Deluxe Sunflower - Cake

When I first started working with what I now refer to as my "Deluxe Sunflower" designs, I came up with three different designs - including "Pasta", which I described some time ago. Another of those initial textures is what I call "Cake", because I use a pastry bag filled with slip (liquified clay) with a cake tip to create the center, which, for me, is somewhat reminiscent of the disk flowers characterized by members of the Asteraceae family of plants, formerly known as the Compositae, to which such popular plants as daisies, asters, coneflower, black-eyed susans and sunflowers belong.

This idea was inspired by a couple things. Many, many, many years ago, I worked at a Baskin Robbins in East Lansing (Dan Wardlow owned that business as well as one on the other side of town) scooping ice cream; this was my "half-time" job complementing my full-time job as a prep-cook, sand-man, egg-man, dinner cook at Beggar's Banquet. Once I got the job down (no, it wasn't that difficult, except for the customers!), I started helping to decorate the cakes. And I got pretty good at it, over time. And it was at least a little bit more creative than most of the other stuff I was doing at the time. (There are only so many ways you can chop an onion, really.)

Relatively recently, I came across a pastry decorating set at K-Mart when Martha Stewart's relationship with that company was going strong and they had a lot of "Everyday Living" products marketed under her name. This kit was pretty comprehensive - a couple of "parchment" pastry bags, a few thinner, clear plastic pastry bags, a set of basic tips and the plastic fittings to attach them securely to the bag, a device on which to make flowers to be transfered to a decorated cake and a frosting knife. I haven't used either of the last two items but I've had an absolute field day with the rest of the kit, and have added to it over the years. (It's a good thing...)

To fabricate the sunflower, I follow my typical process of forming a slab of clay (about 1/4" thick) over the mold and applying the petals. Now I'm ready to start applying the center. I take a pastry bag and attach the desired tip - for the "Cake" texture, I use a typical "Star" tip. I fill the bag with enough slip so that I can securely close the back of the bag and comfortably grip it with my hands (this last thing is important for the long haul). I try to get as much of the air out of the bag because blow-outs can really mess up the application of the slip, creating more work. Also, the slip has to be the right consistency: too wet, and it won't form up nicely; too dry and you're going to be working way too hard. (It does take a certain amount of strength to do this, especially over a large surface, so cut yourself some slack when you start out.) Starting from the outside edge of the flower's center, I apply "stars" of slip, working toward the center.

Once I've finished, I set the flower to dry until it's leather hard. It's important with this piece not to handle the center until the rosettes are pretty well set up or they'll smoosh. Once it's dry enough to handle without the flower collapsing of the center smooshing, I finish with a fitting and holes for wire and allow it to go bone dry before firing.

I like to use Amaco's Potter's Choice Ironstone (one of my students' favorite glazes, actually) on this piece for some reason. (There's a synchronistic dynamic for me in my work, associating certain forms to certain glazes and stains.) I glaze the center with Temmoku from the same glaze series (which I also use to add some more "umph" to the area where the fitting is attached to the back of the sunflower), wax resist it and then, when the wax is completely dry, pour the Ironstone over the top of the petals and then brush to completely coat the unglazed portions underneath. I fire the pieces to Cone 6 on bar stilts placed along the inner perimeter of the petals. The glaze breaks and pools from black through a buff to a brick red which enhances the dimensional quality of the sunflower, which is exactly the sort of effect I wanted.

Upcoming Events for 2012

I wanted to take a moment to let folks know about upcoming events at Black Cat Pottery/My English Landscape for 2012.

Clematis heraclifolia
"Mrs. Robert Brydon"

April 28, 2012 (Saturday), 10:00am-12:00n:  Clematis Pruning Workshop. Long perceived as “difficult” or “temperamental”, Clematis are actually proven performers that can give years of gardening delight. Join us for a hands-on workshop to learn about the care and culture of these garden gems and specific pruning techniques and concerns. Bring your favorite (by-pass) pruners and chair. $10 at the event, refreshments and comprehensive hand out provided. Pre-enrollment required, including your name and contact information in case of inclement weather. Limited enrollment; the program was booked in 2010 and 2011.

Polygonatum biflorum
(Small Solomon's Seal)

June 2 and August 18, 2012 (Saturday), 10:00am-2:00pm:  Annual Spring/Summer Garden Tours.  Cheryl's life-long love of Clematis and more recent obsession with native plants are both immediately apparent as you arrive at her garden.  Designed as a teaching and learning space rather than a design show-stopper, her garden includes over 50 Clematis, representing over 10 species as well as large-flowering hybrids, and over 130 species of native plants, ranging from Spring ephemerals to large trees.  Take advantage of this opportunity to become acquainted with some of the lesser-known small-flowering species Clematis varieties and the beauties of our native flora.  Cheryl's garden was featured in the July 2009 issue of Michigan Gardener.  We will also feature local garden art and refreshments.

December 8, 2012 (Saturday), 10:00am-4:00pm:  Holiday Open House.  Join Cheryl English’s Black Cat Pottery and other Michigan artists for a day of holiday cheer.  Meet the artists, enjoy holiday goodies and take care of your last-minute gift needs with handmade art for the home and garden!  In addition to our garden-inspired pottery creations, we’ll be sharing our studio space with Don Schulte of Notable Greetings with his line of exquisite note cards and prints; Chris Hopp of Farmbrook Designs with his beautiful hypertufa lanterns, fountains, planters and other garden accoutrements; Tim Hanks of Bird Homes by Tim sharing his unique bird houses; Glenda Hopp of So Many Colors with her one-of-a-kind hand-dyed cotton wearables; and Cathy Dossin’s selection of whimsical hand-painted furnishings and garden accents; all made right here in Michigan!  Refreshments created by Jennifer Flynn of Urban Attic and musical accompaniment provided by Charlie Palazzola.  Join us for some Christmas cheer, get to know the artists and take care of your last minute gift-giving needs!  Bring a friend, and pass on the word!

Don't forget that you can book a private tour for your group, as well! Visit the blog for news on other pottery events and garden insights throughout the season. We hope to see you in 2012!

Lace Bowls 2: Lotus Bowl

Indigo Float Lotus Bowl

I spent a fair bit of time at the end of 2011 and the beginning of this year exploring some more ideas in connection with my Lace Bowl project. I'd begun to refer to the entire range of lace vessels as  my "Ocean's 11 Lace Bowls" because the initial had been quite successful in a number of galleries for the Christmas season, allowing me to work on my less salable, artier "vanity projects". Suggestions and requests for other forms and finishes had been made, from platters and trays to bridal/shower/girlie colors for Spring. I was also given the opportunity to work with some handmade lace donated to me by some of my friends, in addition to the pieces I had found at two national arts and crafts store chains.

Some prized pieces of handmade lace were  donated to me by my friend Deb Hall. Of Maltese descent, her maternal grandmother had won first prize at the World's Fair in the 1930s for her hand-made bedspread. You can imagine my gratitude when Deb gifted me with some of her grandmother's beautiful work, including a large oblong piece suitable for a rectangular try and various forms suitable for round bowls.

One piece in particular inspired a different take on the pieces I had been doing - a large, six-pointed star-shaped piece with a lot of texture and interesting negative space. I decided to try using the entire form instead of limiting myself to a typical bowl with a consistent edge.

Textured Turquoise Lotus Bowl

Following my already-established technique, I roll out a slab of clay about 3/8" thick. To release the clay completely from the canvas, thereby reducing the risk of the clay tearing, I peel back the canvas, flip the canvas back, flip the entire slab-and-canvas over and flip back the other side of the canvas. Now I'm ready to do pretty much anything with the clay slab, from making a sunflower to a mask or a lace bowl. I place the lace doily on the slab, making sure it is as smooth as possible and, in this case, that the points are as uniformly extended as possible.

Using Kemper's Fine Detail Cut-Out Tool (C-090-109), I cut out the lace form. I cut or pull away the excess clay between the points to minimize distortion as I remove the clay from the rest of the slab - as long as at least fifty percent of the perimeter is "free", you're pretty much good to go. I carefully remove the cut-out piece with the lace doily intact I'm ready to actually form the piece.

I've been using the Large Salad Bowl from Sasaki's Colorstone stoneware for these particular pieces - with great success. I gently "encourage" the slab down into the mold, shaping it to the sides as much as possible and minimizing the buckling of the clay. Once I've gotten the piece well into the mold, I use a very smooth river stone to further conform the slab to the mold paying particular attention to the upper edge of the bowl.

Frosted Melon Lotus Bowl

To make the form more interesting, I pinch each of the points - one finger on the top of the center of each point, two other fingers on either side underneath - to add a nice detail to the form as well as to help the unsupported points to stay somewhat "up". If the clay is too plastic, these points can slump badly. If this happens, the piece should be recycled, as this can cause failures in the piece that may not be visible until after glaze firing.

Unlike most of the other bowl forms - which should be dried slowly without a fan to minimize distortion, these pieces seem to dry well in front of a fan with minimal warping. Once they're dry, I use a fine synthetic steel wool to clean up the edges, and undesirable marks from the molding process on the underside, and to soften the lace impression on the inside. This last is very important, as a glaze will only enhance any sharp edges, making an otherwise inviting, tactile piece more than a bit uncomfortable.

For bisque firing, I've been able to stack at least two high - make sure to turn each piece in a stack one-twelfth of a rotation so the points are not on top of one another to reduce stresses during firing.

For glazing, first rinse the pieces to remove any dust generated during the clean-up process. I use a 2-ounce ladle to glaze the interior, grab the piece with a pair glaze tongs, turn it over, and ladle the glaze over the bottom. Because of the size and shape of these pieces, glazing can get a bit messy - always clean up your glazing area afterwards to reduce free silica in your workspace.

These pieces are glaze-fired on a large 10x15 stilt - smaller stilts can't take the weight of these pieces. I use a ceramic Dremel accessory to remove any irregularities caused by the stilts.

Because of the form of these pieces - especially the pinched tips, glaze effects are quite dramatic and pleasing. As a thank-you to Deb, I glazed a piece with Amaco's Potter's Choice Frosted Melon. I hope to give it to her at our next class.

Anniversary Sunflower

I did a post last year about a series of Deluxe Sunflowers I did for a show at the Grosse Pointe Art Association's "Word Play" show. I took a slab of clay and stamped it all over with the word "sunflower" and added some rosettes over where the ascenders ("f" and "l") rose into each line of text and used that to form the centers of three sunflowers - large, extra-large and ginormous - I was going to use to create the piece I called "What kind of flower *is* that?" It ended up being accepted for the show, a wonderful treat in a surprisingly successful year of submissions.

My friend Estela Boudreau sponsored a show of my work at her gallery in Grosse Pointe Woods, Galeria Mariposa, late last year, and we decided to feature those three sunflowers. Instead of hanging them as I had at the GPAA show, we thought it would be cool to display them on stakes, as I had at one of my garden tours. This necessitated the fabrication of a stable display stand to hold the stakes securely with no risk of tilting or any other movement.

I, of course, took this challenge to my very capable handyman, Keith Battjes, my go-to guy for everything from toilet back-ups to fashioning worktables for my studio. I hauled the three pieces and their respective stakes over to his shop and, over a couple of beers, we figured out what we needed to do. The stand was a complete success and Estela eventually purchased the three sunflowers with stakes for her "Wind Rise" retreat center near Metamora. I have the base in storage for the next similar project.

Fast forward to January 2012. My toilet has had a crisis. Keith comes to the rescue. He then asks about a sunflower as a gift for his wife for their upcoming 31st anniversary, recalling the sunflowers he had worked with previously. Luckily, he and his wife have relatively short names ("Diane" and "Keith") and, after ascertaining which name should "go on top" (his wife's of course!), I began the process of creating my first Anniversary Sunflower. Which Keith picked up today and put up in their kitchen this evening. What a wonderful project!

Please send out best wishes to Keith and Diane on their anniversary, this Sunday, February 19.

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!