February 29, 2012

Happy Tile



We pass this house on our walk around Mt. Washington. I love the creative use of tile. It's so happy.



February 28, 2012

February 27, 2012

Cloudy Monday


The husband was able to pick a few of the surinam cherries from our tree.  The critters have gotten to some of them already.  But we are considering this a bountiful harvest since we now got to eat four whole cherries this year!

The taste is like a juicy pineapple and mango, with a burst of sweetness.  You don't get much flesh, as it has a rather large pit for its size, but it packs a punch in one bite. 


And that's Dexter, one of our two dogs peering out the front door. 



February 24, 2012

Heaven in a Bun


Met up with my best friend at Proof Bakery in Atwater Village this morning.  Breakfast was deliciously decadent. Hey, how did that pot get in the picture?!


Then headed to the studio and trimmed these pots.  No trimming mishaps today - woohoo!

Happy weekend :)



February 23, 2012

Shino

These porcelain bud vases came out of the kiln yesterday. Shino glaze. You hate me. I expected some crawling but my expectations were far different  from the final result.  

This happens alot.

There is a percentage of my work thrown out sacrificed due to "stuff that happens" during the various working stages that the pieces goes through. In this case, a glaze mishap. This is where good notes come in. So I can remember not to do this again. 


On the other hand, these came out of the kiln too. I am happy with these planters and bud vases. I love the green. I was actually slow to embrace this glaze, as it may be too obnoxious of a green for some. 

But I think this dark raw clay requires an equally intense color.  

And it seems to be a very stable glaze, and that I like.






¸

February 22, 2012

Tools

When I can't find anything in my toolbox, I know its time to clean my crap reorganize.


Before

After


Ready to work!





February 21, 2012

Porcelain


I made a trio of these, and I usually have some humility about my work but they came out so freaking awesome. I just can't contain myself.



February 20, 2012

Geeking out at midnight


I waited until my son fell asleep to trim some pieces, otherwise he gets into everything. Finished at 1am.  Got to use my new stamp! Yes, I'm still geeking out over it.





February 17, 2012

Stamp


The custom stamp I had ordered finally arrived!  I'm so excited.

Working from home today.  

Other than having a wheel, I don't have an efficient home set up yet, so I'm a member of a communal clay studio. The studio can get a little frenetic with activity, that's why I usually have an ipod and ear buds to help me concentrate.  Not feeling 100% today though. It was a nice change working from home...but I definitely get more done when I'm not at home.

Happy weekend :)





February 16, 2012

Early morning walk







We walked the dogs around Mt. Washington including Seaview Loop this morning. The views were spectacular after the rains yesterday. 

And some rosemary and lavender snipped from the garden.  





February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

I picked my son up from preschool today and as we walked up our stairway, he picked this bloom from the garden and handed it to me.  Best bouquet. Ever.


Happy Valentine's Day :)






February 12, 2012

The Garden

Some plants in the garden are putting on a show.  

The garden has been a work in progress since the husband bought the house before we got married. Everything was overgrown, weedy, and plain scary in the beginning.  There was and still is alot to contend with.  Firstly, half the property slopes down. Secondly, the lot is mostly compacted clay soil.  Lastly, there are moles, gophers, birds, squirrels, feral cats, skunks, opossoms, yucky plant-eating insecty things, and our own dogs. You get the picture. Oh yeah, and there was the time the husband went weed whacking in the backyard and ended up with chigger bites all over his body. Not fun. So we've learned through the years through trial and error, (basically, we killed alot of plants and the other half went to the critters) what plants are survivable here. 

The middle photograph shows the Surinam cherry tree that is our spoiled stepchild that refuses to love us back. We bought it as a small plant at an LA arboretum garden show and planted it about six years ago and it is now about four feet tall. And even though we were told it was supposed to be a hardy tree, great in all types of soils, blahblahblah, it has provided us with exactly one teasingly ripe, sweet, juicy, cherry...in the last six years.  Same time every year, the husband goes crazy over this tree. So this season, there are approximately a dozen cherries that are ripening so far, the most ever.  The husband is salivating over this fruit but he must wait until they are a bright red or else they are sour and he must compete with the critters who are also waiting for that bountiful day.

Attention critters, please just leave a couple of ripe ones for the husband, it would make him really, really happy.









February 11, 2012

Black Mountain


Black mountain pieces came out of the kiln today.  I left the outside raw because this clay is so pretty. These will be in my shop soon.






February 10, 2012

Introduction

I started this blog to chronicle the journey of starting my own pottery line, PUTIKMADE.


First thing you should know is I am mom to a happy, very active, four year old boy.  I also have the support of my hardworking husband. It has been our understanding, and happily so, from the very beginning that I would be the primary caretaker of our little tornado while daddy brings home the bacon. Let me say it's not easy starting a business when you have a toddler.  I basically have two, sometimes three days in the week where he is at daycare or cared for by daddy, to work at the studio.  I'm not complaining, it's just my reality. And if you know anything about pottery making, it is a slow, slow process. So if you ever see me at the studio, I'm the girl with quiet intensity who has her head down towards the pottery wheel or splashing glaze all over herself or muttering about the prized piece that turned out ugly.

I'll leave you with a picture of some porcelain greenware I trimmed at the studio today. A good friend requested bud vases, so here they are - ready for their first firing in the kiln.