Just in general....

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone the very best for 2012. As 2011 comes to a close, I'm grateful for all the blessings this year has brought me, including new members of my spiritual family, continuing creativity and the strength to handle the year's challenges. I set myself the goal of averaging one blog post per week in 2011, a goal I met and exceeded, much to my surprise. (It got a bit tight there in November!) With the help of my spiritual family, especially the members of the Feline Management Team, we made it!

Best to all!

Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House - Meet the Artists: Charlie Palazzola

Charlie in his studio

That's right - only one day until the Second Annual Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House on December 10 (10a-4p), during which we open up the studio to fellow local artists and all of our fans for a day of holiday cheer! This year, we'll be featuring artisan baked goods and live music, in addition to five unique garden- and home-inspired artists. This is the last in a series of posts introducing the artists contributing to the event - a series of posts intended to introduce them to you so you could get to know each of these amazingly creative and generous folks a little bit better.


Charlie Palazzola is a Detroit-based singer, songwriter and fine artist.  He was heavily influenced during the 1960s by local AM Radio and performers such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Motown sound and the diverse and original talents of that era. In the 1970s, his interests expanded to include an interest in singer/songwriters and soul artists on FM Radio including James Taylor, Elton John and Al Green, as well as rock groups such as The Who and Pink Floyd. Sequeing into the 1980s, Charlie continued to develop his guitar "chops" with significant influence from musicians including Jeff Beck and Keith Richards as his individual style continued to evolve. Charlie honed his musical talents in numerous bands during his early career, including Funkster, Tin Soldier and Blue Room, each with its own distinct sound and personality, each a platform for Charlie's eclectic musical influences and talents.

Self Portrait. 2011.

In a break from his musical evolution, in the 1990s Charlie chose to fully embrace his long- time interests and talents in the visual arts, eventually graduating form Wayne State University with a BFA in painting. Numerous canvasses later, he is once again also revisiting his musical side, returning to song writing and live performance. Charlie is currently refining his songwriting skills, producing a number of new compositions including instrumental blues/roots music while experimenting with alternative guitar tunings.


Charlie is another person who joined my family this year. I met him through sheer happenstance. My best friend, Catherine Dumke, was getting a house ready to sell the summer of 2011 and needed someone to do some painting; her real estate agent recommended Charlie, who makes a living wielding a larger paintbrush to subsidize his more creative pursuits. Catherine mentioned him from time to time, what a nice person he was, his obvious talents, how much she enjoyed working with him on the house. I don't have a lot of time during summertime, as I'm gardening and doing pottery, so I hadn't had a chance to meet him, although we all thought it would be a good idea, if we could just find the time.

Untitled

Well, when the power went out at my house for the umpteenth time this summer, I found the time. I needed someplace to store my perishable foods and Catherine offered the use of the refrigerator at the house at which Charlie was painting. So we met. And had this great conversation. And had another one when I picked up the food. And another when I came to help Catherine with some stuff around the house. I mentioned my August garden tour and he asked if he could come and, if so, how much admission was; I said all he needed to do was bring his guitars and play us a song or two.


There are these perfect, rounded moments in life, moments that are so refined and whole the memory of them is indelible.  Such was the moment Charlie launched into his first composition at my garden tour in August 2011. The music rose up through the garden and drifted out over the neighborhood, a perfect union with a late summer day, redolent with warm colors and glowing scents.


Need I say more?

Deluxe Sunflower - Teddy Bear

Gary Kohs and Laura Scaccia are two of the people who joined my family in 2010. Laura's sister had purchased one of my sunflowers at Pewabic Pottery and told Laura about me.  She got in touch and we made arrangements for the two of them to stop by the day before Mother's Day.  Gary and Laura arrived a bit early - early enough that, while I was out of the shower, I was not really dressed. I let them in and asked that they hang in the dining room while I dressed. And that is about as formal as our relationship has been since.

Gary and Laura (and their family and friends) have been some of the most supportive folks I've come to know since the inception of Black Cat Pottery: A sunflower tile has been installed above the stove in Gary's kitchen; one of my Ginormous Original Sunflowers hangs in the peak of Gary's pizza oven on his terrace; a plaque reading "Villa Girasole"("House of the Sunflower") is a housewarming gift from Laura; and 40 Mini Original Sunflowers were gifts to the guests at the official housewarming party. And that's just for starters.

The Inspiration. Gary can be kind of a challenging guy. In a good way. The day we first met, he challenged me to fabricate a ginormous sunflower completely covered by petals. I asked him if he was trying to kill me. (I'm still wondering about that....) But I'm not one to let a challenge pass, so I finally started to work, and the product is my Deluxe Teddy Bear Sunflower design.

The Process. I start the process as I would any Deluxe Sunflower, with a slab of clay draped over the hump mold, which has been placed on a kiln shelf. For the Ginormous Deluxe Teddy Bear design (inspired by the Teddy Bear Annual Sunflower, the center of which is entirely covered with petaloids), I use all seven sizes of sunflower petal cookie cutters. I score the entire surface of the slab, then apply the petals in rows around the piece sequentially, largest to smallest. Although I only use one row of each of the six largest-sized petals, I do use multiple rows of the smallest petal for the central rosette. The key here is to make sure to push the petals down as much as possible so they don't stick up and are vulnerable to breakage through the rest of the process. It is pretty heavy, what with the shelf, the plaster mold, and all that clay.

I set the piece to dry until I can lift it off the mold safely - pretty close to leather hard. I carefully lift the piece off the mold, flip it over and cradle it in my left hand (here's where having those petals well down really makes a difference) to cut holes for hanging wire and attach a fitting to the back for a stake. I then carefully flip the sunflower back onto a clean kiln shelf and allow to dry completely before firing.  Because the piece is quite massive, it's best to let it dry for several days before trying to fire; otherwise, it could easily explode - an expensive lesson.

Glazing is simple yet tricky. There is no "center" to glaze another color, so I'm only applying one glaze to the entire surface; in this case, I'm using Amaco's Potter's Choice Salt Buff - for some reason, this was just the "right" glaze for this design. The piece, however, is probably the heaviest piece I have to glaze. I cradle the piece in my left hand, top side up, and ladle the well-mixed glaze into and over all of the petals for three coats, allowing the piece to dry between. Then, using a slip-trail bottle, I drizzle more glaze haphazardly over the entire surface - thereby achieving the "irregular" application necessary to achieve the correct effect. Once the top surface is dry, I flip over the flower and brush glaze on any unglazed portions of all the petals. I then allow to dry and fire on stilts. I have found that using seven or eight bar stilts place under the slabbed flange is the more efficient arrangement.

Because the piece is so large, I tend to allow the kiln to get pretty cool before opening, to minimize the risk of fracturing if it's cooled too quickly.

Gary's next challenge? A sunflower larger than 24 inches across. I'm still working out the details on that one; once I'm about eighty percent there, I'll take that on as well! 

Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House - Meet the Artists: Jennifer Flynn and Urban Attic

That's right - only one day until the Second Annual Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House on December 10 (10a-4p), during which we open up the studio to fellow local artists and all of our fans for a day of holiday cheer! This year, we'll be featuring artisan baked goods and live music, in addition to five unique garden- and home-inspired artists. I thought it would be nice to introduce them to you so you could get to know each of these amazingly creative and generous folks a little bit better.

Jennifer Flynn, owner of Urban Attic, a unique gift shop located in Ardmore Park Place in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, graduated in 1985 from Michigan State University with a BA in Advertising. She worked in communications in Chicago at MTV Networks and Katz Communications and in Texas at the Arbitron Rating Company and Harrington, Richter and Parsons, another communications firm. Despite embarking on a promising career in the communications industry, Jennifer took herself out of the workforce in 1991 in order to focus her energy and time on her family, especially loving and raising her two sons, Patrick, 20, and Andrew, 17. Multi-talented and uber-creative, in 2010, she decided to strike out in a new business venture, a unique gift shop to showcase her work and the talent of other Michigan handcrafters and artists. Thus was born Urban Attic.

Tea Bag Caddies crafted from vintage handkerchiefs

I first heard of Jennifer early in 2011 through my friend, Don Schulte, who had happened on her shop in when he and his wife stopped for a bite at the Ardmore Cafe, in the same building. He suggested I look into the gift shop as a venue for some of my work. I then happened to meet Jennifer's mother-in-law when giving a presentation for the Grosse Pointe Garden Center at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Recognizing the workings of fate, I contacted Jennifer and set up a  meeting, having determined that her shop - an intimate space chock full of unique Michigan-made goods - would be most suited to my smaller pieces: Mini sunflowers and daisies, fairy houses and lace bowls. After an initial meeting, I felt I had met yet another kindred spirit and, indeed, I count Jennifer as the first of four people to join my family of choice in 2011.

Paper cones fashioned from old wallpaper samplebooks -
what a great alternative to the traditional stocking!

Although we're featuring Jennifer's baked goods at the Second Annual Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House - including her famous Mom's Bananas Nut Muffins (ask me for the story behind this recipe title), aside from her family, Urban Attic is now her primary focus. And although she carries products produced by local artists and artisans (including various work by Black Cat Pottery and notecards and prints by Notable Greetings), her own creations are some of the most interesting and inventive objects I've ever seen. Jennifer is a past master of "up-cycling", taking goods other folks would simply discard (hopefully, recycle) and giving them new life. Whether it's taking an old book of wallpaper samples and converting them into beautiful decorative cones that would make a Christmas stocking envious or creating a beautiful paper rose from the page of an old musical score, Jennifer exemplifies the magical evolution of the silk purse from the proverbial sow's ear.

Every time I walk into Jennifer's shop, unless she's catering to the needs of a new or long-loyal customer, she has new ideas to share. Folks ask me when I sleep; I know Jennifer doesn't! She has an unerring eye for the "finishing touch" - the little detail that brings out the heart of a piece, whether it's a bottle of olive oil next to one of my tiny lace bowls or the "gratitude" cards available at her "counter", an up-cycled sideboard. As the year has progressed, Jennifer's love for baking has finally taken a back seat to her dedication to her new-found home, Urban Attic.

"As long as I can remember I've found joy in making little things for people who come into my life. Today, the place I sit down to write or to create what is in my head, just feels like the right place to be." - Jennifer Flynn

Find more information about Jennifer Flynn and Urban Attic at www.urban-attic.com.

Lace Bowls 1: Red vs. White Stoneware

Lace Bowls, Peach Stoneware

One of the more popular designs I've developed in the last year or so has been my lace bowls. Using the same Sasaki Colorstone stoneware dishes as molds that I use for many of my leaf pieces, I've come up with two "designs" in four sizes that have been very popular this holiday season. The idea evolved from the lace I had used for the centers on some of my sunflowers. I had found a heart-shaped piece of lace at either Joann's or Michael's; it was a bit challenging to work with, as the concave section at the top of the heart made for a "blank" in the design of the sunflower's center that I would have to "fix" by rolling the bottom of the heart in to that section; cumbersome but effective. This lace texture sunflower has been very popular, although it may partly be due to the color I stain the petals - bright orange.

I have always been a very tactile person (hence the interests in gardening, pottery, needlecrafts, etc.) I had been working with some bowls for an Empty-Bowls Fundraiser sponsored by Firebrick Gallery in Rochester, Michigan, and decided to use the lace texture and see what happened with that, using the same Sasaki Colorstone stoneware bowls as my molds for these pieces as I had been using for my leaf pieces and other, earlier designs. I had found various sizes of lace at Joann's and Michael's that would accommodate the various sizes I wanted to make.

The technique here is to roll out the clay in the slab roller, place the piece of lace on the slab and roll it into the clay with a heavy maple pottery rolling pin.  If I'm doing a straight edge on the piece, I cut out enough around the lace to work with and place it in the mold.  I usually try to center it but have learned that the pieces can be pretty interesting if they're a bit off-center. (There's a story there I'll share some time.) I use the flattish side of my smooth river stone to work the clay into the mold consistently, peel off the lace and cut the edge of the piece to the edge of the bowl using a sharp tool. If I'm doing a scalloped edge, reflecting the scalloped edge of some of the lace pieces I've found, I use a sharp tool to cut out the form of the lace and place that in the mold as above, although in this case it's more important that it be centered.

Lace Bowls, Lite Stoneware

I let the pieces dry enough to come out of the molds, sign them, then let them dry completely.  Once dry, I use synthetic steel wool to remove the burrs from the cutting tool at the edge of the piece, correct any irregularities on the back of the piece, and to smooth the edges of the pattern made by the lace inside the bowl. This last step is very important, as I have discovered that a glaze applied over a sharp, unrefined edge can make for a piece that is very uncomfortable to handle; for some reason, the glaze enhances that sharp edge, to the extent that I have even cut myself on it. Just a couple sweeps across the surface with the synthetic steel wool is sufficient to correct this issue. These pieces can easily be nested for bisque firing, so you can fire a pretty dense load, getting maximum space and energy utilization.

Glazing is pretty straightforward but glaze selection is important.  The raised lace pattern is particularly effective when a glaze that "breaks" is used - a glaze that changes color as it thins over the edges of s surface. (This is part of the reason I used lace-imprinted clay for my studio's glaze test tiles, to see which glazes would behave in this manner.) These glazes will really enhance the already-extant texture in the bowl. Many of Amaco's Potter's Choice glazes fit the bill, especially Indigo Float, Lustrous Jade, Textured Turquoise, Vert Lustre, Blue Rutile, Chun Plum, Albany Slip Brown, Ironstone and Ancient Jasper. I have noted a preference for the brighter colors in the blue to green range in my client base.

Glazing consists of dipping the piece, using dipping tongs, into the well-mixed glaze two to three times, depending on the glaze's consistency. I do not wax the bases of the pieces because it looks odd, considering there is no real "bottom", just a curved underside. I fire them on stilts and use my Dremel with a grinder accessory to remove any stilt marks.

I did experiment with different clay bodies as well, both my usual Peach Stoneware from Rovin and their Lite Stoneware, a very white body suitable for handbuilding and throwing. I found in most instances that the redder clay was more effective in bringing up the contrasts in the breaking glazes, a phenomenon reflected in the choices I make for my sunflowers, bird bowls and wall pockets.

I am now experimenting with other lace forms.  My good friend Deb Hall has been very generous, gifting me with some of her Maltese grandmother's handmade lace for use in my studio.  Her grandmother actually won first prize at the World's Fair during the 1930s for her lace bedspread, so you can imagine how grateful I am that Deb chose to bequeath some of her work to Black Cat Pottery Studios.

I like nothing more than when a prospective customer really "experiences" one of my pieces - handles and caresses it. These lace bowls really lend themselves to that dynamic.  

Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House - Meet the Artists: Timothy Hanks and Bird Homes by Tim

Tim at work in his studio

It's only a few days until the Second Annual Black Cat Pottery Holiday Open House on December 10 (10a-4p), during which we open up the studio to fellow local artists and all of our fans for a day of holiday cheer!  This year, we'll be featuring artisan baked goods and live music, in addition to five unique garden- and home-inspired artists.  I thought it would be nice to introduce them to you so you could get to know each of these amazingly creative and generous folks a little bit better.

Tim Hanks, owner and operator of Bird Homes by Tim, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University, exploring numerous media during his studies. The offspring of two creative parents, Tim was never discouraged from his creative pursuits but it wasn't until about ten years ago that he found his metier. While shopping for a gift, he noticed that most bird houses sold to the general public were of very poor-quality, often made on the cheap overseas. He decided to make something better; more than bird houses, he wanted to make bird homes, using his woodworking expertise and the artistic skills and sensibilities that had been finely honed during his sojourn at Wayne State.

Tim's time at WSU was an important period in his growing awareness as a fine artist. "While attending art school, one particular class, Native American Art, strongly reaffirmed my ideals about the role art could play in people's lives," he says. "Despite not having a word for art, historically the aboriginal tribes of North America infused everyday, utilitarian objects with representations of spiritual figures and potent symbolism, taking what could be a simple, mundane object and transforming it into a spiritually charged piece. My approach to artistic expression is, at its core, one that echoes this concept."

Duotone

The resulting products, Bird Homes by Tim, combine strength and elegance with features designed to protect and shelter songbirds over many years, relying on the specifications developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Each home features the ingenious use of repurposed antique hardware to help protect the entrance against interlopers. They are also made with proper drainage, ventilation, and access for seasonal maintenance, maximizing comfort and functionality.

"With each home I create, I seek to produce an aesthetic design that does not interfere with its function," said Tim. "Form has to follow function above all else." Each Bird Home by Tim is a one-of-a-kind creation, built of durable, 3/4-inch-thick, top-grade California redwood, with integrated hardware decorations, sometimes with complementary pyrography. These charming designs are built with an attention to detail that shows a true craftsman's touch, reflecting a spirit of Old World attention to detail.

I met Tim several years ago at the Indian Village Home and Garden Tour, where we were both vendors.  During a brief respite at my own tent, I took a quick tour around to see the other artists at the event.  I was immediately to Tim's booth - partly due to the extremely high quality of his work but also because of the pieces themselves; although I am not a "birder", I am always interested in the birds in my environment and find their behavior fascinating. Over time, I was able to become friends with Tim and his wife Barb.  I remember the first time I went out with the two of them for a meal and a movie and that I felt like the referee in a tennis match, so quickly was the conversation progressing between the two of them, with no input on my part - quite a feat, for those whom are aware of my tendencies to verbosity!

Since then, Tim has become one of the folks in my network of artists whom I try to promote and with whom I share opportunities, and he has certainly returned the favor. But more than that, Tim (and Barb) has been there for me at some very critical times, especially in the last year or so.  He called up at the last minute the night before the first Holiday Open House - right after my friend Chris had called to say he would not be able to make it down as early as he hoped due to a business obligation - and came over to help me clean up the basement. Briefly put, Tim voluntarily took on cleaning tasks I would not ask of anyone, ever.  And he and Barb also, at the last minute, helped me break down from an event during a period when I was in a lot of pain due to a chronic health condition. But most importantly, Tim was there for me earlier this year when I had to let my cat Alexander Ulysses go - a debt I can never truly repay. Tim has truly been a friend in deed.

I find Tim's work both beautiful and functional, a combination sorely lacking in most of our current cultural artifacts. I never tire of hearing about his newest artistic challenge - a challenge, more often than not, he has imposed upon himself. Some of my favorite conversations with Tim are discussions of recent finds of vintage hardware, the progress of recent designs and new ideas on synthesizing his training and his evolving aesthetic. It's always exhilarating to hear the excitement in his voice as he describes the evolution of a design, the resolution of a conceptual barrier or the discovery of a gem amongst a box of dross.

"As a young man, my sense of the wonder of nature was developed by exploring the wooded, undeveloped areas near my family's home in Warren, Michigan, as well as during vacations at my grandparents' lakeside cottage in rural mid-Michigan. It fed my fascination for our avian wildlife species and their habitats, a fascination that continues as I have been able to successfully channel it into my craft." - Timothy Hanks

See More of Tim's work at birdhomesbytim.com.

Sycamore Bowls and Leaf Pocket

Tiny, Small, Medium and Large Sycamore Leaf Bowls

Down my street around the corner and over one block over are a couple of American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) trees. (There are also a couple of them if I go up my street, turn in the same direction and go a block.) A lot of folks don't like the American Sycamore because it is perceived to be a "dirty" tree - partly due to its exfoliating bark but also because it is subject to a condition called anthracnose, which causes premature leaf drop, often leading to a second season of raking with these trees. (Also the reason some folks refer to them as "Sick-a-mores".) I actually quite like the exfoliating bark and, although I don't have to deal with it directly, consider the issues with anthracnose bearable because the tree is so lovely, plus the branch angles on our native Sycamore is such that it is most likely to come through the season with little or no ice or snow load damage - not a minor consideration in view of our Michigan Winters.

Tiny and Small Sycamore Leaf Bowls

I also like the leaves. They range in size from quite small to relatively huge. What I find interesting about these leaves is that, even though they're coming from the same specimen, there seems to be two different forms, one a simple palmate leaf and the other a more complex palmate form with more points to it, so I can get two very different types of "looks" from this one tree's leaves. I like to visit my neighbor's property in the fall and see if I can scare up a few leaves for my pottery, scouring the tree lawn and gutter for leaves of the right size. I was actually able to come up with some very large leaves this season, both from the trees in my neighborhood and with the assistance of my friend Theresa. I decided to make sets of "leaf bowls" using both leaf forms, again using my Sasaki Colorstone dishes as molds.

I first saw this stoneware back in the 1990s, at a shop in Ithaca, New York.  I was only familiar with what the manufacturer refers to as the "Coupe Soup Bowl". What I liked about the dishes in this set were they were all based on sections of perfect spheres.  The dinner plate is basically a section of a very large sphere; the soup bowl, a section of a smaller one. Over time, I had broken a number of the soup bowls and went online to see if I could replace them. Unfortunately, Sasaki was no longer making the pattern; the good news was that there a couple of companies specializing in handling tableware replacements, including Replacements (replacements.com) and Tabletops, etc. (tabletopsetc.com). In searching for my replacement soup bowls, I learned that there was a large vegetable serving bowl, an even larger salad bowl and a much smaller dessert/sauce bowl (although I would prefer a larger bowl for dessert most days!) I ordered a number of each of these, in the color choice which was least expensive, to use in the studio. (These are also the forms I use for my very popular Lace Bowls.)

Large Sycamore Leaf Bowl

I follow my usual technique - rolling out a slab on the (slab) roller, smoothing the surface with the flat edge of my steel kidney and rolling pin, rolling the leaves into the clay and cutting them out with a very sharp tool. I pull away the waste clay and then lift the leaves into their respective bowls. I try to select leaves that are a bit larger than the bowl form so I can manipulate the tips a bit to give them a sense of movement.

Once they've dried, I can sometimes remove the Sycamore leaf (this does not work with Elm, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Catalpa and other leaves with fuzzy undersides or very friable leaves) and reuse it. I was able to do this with the very large, complex leaf my friend Theresa found during a trip to Indiana with her grandson, Evan. Theresa very carefully preserved this leaf, keeping it flat on damp paper towels until she saw me; she wasn't sure what it was but I knew right away and asked if I could have it to use in my pottery, as I had not yet been able to find a very large leaf in that form. I used the leaf for two bowls (one to sell and one to give Theresa as a thank-you gift) and a large Leaf Pocket.

Large Sycamore Leaf Pocket

The leaf pocket was challenging - supporting two large slabs of clay is difficult.  I solved the problem partly by keeping the piece on a kiln shelf for much of the fabrication/drying/bisque firing process.  (A similar piece made from the large leaf from the other set of bowls failed, probably because I dried it too quickly; I hope to try that one again next year - it was quite impressive, larger even than this Leaf Pocket.) I have learned with these large Leaf Pockets (Catalpa speciosa falls into this category as well) is to glaze them holding them in my hand rather than trying to use the glazing tongs.  If I support the curved front wall in my left palm, I can use a 2-oz soup ladle to pour glaze into the cavity; then I just pour the glaze over the back, turning the piece to get complete coverage; due to surface tension, the glaze usually "falls over" the piece's beveled edge, although I do touch up with a little glaze dropped from a brush. The challenge is flipping a piece this large over onto a stilt or stilts to dry; I've solved this by having a stilt ready to take the upper portion of the piece as I flip it over onto another stilt further down: Although a pretty adept maneuver, it has generally worked, now that I have some practice and have developed more patience.

For glazing, I used Copper Carbonate solution and Amaco's Oil Spot on the simpler leaves; Mason Stain Sage Gray and Salt Buff on the more complex ones. The Salt Buff is supposed to go on in "three irregular coats". Because I'm not sure what that means exactly, my solution has been to dip/pour three coats, letting each dry in turn, and then dripping glaze over the surface with a slip-trail bottle. My results have been better than anything I've seen on the Amaco website.

Keep an eye out for our native Sycamores. Don't confuse them with the "London Planetrees" that have been planted quite a bit recently, which are actually the offspring of a spontaneous hybrid between our native Sycamore and the Chinese Sycamore (Platanus orientalis) in Kew Gardens in London (hence the common name). The London Planetree has more greenish bark and carries it fruit in clusters of two, while our native tree has more whitish bark and carries its fruit individually.