Pottery. Photography. And All Things Handmade.
What better way to welcome the month of December? Snow! Squirrel was quite happy to see me set out peanuts! Just as I turned to go into the house, squirrel leapt off the tree branch and bounded toward the pile of peanuts on the back porch. The birdbath, filled with leaves and water, froze over... Continue Reading →
I have been busy with my last pieces of pottery for the year. Yes. Last pieces! Can you believe it? It seems as if I just started throwing yesterday! Pictured below are before and after pictures: Greenware pieces, dry but not yet fired, to be loaded into my kiln for a bisque firing in preparation... Continue Reading →
We had five spectacular sunny days in a row last week! I barely knew what to do with myself with so much sunshine. 🌞 Do I weed? Mow? Bask? Well, I ended up doing all the above: weeding, mowing and basking.😎 You may recall from my June 21st post, Notes From My Back Porch, I... Continue Reading →
It was May 20th when I finally sat down behind my pottery wheel for this throwing season. It takes me four to six weeks to create pottery from a ball of clay to a glazed piece. My newest addition to my standard mugs are my dragonfly mugs which came about accidentally! The first mug I... Continue Reading →
Summer is here! Things are heating up on my back porch . . . in between rain showers, of course. I've been working on dragonfly mugs for what seems like a long time. Now they are glazed and ready to fire. As I was rolling my kiln onto my back porch from the garage, the... Continue Reading →
Finally! A slight break in the rain last week! Three days of glorious sun! 🌞 Which means I have been busy in my back porch studio and back yard. The first job I tackled in my back porch studio was cleaning my kiln shelves. As a potter, keeping kiln shelves in tip top shape is... Continue Reading →
Rain, rain, go away.Come again another day.Pauline the potter wants to play! "The Farmers' Almanac predicts a potentially rainy summer for Ohio in 2025, with the potential for above-average temperatures and rainfall, especially in the southern part of the state." My back porch pottery studio is open to the whims of mother nature so my... Continue Reading →
We are finally witnessing nature awakening with vibrant buds and colorful blooms. The secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles. Frances Hodgson Burnett Meanwhile I am eager to get my hands back in clay. The temperatures for April, however, will be a little too cool for me to start throwing on... Continue Reading →
Snowed in. Under the weather. I picked up my camera and started shooting pictures of our resident squirrel and neighborhood song birds. These were taken through the sliding door with me sitting on the dinning room floor. LOL Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers. ~Kahlil Gibran
Time to pack up my tool box and put my pottery wheel away. I have a couple more firings to do of larger pieces that take up a lot of room in the kiln such as plates. I love making plates but because they take up so much room I just don't make many ~... Continue Reading →
It has been a wet, soggy and humid couple of weeks. Ideal condition for the weeds to take over. Meanwhile, on my back porch I've been busy throwing. [Click on the photos below to view a larger image and read the captions.] It was so soggy and humid I thought I would never be able... Continue Reading →
My blue glaze finally arrived after being on back order since August. I have been using this delightful blue glaze for over 15 years. My customers nor I have ever been disappointed. So . . . I opened my new jug of blue glaze with great anticipation of glazing a set of custom made bowls... Continue Reading →
I have had my hands busy over the last two weeks. Glazing and firing and photographing. Glazing and firing and photographing and throwing. Glazing and firing and photographing. Thank goodness it is Friday and I am in a nice in between place today! Life as a potter, among other hats I wear, can look quite... Continue Reading →
Another humid week last week! I don't mind the heat but when the air is as thick as pea soup and there is no breeze I start to feel a wee bit uncomfortable and grouchy. Luckily, my attention has been on things I can do inside in air conditioning! As I mentioned in my previous... Continue Reading →
Did you hear about the big Pottery scandal? Everyone involved was fired. 😁 My latest batch of pottery pieces have completely air dried. At this stage, the dried clay is called greenware. This stage is also when the clay is most fragile. Over the weekend, I fired the greenware in the first of two firings.... Continue Reading →
It was horridly humid and buggy on my back porch over the past several weeks. I took refuge indoors and continued to work with clay. While indoors, I made shallow bowls/dishes from slabs of clay draped over a plaster mold. A clay slab is a portion of clay that has been flattened into a sheet.... Continue Reading →
It does not feel like summer. 😟 It's has been cold, windy and humid. So cold that even my mugs are bundled up on my back porch studio! 🥶 The odd combination of cool temperatures, high humidity and 18 to 20 miles/hour wind has led to uneven drying for the mugs. The rims drying too... Continue Reading →
Dusted off and updated from an August 2019 post It starts with a lump of clay... A lump of clay is centered onto the pottery wheel then shaped into a simple cylinder and shaped some more. After shaping, the mug is ready to be taken off the pottery wheel and set aside to air dry.... Continue Reading →
I have been asked by several people about making slow feeder bowls for their pets. I didn't know how to make them and felt a bit intimidated because there is not much information on how to make a slow feeder. But when my Grand-dog asked me to make one for him, I just couldn't say... Continue Reading →
Temperatures in the 70's this week! I am finally back behind the wheel after a very cold and wet spring! Grand-dog came by for a visit and curious as to what I was doing. Warming up my throwing muscles. Starting with 1/2 pound of clay. Making small bowls to sell as trinket or ring dishes,... Continue Reading →
As a potter, not everything I make comes out how I planned. 😱 Sometimes my pieces crack or warp. Other times, my pieces never make it off my pottery wheel . . . . . . or a cat decides to sit in or on one of my pieces. And those unfortunate pieces end up... Continue Reading →
2023 has presented me with challenges. Challenges that require my energy to be in many places other than my Back Porch Studio. In 2023 -2024 I will be selling only ready to ship items as my time allows. I plan to focus on pet dishes, mugs and wine cups May through October in preparation for the 2023 Holiday Season. If you are NOT in a hurry, please... Continue Reading →
Back Porch Studio 