBs in stock for this weekend. $24 each.

Introducing an individual sized casserole, where the lid also works as a plate. It is ideal for storage and reheating. It's name is "I'll Cover You" which is the title of a song from the muscial Rent. $65.

And I will be fully stocked on all of my popular items, such has plates, chopstick bowls, serving bowls and platters, mugs, jars, vases, and lots of elephants. If you know you're coming and want a specific item, send me a note through this Contact Form. If the item is available I will gladly reserve it for you. (ONE NOTE: All of the Normal-Sized Mugs (aka Jack Reacher mugs) have already been reserved. Sorry! I promise to make them in production quantities for 2017.)

Here are the logistical details:

Good Elephant Pottery's 10th Annual Holiday Open Studio
Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11
10am to 5pm both days
My house will be wearing a "pottery sale' sign. Park on the street, lots of street parking nearby. The entrance to the studio is behind the house and down a flight of steps. Signs will point you to the right entrance. 

​Hope to see you this weekend!

As you probably know by now, I work by myself in a studio, doing a job that doesn't always require my full brain. I have strategies for keeping myself entertained, my favorite is probably audiobooks. (Shout-out to my local public library, where I get them for free.)

A have listened to the entire series of Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. I am crazy for Reacher. I admire his minimalist and independent life, and his unflappable personality. His senses of duty and justice are worthy enough to forgive all of the neck bones he has crushed. 

(By the way, book Reacher does not bear any resemblance to movie Reacher. And I'm not just talking about physical appearance. Book Reacher has no ego, he doesn't care about praise or credit. Movie Reacher is very self-conscious. Do I look tough enough? Can they tell I'm short? I don't begrudge Lee Child for taking the biggest movie rights deal he could get. He earned it. As for Tom Cruise, buying something is not the same as earning it.)

One of Reacher's quirks is his addiction to coffee. He never turns down a chance to drink coffee. He'll drink any coffee, good or bad, at any time of day, from any cup. But he knows what type of cup he prefers, and notices when he's using one that he likes.

"A bad coffee mug has a thick lip—too wide, too shallow, too much mass—it will cool the drink too fast. A good coffee mug is cylindrical in shape, narrow in relation to its height and with a thin lip."

For years I have only made mugs in one size: enormous. They hold about 20 oz. This is how I drink coffee, one giant cup in the morning. Customers regularly ask me for normal sized mugs, but I have never felt compelled to make them until now. Now I want to make a mug that Reacher would like. 

But before I could do that, I had to reconcile my confusion about Reacher's description of an ideal mug. I understand why a wide or shallow mug would allow coffee to cool too fast. But I was surprised at the idea that a thick-walled mug would hasten the cool-down. I always assumed a thicker-walled ceramic vessel would be a better insulator, not worse. Then I started to think about it in terms of refractories, which are all of the dense objects that are inside a kiln when firing. Refractories mostly refer to kiln shelves and posts, but the pots themselves are refractories too. We potters know that the more refractories we have in a kiln, the more energy it takes to fire, because refractories absorb a lot of energy before they can act as insulators and radiators of energy. 

Does a thick-walled mug absorb heat like a refractory? I decided to find out for sure, in a situation that simulates coffee drinking, not kiln firing. I made two nearly identical vessels. One with a thin 1/8 inch wall, and one with a thicker 1/4 inch wall. I filled them with equal amounts of boiling water, then started taking the water's temperature. I measured the temperature at one minute intervals, for ten minutes.

I ran this test four times. I made sure to return the cups to room temperature in between, by running them under cool water. The results had some small variations but were overall consistent. In the first two minutes of the test, the thick cup lost 3 or 4 more degrees than the thin cup. After two minutes (I'm guessing this is when both cups were sufficiently heated through) both cups lost heat at the same rate per minute. The difference is small, but technically Reacher is right.

"No doubt about that," Reacher would say. To himself inside his head.

Cylindrical in shape, narrow in relation to its height and with a thin lip. Glazed in a no-fuss colorblock of gray and off-white. Holds 10 to 12 oz. Positioned next to my "Enormous Coffee Mug" the official name on the hang tag will be "Normal-Sized Mug," with the subtitle "aka Jack Reacher's ideal coffee mug." These will be available for sale for the first time at my Open Studio, coming up on December 10-11. 

And no, I am not admitting that I drink too much coffee. I am only admitting that some people prefer to drink coffee in smaller quantities throughout the day.