The entire shower enclosure tiles are in the kiln s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y firing to bisque stage.

Um, these are not my fingers. Note the long fingernails and the absence of clay, flaky dry skin and wimpy muscle tone.

Feh! No self-respecting potter would ever let their hands get into this condition.

More about the Shower/Laundry/Bath addition

Um, after proofing the previous post, I realized that my description of the laundry lay-out was not that clear.

We added on a master bedroom, bath, laundry and walk-in closet. And the closet is laid out like a long hallway and we use it like that. It opens to the laundry at one end, runs along the outside wall of the house with high, square windows which we can open for ventilation. The other side of the wall is the entry deck, covered with a long glass porch roof leading to the front door. So even if it's raining, we can still keep the windows open for fresh air. It makes the closet bright, airy and light. I hate closets that are closed, dark and musty.

The opposite closet windowed wall, there are fold-out mirrored doors set between square columns. The whole closet is 18 feet long. We can go through the closet doors to the laundry area, turn the corner and walk into the bathroom. The bathroom has two doors that open into the bedroom. The toilet area is separate from the sinks, tub and shower area. So the traffic pattern in the addition is full circle. I like that.

Opposite the closet doors on the other side of the bedroom, double French doors and 3 windows open out to a side-yard deck.

The infamous shower stall. The tiles are in the kiln taking FOREVER to get to bone dry. Everything is flat, whole, and laid out on the shelves in one layer. I even remembered to make some small tiles on both edges of the fish band with my signature and date on them.

A tile contractor is coming today to start laying the floor in a smaller bathroom and hopefully, the shower tiles will be fired, glazed and ready when he gets to the master bath floor/tub surround/ shower phase.

Think I'll just nip out to the studio and program the kiln for Oh, say 90 degrees for a few hours..............

The Tile Project that Wouldn't Die III, Addendum

When I designed the addition and the bath, I wanted a shower that I could open the door, stick my hand in and turn the water control, feel the temperature of the water and THEN get in. Revolutionary, huh? It means the shower head and the control had to be on opposite walls. It only takes a bit more piping of the up-and-over kind to do this and it's SO much nicer. I really don't know why they aren't just made that way.

Just like the laundry room BELONGS between the bathroom: The location of the manufacture of dirty clothes. And the closet: The location of clean clothes. In our addition, the dirty-clothes-to-clean-clothes system is laid out in an L shape with one leg the bath, the other leg the closet with the laundry at the corner. I'm still amazed to find laundries in garages--what's with that? Or it's stuck away in basements. If I ever do another renovation or build a house, it's gonna have the laundry IN the closet!! Right next to the bath!! Upstairs!!

Hurrumph

Back to my main subject.

Beside the water control arrangement, the shower has two windows. We have a wonderful view and I thought it would be really nice to enjoy it while standing there being pounded by water. I asked my builder to put the windows in the corner. Now, you're thinking, 'Huh, that's dumb. They'll fog up right away." Nope. One window opens to let the steam out.

So the day came to frame the shower walls and I was away from the house on errands. When I came back, I went in to see how things were going. I stepped into the shower.

"RANDY!!" I yelled.

"You're back. What'cha think?" he said.

"What am I looking at?"

Randy said, "Uh,Wall".

Now, I'm 5 feet tall and my builder is well over 6 feet. The windows were 'way over my head.

The Tile Project that Wouldn't Die III

So, this is beginning of the (hopefully) last edition of the fish tile shower project.

This time, I'm making a wrap-around band of fish with a free flowing-design. And, the guy who is installing my new floor and tub surround has agreed to mount my band-o-fish tile too. Whew!

This is the corner of the east wall with the design impressed and the grout lines cut out.

When the tile is installed the grout lines will disappear. At least theoretically. At this point, I'm not doing a lot of predicting. The tiles will be almond/white and the grout will be white also, so it should blend well.

First, I roll out a long slab of clay, much larger than the planned finished piece and I carefully transfer it to a sheet of scrap drywall or plaster board. I try to handle the clay as little as possible to avoid warping. (Notice the edges of the drywall have been duct-taped to keep any plaster away from the clay.)

I measure the bottom of the slab using a steel ruler that has the inch measurements right out to the end--some yardsticks have a 1/4 inch 'fudge' at the end. I cut the whole length of the bottom. Then, using a large see-through architect's plastic triangle, true up the end at a right angle. (A carpenter's steel square works well too.) I use a transparent ruler to measure the width and cut the top of the tile strip.

I press the pattern into the clay using the fish molds and smooth up the design. Since this distorts the clay, I re-measure and re-cut the strip to size. I do a lot of smoothing of the top and bottom edges with my fingers.

I put another scrap of drywall on top the strip and weight it down with big bleach bottles filled with water. (This is the small section of tile under the weights.) No warping allowed!

Usually, I flip tiles every few days so they will dry evenly under pressure. This helps avoid cracking and warping. I can't flip these tiles because the impression design is so pronounced that they wouldn't lay flat.

One serious crack and I have to start over.

The grout lines are not cut until the clay is set up more. I look at the design and plot out the cuts thinking about flow of lines, how to avoid sharp joins or corners and think about the strength of the cut tiles. I lightly mark the clay with a sharp pencil and, using a fettling knife held vertically, cut the tiles out after the clay is set up to slightly softer than leather hard. If the clay gets too hard, the cutting knife will drag and make ragged edges. I leave the whole piece alone until it is easy to gently separate the individual pieces. I separate them, smooth the edges out and let them dry more.

All the tile must get to bone dry before firing. I will fire them flat on the kiln shelf with alumina underneath to allow them to float on the shelf. That's another good trick to avoid cracking.

The south wall is a bit longer than any of my drywall, so I had to figure out how to break the design without running into obvious join problems. So, I decided it should be off-center and about a 1/4th section and a 3/4 section to further avoid an obvious join.

I cut the two at an angle and here, the photo shows lining up the two sections to check design continuity. I decided on a 45 degree angle for the join so that I could be sure of a match-up.

The Tile Project that Wouldn't Die II

So how did this fish tiles thing happen in the first place? Ah, it is a long and winding road, my friend.

First of all, I'm not a stranger to laying tile in houses. Several years ago, I got very serious about this and took a class from an expert. My first project was a full bathtub surround with a few custom-glazed tile pieces inset into the pattern. Then I laid a kitchen floor/access area to a deck; about a 9 x 12 floor. I made and matched the glaze of a 1950s kitchen floor for a builder. No small feat, that. Next, I did a counter-top, then a free-flowing designed shower pad and a utility room floor. (My tile man raved about this and kept saying, "You did this? You did this?") And I've tiled the infamous shower stall half-way up to befuddlement.

But I digress. My initial thought for the overall design was to make bas-relief tiles using a full fish mold of plaster. So I made this. In the photo it appears to be an 'outtie', but it's an 'innie'.

And the cigar in the fish's mouth? That's added clay the stands above the height of the mold in order to make an indentation into the clay for an open mouth....think about it. I later cut it away on the second head and made a closed mouth on that mold.


I merrily pressed clay into the mold, pulled the slab out, flipped it over and, OH NO! the fish is pointing the wrong way. Well, not the WRONG way, just the opposite way I wanted it to. (Forehead slap)

Do my chicken-walk out of the studio and go back to the house to think.

Then a brilliant idea hit me. Take that clay fish and cut it into sections, bisque it and use it as a press-mold to go INTO the tiles. Sorta anti-bas-relief tiles. Sorta the intaglio/cameo effect. Then I realized I could make more than one head and more than one tail. I could introduce movement into the design. So I made these:


Notice I haven't bothered to be neat on the back or edges. No need since the mold is very thick, which I wanted for strength and the back or edges would never come into use. So now the fish will be pointed in the RIGHT direction.

The Tile Project that Wouldn't Die

The Tile Project: An exercise in frustration.

The Idea

Create tiles for my shower stall using the theme of a fish ladder. Now, I must tell you that this will (drumroll) be the third attempt at making free-form fish-impressed tiles that will FIT on the WALL after firing. (rimshot)

Really, I must have some sort of tile dyslexia. I have measured carefully, I have constructed carefully, I have fired carefully and still, they do not fit.

The Process

I made a clay ruler to measure the shrinkage. The inches were marked and I bisque fired, glazed and fired again. I calculated the shrinkage of the tile.

I then made a paper pattern to fit the three walls of the shower. A la Renaissance cartoons for frescoes, I marked grids on the walls and made exactly the same grids on the paper. I drew the pattern on the paper. I cut the individual squares out and numbered them. I used a copy machine to increase the pattern to correspond with the percentage of the shrinkage of the clay. Good analytical thinking, right?

After rolling, impressing, cutting to grid, bisquing and firing, they still didn't fit. Too much shrinkage.

I modified the design. I decided instead of making a free-flow pattern which had too much risk of warpage and poor fit, I would make a band or frieze with new design.

I am making the tiles now.

Pray for me.

Summer

Blue Jay Calls


bring back smells of hot summer air

of crushed green leaves,

wet dirt,

cut grass.

warm rain on concrete.


the summers of my childhood.

Studio Jewelry at the Renwick

A few weeks ago we made a busy trip to D.C. Each time we go, I have my 'rounds' to the Renwick, the Corcoran and to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I try to at least make it to these places and as many other museums as possible.

A trip to the Renwick is always inspiring, but this time it was the contemporary jewelry show that sent me back to the hotel with my head buzzing. There was about 250 pieces of work on display.





















As well as this huge and beautiful necklace pictured here, there were about 250 pieces on display. This necklace is made of acrylic and sterling.

One truly interesting piece was made of very humble materials indeed--multiple pieces of colored cardboard and elastic thread. A total wonder. I spent a good bit of time trying to visualize how this was made. The artist had to (1) color the board with graduating colors in order to control the variation and progression of color. (2) cut out the shapes so that the juxtaposition creates the 'swirl' repeat. I wish I had a photo, but taking pictures was not allowed in the gallery.

The great thing about this show is that it also included some of the artist's working drawings and diagrams. I was interested to see the variations in these graphic 'thoughts'. Some were works of art in their own right; others were practically gestures. Quickly and spontaneously drawn almost in a rush to get the inspiration down on paper before it flew away.

Potters who Bake/Bakers who Pot

Many potters are excellent cooks. Maybe it's cross-over skills of the same thing. Mixing ingredients, experimentation, understanding how things blend and change in an oven.

A lot of the potters I know can cook up a storm. So it makes sense that a good cook/potter should be able to design dishes that work exceptionally well in the cooking process.

For instance, this baker is rather large, has an exaggerated flare to the top of the rim, is relatively thick. It is large because I usually want to make something that will last at least two meals. It has a very large top surface and a shallow depth so the ingredients will cook in less time and it is thick in order to retain the heat for a longer time after it is removed from the oven. It is also easy to handle.
















The clay is stoneware, the glaze is spontaneously applied Cayote light shino, rhubarb, and alligator, I believe, and fired in oxidation at cone 5.



















I use a template to cut out the slabbed bottom, throw the rim on the wheel, and form the upper rim angle, but do not bring it out or flare it as much as the finished piece. That comes later. I measure the outside circumference of the bottom using a piece of string. The side is thrown a bit bigger than the bottom. (Use the string to measure the rim to be sure it is bigger. Excess rim will be removed later.)

I carefully wire-cut the rim, but leave it on the wheel. After the rim and base have stiffened, I remove the rim carefully and open it by cutting it down one side and and place it around the scored & slipped outside edge of the bottom. Then I overlap the place where the rim came together. I cut and joined it together. I roll out a worm of clay making it the entire circumference of the inside and join, pressing and smoothing it into place using my fingers and a sponge. I let the piece set up a bit, then gently using a rib, coaxed the upper rim outward into a more pronounced flare.

Casseroles and Bakers

Recently I bought a machine that converts slides into digital files. For years, I've been taking my own slides of work as much to use entering shows as to document my work. So, I've been in the process--off and on-- of converting slides, both of family things and my work. I'm glad I have made a record, but wish I had been more diligent in taking photos of everything because I know there are some pieces I sold before I made a slide.

Anyway, it's interesting to look at old work. Here's one of the first baking dishes I made. It's all slab work with off-set handles. An interesting idea, but not that practical. It's much better to have the ability to grasp a hot dish easily. Flared out rims, sturdy handles are definitely more functional.

The oval blue and white casserole is quite large. I really like the look of it and still have it. Thanks to the flared sides and the end swirls, it is easy to pick up.






This last one is a small vegetable dish. The lid was thrown upside down, with a generous amount of clay allowed at cut-off from the wheel, then allowed to get soft leather-hard and trimmed making the large top area. I really like the look of it. The top ring area is about 4 1/2 inches wide . Easy to grip, but hotter than a knob projecting above the lid.