Happy Thanksgiving!

These mums are one of the first things I see as I come out my door. Such a cheery sight with the sunlight falling upon them like this, I felt I had to share them.

In the Studio: Clay loving bugs

Yesterday I was just getting ready to cut and slam wedge some native clay that had been sitting on the wedging table to dry out, as I often do to pick out the odd little rock or left over hard chunks of debris. Found this little fellow "hunkered down", as they would say here in the South. He had chewed and burrowed his way about an inch into the clay.

Earlier in spring and summer, we are pestered by some much smaller black beetles, resembling this one, actually, only about 1 to 2 millimeters in length. They come out once the sun goes down and make their way into the studio, seeking out leather-hard pots and damp clay. Groups of them will actually burrow right through the sides of pots. Sometimes I think they make a point to go for those pots you have spent the most time on trimming or carving a design into ...pure coincidence, of course.

Since we don't have screens on the windows and the studio is kind of open, we usually try and wrap or cover pots with dry cleaner's plastic. We have to also make sure we turn the lights to the studio off when we leave, since they don't seem to nibble in the dark.

Protecting Potters' Hands

As potters, we subject our hands to a good deal of abuse. Prolonged handling of clay and loading kilns, seems to just suck the moisture right out of my hands, sometimes to the point of being quite painful, especially if a crack develops. If your hands are out of commission, you can't make pots. I thought I would share some of the things I personally like to use to help maintain and protect my hands and fingers.

I have tried many kinds of hand creams to keep my hands from drying out and cracking over the years, but not very many actually penetrate the skin or do much good. The two ones I've had the best luck with are Corn Huskers Lotion and Bee Balm Lotion (BeeBalm is actually my favorite). Both can be bought at my local pharmacy, and the Bee Balm can even be bought through at least one of my pottery suppliers.

Its also unavoidable sometimes to get abrasions, cuts, scratches, hangnails, etc.. While an adhesive bandage works great under normal conditions to protect and keep a cut clean, it has a tendency to just be cumbersome and usually won't hold up or even stay on after a few minutes of throwing, let alone continue to keep bacteria out once it gets wet. And clay has bacteria.

Several years ago I was reading about a new product on the market called New Skin. It was a new kind of waterproof, flexible liquid bandage that you could just brush on like nail polish. As soon as I tried it, I was sold. While I don't think its recommended for big deep cuts, it seems to work great on scratches, minor cuts, etc., and is quite unobtrusive.

I also found these handy dandy little First Aid Cots in the bandage section of the pharmacy, right by the New Skin, bandaids, etc... They roll on like little finger condoms and can even go over a bandage, keeping your digit dry and clean. Much more localized coverage than a latex glove, although just as effective. They work great.

I also like to keep some little nail clippers at hand and around the wheel. They're handy for trimming bits off fast-growing nails when they get too long and start to gouge the clay, and are perfect for nipping off hangnails before they get out of hand.

'Art Soup' - Mobile's Annual Empty Bowls: Feed the homeless

15 Place will be holding its annual Art Soup empty bowls event during National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week to benefit Mobile, Al's homeless.

Regional artists of various mediums, not just clay, donate a piece of work: their interpretation of a bowl.

Friday, November 16th, 6 to 9 pm
Cathedral Square Gallery, 260 Dauphin St, Downtown Mobile
Tickets: Just $35 from the 15 Place web site

"...eat hearty soups, drink assorted beverages, munch on artisan breads and gourmet cookies, dance to a great band, BAYRUNNER this year, and at the end of the evening take our bowl home."

Coastal Artisans 2nd Annual Art Show & Sale

Once again this year our self-representing artist collective of local and regional working artists, The Coastal Artisans, will be holding our Annual Christmas Art Show and Sale on the first Saturday of December at the Mobile Botanical Gardens.

This will be our second year and will once again be held in conjunction with the Garden's Master Gardeners Christmas greenery and Poinsettia Sale.

To learn more about this event and our artists, please visit our website:
http://thecoastalartisans.blogspot.com

"Oh what a lovely hobby!"

My pottery teacher of years ago once told me (warned me, actually, when I expressed interest years ago in potting full time) "Pottery is a hard way to make a living". It is very true. A potter needs to be a skilled artist, technician, manufacturer, marketer, administrator, and sales person, among other things, as well as being physically able and have a thick skin.

Throwing pots on the wheel, in reality, only represents a small portion of what goes into producing a finished pot. For every two three days of throwing, there are four or 5 days of doing other tasks. Pots still need to be trimmed, have handles attached and decoration applied, and patiently monitored as they dry slowly before they are loaded into the bisque kiln. If they survive the bisque firing , they are then glazed and loaded into the gas kiln. Because our shelves are so badly warped we also "wad" the bottoms of our pots before the final firing (wadding: dry china clay and alumina hydrate mixed and formed into balls which are strategically stuck to the bottom of the pots to evenly support the base of the pot on the kiln shelf).

A few examples of other tasks we do involve: clay preparation (digging clay, pounding/sifting/"slaking" it down, mixing it, moving it back to the drying area, pugging it (if you have a pugmill, we dont) wedging/kneading it for right consistency); Glaze preparation (measuring out raw materials and mixing glazes in 5 gallon batches; testing of new recipes or color variations also done in smaller batches; doing glaze chemistry); Kiln building/maintenance; Lifting/Carting bags of raw materials & clay; Loading/unloading the kiln; Shipping; Setting up web site / online sales; assembling and maintaining a sales display to take to shows, for example; preparing for and traveling to shows; Find ways to market work (new shows, online marketing, wholesale & consignment opportunities, etc.); etc

When things go wrong with pottery, they tend to go really wrong. Its very disheartening & demoralizing when you have lost half or more of a kiln load of pots that you have worked weeks to produce, due to some glaze, clay, or firing problem. Its even more disheartening when equipment is inevitably going to conk out when you most need it (usually in the last stretch toward a show). Things can go wrong even when you do things right.

We just had a string of bad firings where some of our usually most reliable glazes, thanks to an ingredient problem, not only came out unrecognizable, but fluxed out and ran all over and destroyed shelves. (Raw materials used in pottery are different clays and minerals all mined from the earth, are only as pure as the mine, and can change over time and according to the mine.) The problems are still not quite resolved. I lost I would say at least 1/3 if not more of the work I've made this fall due to one thing or another, but mostly due to these glaze problems. Its not just the financial loss, but the emotional strain that hits hard, and doubly so when you have to cancel that show that you were counting on the income from. When you make pots you're not just manufacturing; you are so connected to your product in every aspect of production, its a lot more, well, personal. For a while there I didn't want to see clay.

A friend of mine similarly had some very bad luck with some commercial clay (for which, incidentally, the shipping cost more than the clay) she made all of her pots out of for her fall show season. A week after her big fall sale, a customer brought back $300 worth of pots, then another customer did the same. All or most of the pots had quarter-cent sized hunks of the side of the pot popping off. Lime pop-outs apparently, which can take up to 3 months after the firing to appear. Months of work, large financial commitments (show fee, natural gas, clay, etc), and possibly her reputation tarnished, all because of a faulty raw material or the clay not being mixed properly by the supplier. The supplier was very gracious to replace the clay, but the propane has been burned, the pots have been sold, the money has already been spent, and the remainder of her inventory is questionable... and her pride bruised.

We keep making pots because there is always something that pulls us back. Art for arts sake? Bull. Working artists still have to eat and still have expenses like everyone else. Its not impossible to survive off of one's work but making pots for a living (or any art full time) takes commitment, perseverance, and drive, it is not for the faint hearted.

Favourite tools to have at the wheel

When you first start learning how to make pottery, you follow your teacher's lead. You follow the same techniques, use the same tools, and emulate your teacher as best as you can. You take what you learn with you throughout your potting career. Lowell's favourite thing to say to students as they start out is "First you learn the rules, then you learn there are no rules". Sure, there are other ways to do the same thing, but as with learning a language, getting a good foundation in the fundamentals is important.

Over time and with experience, we all come to find techniques, tricks, or tools that work better for each of us. Its always fun visiting other peoples' studios. I've noticed over the years that no 2 potters work in exactly the same manner. And potters, while for the most part a kind and friendly lot, are pretty quirky. The longer they work alone in their studio, it seems, the quirkier they get too. ...but that's another post for another day!

Right now I am throwing on an old Creative Industries wheel. I had been throwing on an even older Soldner wheel, up until August when, unfortunately, the 35 yr old motor finally bit the dust (hoping to repair it after this next show).

The chair I use to sit at it is actually an old stool from a yard sale, cut to height. The front legs are cut 2 or so inches shorter than the back legs which makes it less of a strain on my back when leaning over to throw. A low-tech and inexpensive way to work smarter and save your back.

There are a few things I like to have around the wheel:
- A straight sided 2 or 3 gallon water bucket - rim ideal for scraping excess slip off of my hands; clay particles settle nicely in bottom and don't get stirred up each time I moisten my sponge.
- an old cup to hold my main throwing tools - pin tool, sponge, wooden knife
- a plastic rectangular container for ribs - not pictured, but is an recycled old baby wipes container . The size and shape is just right as was the price
- bats - on the left side of the wheel table there is usually a stack of 7" Creative Industries square bats that I use for smaller items. They have 2 sets of notches molded on the underside to fit different bat pin spacings for both this wheel and the Soldner. Also have 12" & 14" round CI bats, and a few Plastibats (which are actually superior, very sturdy and don't bend, but are unfortunately more expensive). Nice thing about these plastic molded bats is they never rot and seem to last forever. The drawback is they are more expensive, limited in sizes (nothing more than 14" in diameter). The Creative Industries ones have a tendency to bend when pots being taken off the wheel, so you have to be extra careful.
- a kitchen scale - for weighing pieces of clay out for throwing
- a mirror - (not pictured) helps with seeing the contour of pots while both throwing and trimming. I threw for 2 weeks without one, bending to the side to see the profile, and not only did it kind of slow me down and make my neck/back hurt, but my pots looks different too.
- big table - (the one pictured here is an old door on sawhorses with canvas stretched over it). I will throw a series and when the table is full, get up and move the pots to ware racks.

There was one time I had bins of tools. (Can you have too many tools??) Well, I still have them, but I have narrowed it down to a few that I actually use regularly at the wheel:
- a pin tool;
- a wooden knife;
- a sponge (a medium sized natural sponge; cellulose sponges also work great in a pinch);
wooden ribs (a small kidney shaped and larger one, both Kemper);
- 2 Sherrill Mudtools - soft/red & hard/green (I like these because unlike a rubber rib they don't break down and have so far kept their smooth edge; rubber ribs tend to break down within a few months in this climate);
a long metal rib;
- a chamois on a fishing bobber - stays floating in bucket so I don't ever lose it and its easy to see; cutoff wires of different thicknesses;
- a metal scraper from hardware store;
- a Bison trimming tool
- a Giffin Grip
- a Grabber pad attached to one of my plastic bats mentioned above
- a 16" square piece of plywood (very low tech) for trimming larger bowls and platters on.
- many sets of metal calipers for fitting lids

Working Smart: Potting with the help of Occupational Therapy

Making pots is very physically demanding. Tasks range from lifting heavy bags of ingredients & clay, bending and straining to load and unload kilns, and repetitive movements that can lead to overuse injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Potters need to think ahead and work smart to make sure their bodies can hold up as long as their love for clay does.

Sometimes, though, illnesses and injuries happen no matter how careful one might be. Two of Canadian potter friends of mine haven't been so lucky when it comes to their health. One has quite serious back problems and has had surgery, but problems persist. My other friend has had epilepsy for years but recently, she has been coping with some pretty serious unforeseen complications relating to her condition. Both friends sought the help of an occupational therapist (O.T.) in hopes that they might help them continue to pot.

In this sort of situation, the Occupational Therapist comes to the workplace, observes the working environment, the working habits, and the tasks that need completing, then makes an assessment and suggests a plan of action.

The occupational therapist recommended to my friend with the back problems, working at the wheel from the standing position. Due to another pre-existing condition, she was not going to be able to be on her feet for any extensive period of time, so the OT worked with her and together, they designed a special "stool", built specifically to her physical proportions. It wasn't meant to sit at per se, but it was contoured in such a way that she could take some of the weight off of her legs/feet while still throwing standing up. (Sorry, unfortunately I don't have a picture.) The other recommendation was that she take on a partner or assistant who would do tasks such as loading the kilns and other such tasks. This worked out quite well for her.

My friend with epilepsy had suffered some major set-backs due to some related neurological conditions, resulting in problems with balance, vision, fine motor skills, hearing, and increased frequency of seizures. Tasks such as throwing, manipulating a brush, and pulling handles were becoming increasingly difficult and sometimes even invoked seizures. A couple of the suggestions that she successfully implemented for working at the wheel were wearing an eye patch while throwing, and throwing with the help of a mirror (no more leaning over). Put simplistically, since her seizures were invoked by certain visual stimuli and physical movements, changing her visual perspective (covering one eye and using the mirror) and way of working, has helped to retrain her brain (much like retraining the brain of a stroke victim) to use different neural pathways to complete specific tasks, including throwing, and work relatively seizure free. So far so good. She is back to throwing again and is doing her first show in as many years this weekend.

I really have to admire my two friends for having the gumption to find a way to keep making pots despite their debilitating conditions and for seeking help from an occupational therapist. I know how difficult it must have been for both of them, after so many years of potting, to have to adjust to new ways of working, but both have made the adjustment successfully and sing praises of their OTs.

Blog Action Day October 15

Today is Blog Action Day when blogs everywhere talk about one thing: the environment.

Potters tend to have a reputation for being frugal. Some stems from necessity, some stems out of principle. I started thinking about ways in which we here at the studio try to make a difference to the environment and recycle:

- Building: recycled wood & windows in building studio (reclaimed lots of waste wood from hurricanes which would otherwise be taken to landfill or burned).
- Plastics: We recycle grocery bags & use them for shows (people don't mind when you tell them it is for the environment) as well as dry cleaning plastic which works perfect for covering pots & protecting controlling how they dry
- Paper: Newspaper and newspaper roll ends are used in the studio for a multitude of uses. Also excellent for packing pots away for/at shows
- Metal: We bought a can crusher and while they don't pick up recycled items here, we take our tin/aluminum cans to the recycle depot when we are in town.
- Appliances: We have two defunct refrigerators & freezers make excellent damp cupboards and places to keep moist clay.
- Old Machinery: our clay mixers are 2 recycled old machines: one is made from an old WWII anti-aircraft gun and the other a 1915 dough mixer.
- Waste wood & pine needles: We get scrap wood cast offs from the local wood mill and use them to fire the wood kiln. Wood and pine needles burn much more efficiently and with less smoke at the temperatures we fire the kiln to, than it would in a burn pile.
- Cast offs: We use cast-off bisque ware (cracked and unusable) in holes in our driveway, and try to use as many of the glazed cast-offs as bird feeders, planters, dog bowls, etc.. Lots of other shards go to a friend who does mosaics. (We have also used waste oyster shells from the local fishery to fill holes in the driveway - smells a bit at first, but definitely organic)
- Our clay: Now that our clay mixer is operational again, we try to pay extra attention these days to recycle all of our scrap clay into a new batch of mixed clay and make it go as far as possible. A lot of the clay we use, we dig ourselves. The white and bubble gum colored clay that we like to use is considered waste clay to contractors (not good for road base) and they are quite happy if we cart as much as we like off.
- Organic Gardening: We try our best to garden as organically as we can. We have several neighbors with horses that are glad to part with their more than ample supply of muck.
- Commuting: Our little chunk of land houses both where we live and the studio, so thankfully I don' t have to commute anywhere (except to shows, wholesale customers, and some of my suppliers, of course).
With a group of like-minded artists, we also started a small artist collective to hopefully open up more marketing opportunities closer to home and cut back on travel. Less traveling not only saves us expense, time, and wear and tear on our vehicles (and us) but also means less fuel consumed and less impact on the environment.

Coming from away, I couldn't help but notice the absence of things such as public transit for commuters and carpooling lanes when I first got down here. SUVs are the vehicle of choice it seems here and its not uncommon to see a Hummer or 2 cruising up the road. No attention to carbon emissions on old vehicles either. Big cars, big boats and often big inefficient houses too. How do permits get granted to construct on valuable wetland? Always has baffled me how a place with so much sunshine has so few people taking advantage or even the slight bit knowledgeable of solar power. Welcome to the Alabama Coast. Consuming with very little thought of conservation. You used to be able to see to the bottom of Mobile Bay not 50 years ago, apparently. Not now though. Pollution from industry-friendly Mobile and other places upstream have unfortunately taken its toll. Its a pity.

Southerners are known to be resistant to change but hopefully they will sit up and take notice before it is too late.

The Stompin Ground: Magnolia Springs

Here is one of the mugs I made lately, specifically of native clay for Magnolia Spring's own Moore Brothers' Market, a quaint little country grocery store that shares premises with Jesse's Restaurant . (Their building is officially registered on the National List of Historical Places.)

Magnolia Springs is not very big place, with about 1,000 friendly inhabitants. The focal point of the village is its natural springs, from which it obviously was named at least partially after. Just down the street from both the springs and Moore Brothers, is the Magnolia Springs Bed and Breakfast, which has been featured by several magazines such as Southern Living and Gentry to name just a few. It is quaint, off the beaten track, and, if you're looking for something just a bit different, its a nice change from the more typical hotels & motels located in the neighboring cities of Foley and Fairhope.
Magnolia Springs also boasts one of the only, if not the only, all-water mail delivery routes left in the United States which, in my opinion, fits the character of the place to a T.

Around the studio

Since I moved my wheel outside, I've noticed a surprising number of new little creatures that I probably wouldn't normally see on my usual trip to the studio. Gekkos, Red headed skinks (a lizard), blue racer skinks, crab spiders, a rainbow of different colored dragonflies, etc., all going about their business seemingly undisturbed by my presence and the constant hum of the wheel. A great place to look for design inspiration.

Saw this unusual little fellow hanging out on a loquat leaf around dusk. His/her body alone was close to an inch long. Always suspect of unusual looking bugs since moving to the south, I checked online to make sure he/she wasn't venomous. From the Dave's Garden web site (a great gardener's resource, btw), I learned he/she was a "Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans)" that loves to eat bugs (including wasps) but is not known to bite humans. I was glad to know that since the plants in that part of my garden, especially my gardenia, have had a bit of an aphid problem the last 2 yrs. I'm always in favor of a natural predator vs using pesticides.

Around the studio: Out of the mouths of babes

I was throwing mugs today. My 3 1/2 year old wanted to smell the pots as they came off the wheel. She leaned very carefully over to give one of the wet pots a sniff.

"What smell like?"

I kept throwing and absently said "Uh.. mugs..?"

She huffed then said "No, Mommy. Not smell like mugs.. Smell like money!"

..little parrot pottery child..

Potting outdoors today

Absolutely beautiful day out today, here on the coast. While I do miss my fall days in Canada, on days like today, they couldn't be further from my mind. Low humidity, sunny, slight breeze, and in the 80s F.

The deck on the studio (all built from wood gathered from the beach after hurricane Ivan) was finally(!) cleared of the last bits of refuse scrap lumber today. Gave it a good sweep off, cut back the blackberry vines that were working very hard at taking over, and I was quite amazed at the transformation.

Once the spot was clear, I just went ahead and brought out my wheel. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it before but I am so glad I did. Made for a much more productive day. I was able to be outside, have a clear view of my much happier 3 1/2 year old playing in her wading pool, and able to throw for a lot longer with relatively few interruptions. Even the dogs and cat were happier as everyone now had an equally prime spot beside my chair.

I think I may do it all over again tomorrow. No rain in the forecast until later in the week.

Sick Potters Make No Pots

I've been out of commission for almost a week now with a bad head cold. I have no idea where I picked it up, but it hit me like a truck early Saturday morning as I was getting ready to go run my usual errands.

Today, while still a little foggy, is the first day I've felt semi-human. The possibility of a wholesale customer popping by sometime in the afternoon was motivation enough to get presentable and head out to the showroom to straighten up and take stock of what I had before my guest arrived.


Took the opportunity to snap a few photos in the gap between when my customer left and my daughter's school bus was to arrive.

One thing about being sick and out of commission, no pots are being made. Its even more challenging when you have small children (and I have 2 less than the age of 5).

It was good to see the pots and think about clay again. Time to regroup and get back into the groove.

Native clay jar with brushwork
Stylized dragonfly design

by Anne Webb

approx 11.5" H

Mixing clay.

Today was the first run of our "new" clay mixer. In the spirit of recycling, the mixer is a converted 1915 dough mixer from an old bakery.


As you can see here, its powered by the still useable motor portion of an old generator.


(Our other mixer, which served us well but finally rusted out this spring, was made from a Second World War anti-aircraft gun.)

Designed Stoneware Vase
Tenmoku Variation & Celadon glazes
Incised design

Approx 7" H

Anne Webb, 2007

Dana Gioia "The role of culture must go beyond economics"

I can't keep track of how many conversations I've had these past few years about how people don't support the arts or come out to events. Lots of frustration on the part of artists, organizers, and institutions.

Here in Mobile, galleries come and go, and those galleries that are still open, are hanging on by their teeth. Museums have their own issues and "perhaps" stay alive longer since they get some governmental support. Artists are being forced to adapt more than ever before to make a living. This is not just a local phenomenon, although at times it feels that way, especially when we see other communities here on the coast and elsewhere (entire communities), show a genuine interest in art and their culture, and rally to make those kinds of events a success.

With the older generation of collectors and patrons dying out, it seems the new generation coming up are more interested in buying the big showy house and big showy vehicle, and then going to Pier One, Rooms to Go, Target, Walmart, Art Wholesale Warehouse, etc., for everything else. Is this a statement about our culture and the direction its going, or what?

I know that there are a lot of people who probably think that art is a waste of time and money, but it really is a chronicle of our culture, who we are/were, and where we are going as human beings. Goodness knows there is more to celebrate about a city's heritage than its buildings. Thinking art and culture has no value, is incredibly short sighted.

Dana Gioia, the chairman of the National Endowments for the Arts, couldn't have said it any better when he addressed Stanford graduates at their commencement ceremonies this year:
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/june20/gradtrans-062007.html .

"This isn't Las Vegas. This is Mobile Alabama"

Its amazes me, in this day and age, that some people still cannot differentiate between a nude and pornography. I recently talked with someone who even thought a classic like Boticelli's "Birth of Venus" unsuitable for family viewing. I was floored.

Tonight I was watching the local news, having a quiet time after everyone else had gone to bed.

One of the stories on the program was about local reaction to the cover of the latest issue of Current, a local weekly arts & entertainment magazine put out by the Mobile Press Register. On the cover this week is "Nude in the Garden", a painting currently on exhibit at the Chesser Gallery by local artist Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough. The painting depicts a nude in a non-explicit pose, with one breast showing.

According to the story, one citizen has taken it upon herself to approach store owners to get them to remove the issue from the stands and has plans to contact advertisers as well. At the time of the article she had successfully been responsible for the disposal of 300 issues. How very presumptuous of her to assume that everyone feels the same way as she does.

Another story, though more tragic, comes to mind when I hear things like this ..one that I heard from several reliable sources when I first came down here to the coast. A number of years ago a family donated a sizable collection of paintings to a local art center after the artist, a relative, had died. The old guard of the center, apparently, took it upon themselves late one night to pull out all the nudes and burn them! Criminal.

Where does censorship end?

I certainly wouldn't expose my kids to pornography, but I have little doubt or hesitation that I will take them to exhibits at museums and galleries that may have nudes (art). .. a better alternative to a lot of what is on TV these days.

I didn't think much about the presence of that painting on the cover of Current when I picked it up earlier this week, but I congratulate the editor for putting it there. It may have sparked a little controversy, but at least it got people here in Mobile and southwest Alabama to think, discuss, and interact more about ART. Its something we desperately need here.

Snapshot: Lotuses & Dragonflies on raku

Lotuses & Dragonflies
Raku Vessel

Anne Webb, 2007