Sizing Things UP

by Eleanor Hendriks

I know, I was just here saying I didn't have time to blog but let's put it this way instead -things will be even more sporadic than usual in Elan-land during the summer...

I had a bit of time in the studio today, so I got going on restocking my Berry Bowl supply in an attempt to keep ahead of demand -a very satisfying project because now when customers request the colours I have sold out of I can say that they are already in the works...

And then to spice things up, I set myself a bit of a challenge.

The Etsy Mud Team is having a bottle challenge in August and today was really the last day I could start them and still have any hope of finishing in time for the entry date, since I will be away on vacation between now and then.

I usually work in multiples, but this time rather than making a bunch of things the same size I decided to make the same shape in 4 different sizes. I have done this many time with bowls and don't find it all that hard, but repeating this bottle was a real trick!

I started with the largest (13") bottle, because I figured it would be the most difficult and that making smaller things go where I wanted them to would be easier. I have to say, the smallest (6") bottle took me the longest. I found it tricky to duplicate the curves when I couldn't really fit my hand in the bottle or my fingers down inside the neck. I have gained a new appreciation for potters that make miniatures -and this piece isn't even that small -it is still 6" tall!

I think I did pretty well in my attempt at doing the clay version of hitting the reduce button on the photocopier...


It is always amazing to me to see how just the slightest change in angle or curve can change the character of a piece. In fact, I think that is one of the things that compels me back to the studio time and again -the chance that this time I will get the perfect combination of curves and angles (and then maybe the perfect combination of colours and glazes...) And it is why handmade objects often have a life that we don't see in manufactured goods.

When each manufactured good comes out the same, the original design must have the elusive je ne sais quoi but often the original is average at best or compromised by efficiencies required by the manufacturing process along the way.

While making handmade pottery, the potter is making hands on decisions at every second of the forming thus having a profound effect on the end result.


So can I pass the challenge on to my clay addicted readers? I'd love to see someone else give the clay version of a reducing photocopier a try and I'd love to see the results...

Summer Breeze...

by Eleanor Hendriks

I'm just blowing through like a summer breeze...

Even if I had lots to post, which I might, if I stopped to think about it...

...I don't have the time, but I thought you might enjoy this picture of pottery in action during a summer feast...

and a link to a fabulous fruit salad (not the one pictured but yummy all the same...)

Happy summer...

A Piece of Art is Only the Tip of the Artist's Iceberg

by Eleanor Hendriks

This gaspingly honest post by potter extraordinaire, Whitney Smith, got me thinking about the life of an artist behind the end results.

The road to the painting, sculpture or pot is not all flashes of inspiration alternated with cool coffee shop conversation -at least not for me. I have never sat and discussed my ideas of art with anyone in a coffee shop -though I (romantically) imagine that I might like to some day.

Neither do I sit in an inspiring setting filling notebooks with sketches of great ideas. If I actually sit down intending to "have an idea" I usually get bogged down in to-do lists: the toilet paper stockpile is getting perilously low, a soccer uniform is AWOL and how long has it been since the last oil change anyways?

I get my ideas by working with the clay in the studio. As I make, I get ideas for more and more things to make. In a perfect world, I would sketch these ideas when they are flowing faster than I can execute them. Then I would have something in reserve for the days when they don't flow so freely. Usually though, I am too wound up in what I am doing to get clean enough to wield a pencil. But all I need to get the juices flowing again is to make something... anything...

...like these stacks of bowls...
They are not earth shaking works of art, but they are very nice bowls and making them got me going on a really great roll. After making the bowls and a few other things that my regular customers will be clamouring for when I run out, I started on some sculptural pieces. As I worked I got more and more obsessed, because I know that making good art often depends on making lots of art, and these pieces were leaping from my hands. I felt closer to something new (for me) with each moment of shaping the clay.


Now here's where a reality of work in an artist's studio comes in. Not everything works out. So often with clay, the technical side of something new lags behind my idea. It takes a few tries to make the materials do what I want them to do. Because of this lag, my first piece of my exciting (to me) new series blew up in the kiln...
If I were a better blogger, I would have taken a picture of the devastation that greeted me when I opened the kiln, but I was too heartbroken. My first instinct was to CLEAN IT UP -QUICK! And then to assess the collateral damage, because with a blow up like this one there is always collateral damage...
So a few bowls bit the dust, that didn't feel like a biggie, I can always make more (see above)...
But this crack did hurt...
Because it is in the biggest honkin' casserole I have ever made. Seriously, this thing could fit three chickens and still have room for veggies...
Now, I'm not going to claim that casserole as an inspired piece of art, but it was nice enough and technically challenging to make. Besides, I was going to enter it into the Etsy Mud Team Casserole Challenge later this year. For once I was going to have a piece ready well before the deadline. Not so much any more...

After recovering a bit from the shock of the damage, I was relieved to see that the prize piece of one of my newest and most adventurous students survived unscathed in the middle of everything. She may need to learn this cruel lesson of loss eventually, but it just wouldn't be fair to have it happen to her first favourite piece of claywork!

While all this was going on in my kiln, I was working away at more pieces in the series. Since I always develop new ideas by making multiples, the loss of the first piece isn't a total loss, but I know that the first piece of a series feels different to me, so it's loss is particularly poignant. In the end, the first piece of a series is often the least successful because I haven't sharpened the vision enough yet. I don't edit enough or go far enough until a few pieces along. But it sure would have been nice to have that piece for the glazing stage. I could have practiced glaze techniques on it and ruined it closer to completion!

Que sera, sera... all part of the artist's life...

And my excitement for the new pieces carries me forward...

I'm just going to show a few little bits of them here. They are still tender and new and not ready for a full showing...

...but after the first one's demise without anyone but me as witness to it's existence...
...I feel an urge to share...

...even though completion is a long way off...



... and may never come...

Clay's Many Variations

by Eleanor Hendriks

I am always amazed by the many possibilities of clay. It can be so many things to so many people. Functional/ non-functional, colourful/stark, wildly textured/perfectly smooth, organic/geometric and on and on.

I had three students willing to brave winter and come out to my studio for my Feb/March pottery class session. Even among only three beginning clayists, their visions and results had lots of variety...

An elegant leaf bowl is a study in contrasts...

A geometric letter box with a surprising bright orange interior...

A homey casserole dish with delicate carved designs...

A jewellery tray waiting to be filled with baubles...

Pinch pots that look as if they were grown rather than made...

...and fabulously textured wall pocket that will grace a sculpture studio wall...
Thank you Marina, Darlene and Pam for a great class full of enthusiasm and fun!

These three women have just dipped into the possible variations of clay. If you'd like to see how many other clay workers have interpreted their artistic visions using clay, you really need to read these two articles by Jeff Campana of the University of Louisville published on Etsy's blog, The Storque:

Ceramics and Pottery: Facts and Fancies (Part 1)

Ceramics and Pottery:Facts and Fancies (Part 2)

The second article is excellent, particularly because Jeff included some of my work in his review of decorating techniques (she said humbly). So check them out -you're in for some good reading and lots of clay eye candy...

What's old is new again

by Eleanor Hendriks

Just for fun, I decided a few weeks ago to revive an old pottery form that potters have been making for decades and that I haven't made in at least 5 years -the Pansy Ring.

The Pansy Ring is an unusual and versatile vase form that works really well in situations where a traditional vase just isn't suitable. It's low profile make it a great dinner table display, guests can see each other over the flowers and aren't in danger of knocking anything over as they pass the gravy. Flowers with tender or short stems are supported by the double wall of a pansy ring making it perfect for pansies (thus the name) and children's bouquets. They are simple to use -even the "arranging impaired" can make a lovely display easily. Put a candle in the middle for an instant centre piece. And last but not least -the form is so simple, a Pansy Ring can co-ordinate with any decorating style from traditional to country to modern.

Can you tell that I really think these things are great!?! And to top it off, they are a bit of a challenge to a potter's skill -which makes them a real pleasure to make as well...

I treated myself to a bouquet of flowers and spent some time photographing my latest crop in bloom...





If you've decided that you must have one of these for yourself, you can check them out in my Etsy store. This batch have been finding new homes quickly, but I don't think I'll let another 5 years pass before I make these nifty flower friends again...

Extruding -Possibilities with Clay

by Eleanor Hendriks

The second in a series of workshops for professional potters at Haliburton School for the Arts focussed on using the extruder to create new forms in clay. Led by Colleen O'Reilly, the group of us moved away from the round forms a potter's wheel creates into the world of tubes, hexagons and squares. You can see Colleen here with some of her exhuberant extruded garden art.

Unfortunately, the photos I took during the workshop were miserable and won't be useful to any body...most were much like this one...

My clay results weren't much better... One of my projects was ticking along very well, I was really enjoying my octagonal jar, that is until I dropped the lid on the floor...

Irretrievably damaged, I'm afraid...
So, I come away from the workshop, not with a kiln full of work, but with an new enthusiasm for the not-so-round world of extrusions and another piece of equipment added to my wish list.

Workshop with Scott Walker

by Eleanor Hendriks

This past week I had the pleasure of spending three days at the Haliburton School of The Arts
for the first in a series of workshops for professional potters.

The first presenter was Scott Walker of Peterborough, Ontario. He makes functional wheel thrown pottery in traditional shapes with a refined sensibility. He uses beautiful glazes and his teapots are elegant little gems.

This monstrous tourtierre (I'm guessing it is 15" across!) had everyone oooh-ing and ah-ing. Attempting this shape will be my next challenge in the studio...

Scott demonstrated many of his signature pieces with good grace and humour. I was particularily taken with Scott's attention to detail -particularily to the bottoms of his pieces.

The foot on this bowl is so refined -I would be tempted to display it upside down!

A finished bottom -notice the very particular glaze application, on both the usually unseen bottom and in the carved bands, all set off by smoothly finished unglazed porcelain.

And, because it is always nice to match the potter to the pots... the face behind the work...

Thanks, Scott!

Valentine's Flop...

by Eleanor Hendriks

Back to the studio and the blog after a very busy Christmas season...

I'm working away on custom requests that accumulated during the holiday season and on a special project. The Etsy Mud Team is having a Sweetheart Vase Challenge and our entries are due by Jan 27th. I keep selling, breaking or overshooting the deadline with my pieces for these challenges... I was hoping that this time I'd make it but I got over enthusiastic with my piece and over indulged with the flourishes.

Between the stamping, the carving and the heart-y handles, I think I've ruined it by doing too much... Unless maybe some slip trailing would help?...

Don't worry, I've got a backup piece and I intend to show a little more restraint with that one. Sometimes less is more -maybe not for love -but definately for pottery decoration...

Its not all playing in the mud!

by Eleanor Hendriks

Being a potter isn't all playing with clay -in fact, I haven't touched wet clay in over a week! This past while has been glazing, kiln loading, packing and...

...painting the new table top display my super handy husband built for me...

It's got a nifty hanger for all my Christmas ornaments and it folds flat to fit in the back of my CRV. I've painted my old IKEA crates to match, sewed some table cloths and skirts and loaded up all the pots not already for sale in my Etsy shop. As we speak, my wares are set up at the Kawartha Potter's Guild Annual Christmas Sale in Peterborough.

I completely forgot to take a picture of my display while I was there, even though I remembered to take my camera! If you are in the Peterborough (Ontario, Canada) area, you'll just have to check it out for yourself! If you come on Sunday, I'll be there working one of the cash registers. Introduce yourself and I'll whip some Elan Dollars out of my pocket for you...

The show is on Saturday Nov 29, 10-5 and Sunday Nov 30, 11-4 at the Peterborough Lion's Community Centre, 347 Burnham Street.

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Shipping out...

by Eleanor Hendriks

My Etsy shop has been hopping lately -here is today's selections of items that are being shipped out to places as far flung as California, Colorado, Ohio, and Guelph, Ontario (where I used to live)...


All boxed up and ready to take to the post office...
I've had to get creative to carry so many parcels at once -I've taken to flinging a large sack over my shoulder -I look a lot like the big red guy -only not so big, or so hairy, or so red -really it's just the sack over the shoulder... and no, I'm not posting a picture of that...

Just a reminder to my American friends -Christmas comes early in Canada -or at least the last minute to ship to the US does. If you've had your eye on something in my Etsy shop , now is the time to snap it up. After the first week of December it is very likely that it just won't reach you in time for Christmas. Canadians have a little more time, but the selection is thinning quickly...