KC Clay Guild Spring Sale

Last year at this time we were wondering if we'd be able to have a Spring Sale...like, it's a likely chance this whole Covid thing will blow through by that time, surely!?

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAAAA

Anyway, with proper safety precautions, widespread vaccinations, and careful planning, we ARE having a Spring Sale this year at the KC Clay Guild, and I am ready. for. it.  Even though I took six months off from producing ceramics, I have more than made up for it since we got access back to the Guild, and I'm excited to share my work with more than just my humble social media circle.

PREVIEW!

Drawn flowers on mugs and vases

Hand drawn with brush in underglaze on B-Mix

CuPu series

Hand built cut and pushed vases, bowls, and planters in B-Mix with heavy glaze

Cat planters

Hand built cat planters in various clay bodies

Nubby things

Hand built vessels pushed out with a nubby motif and experimental glaze combos

I got my vaccine over a week ago, so by the time the sale is here, I'll be basically as protected by science as I can be. We will all be abiding standard safety guidelines and the artists won't be hanging out at their displays as in years passed.  Small price to pay to be able to share!

You can browse and still purchase from my online store until Thursday, when I'll be blocking sales until after I can take inventory on Monday.  The Guild only receives 20% of each purchase price--a good deal if you've ever sold consignment anywhere and a way to support both the artist and the facility that makes our work possible.

When:

Friday, April 23, 5-9pm (this is when I'll be working the sale)

Saturday, April 24, 10-5

Sunday, April 25, 11-3

Where:

KC Clay Guild

200 W 74th Street, KCMO

Links:

Facebook Event Page

KC Clay Guild website

My Instagram

My Facebook

My Online store

Tell your friends!

Glaze Tests

At the Clay Guild there is a Last Call shelf, where wayward bisqued pieces that haven't been picked up in a certain amount of time get set on their way to the Dumpster.  There's a myriad of reasons these are left behind, but mostly because they aren't "good enough" to be glazed by the original maker, they've been forgotten, or they were practice pieces.  Most of these are wonky and/or very thick and/or have cracks in the bottom.

We have 22 glazes made in-house, and combining them can result in some fantastic colors, but taking a piece you've put a lot of time into and possibly ruining it by glazing it with an experimental combination isn't the most fun.  So I took these orphan forms right before they landed in the garbage and started throwing everything on them.  And that lead me to a long project I'm doing for the Clay Guild of a large test tiles wall.

My work, as well as other members', has benefited from these pieces and tiles.  It's sad to see people use the same boring one-coat glazes over and over again... (It's okay if that's your thing.  No judgment.)

White on top of green equals purple?

Wow, I love this one.

That pink has made its way into many of my newer pieces.  Chun and Turquiose I think.

Drooollll.   This has some rutile wash striped over the top.

I added blue mason stain to shino for this one.  A beautiful metallic happened!

With all these glazes to keep straight, I made many, many notes. (#orphanforms on my Instagram)

I cannot stress enough how important glaze notes are for your everyday work!

And in the spring I was able to start making actual tiles that I have been installing in the Clay Guild glaze room for everyone to use.  I have been getting a lot of big THANK YOUs, but to be honest, you guys, I did this for me and decided to share.  Happily, I've been seeing the combos coming out of the kiln by members far and wide and love how it changes the attitudes around glazing.  It took me three years to get only marginally comfortable glazing my work.  And I have SO MUCH to learn.

I'm filling in those holes as time allows.

In just a couple days I'm opening up my studio (well...mostly my back yard) and having a huge sale.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (event page here).  Fun thing: four kittens and a mama (who is a kitten herself) showed up at my house last week and I've been trying to catch and tame them.  Three and mama are currently living in my studio (got mom fixed yesterday!) and they are a speed bump in my preparations.  These babes are about 10 weeks old and rambunctious in the cutest way.  So, if you're interested in a kitten, hit me up!  I'm looking for shelters that will take them because I'm in over my head a little.  

Anyhoo...see you this weekend?

Tumbler 22

Here's that pesky Rietz Blue again!  I think because the clay body has some iron in it (it's recycled, so who really knows what's going on in there), brown gets pulled out and speckles the blue.  The black top is nicely metallic and the belt in the middle is more matte.

cone 10 stoneware, glaze

 I'm still on INSTAGRAM.

Button Vase

 To hide the seam of this hand-built cylinder vase I used both the impression and expression of a grate that covers a drain in my basement, then cut those in circles.

recycled cone 10 stoneware

First, dipped in white, then painted buttons with celedon and iron saturate glazes.

Nice speckles!  And finger prints.

Clearly, I need to work on pouring evenly.  I'm very messy.

Tumbler 5

white stoneware, underglaze, mason stains, clear glaze

mmmm....candy

See these and my anatomical heart blocks IN REAL LIFE on Sunday, Feb. 5th at Holy Cow Vintage & Music.