Sgraffito in Progress

I have been working on throwing  big bowls lately. This bowl is 17lbs and is 17 inches across. I am hoping it will be about 15 after firing. Here are some pics of the sgraffito design in progress.

My First and Second Teapots

I have been making pots now for over 12 years. I make functional work, but this is the first time I have made a teapot. Taking a teapot class at 323clay finally got me motivated! Thank you Mike. These pots just came out if their kilns today. Overall I am very happy with these as a first effort. I see lots of things I will be tweaking in future teapots though. And believe me when I say there will be future teapots.

Quick Pic

A quick pic of what's new at the studio today. I did a little experiementing with vase shapes. They are slipped and ready to carve in the morning. But, more exciting than that is the new machine hiding behind those vases. Just a little something I purchased at NCECA.

My Second Teapot

The cruise is over, NCECA is complete and four of my five yunomi sold in the AKAR show. This week it is back to making pots. I am taking a teapot class from Mike Stumbras at 323Clay. I have never actually completed a teapot until Tuesday. I have thrown all the parts several times, but thrown them away because I didn't like the look of them. I didn't want to make a teapot until I made a decent one. Pictured above is my second teapot, a slight improvement from the first. 

AKAR, NCECA and 18 Hands

It has been a while since I posted. I have taken lots of pictures with the intention of creating exciting and lenghty blog entries. The blog entires haven't happened, but at least I have been making pots. I was invited to the AKAR 2012 Yunomi Invitational in Iowa. It is such an honor to be included with all of those amazing artists. I still think maybe they sent the invitation to the wrong Cindy Buehler. I hope they like the yunomi anyway! Be sure to check it out online starting March 23rd. My work has also been accepted at two new galleries; 18 Hands Gallery in Houston, TX and Ellinwood Studios in Pella IA. The other exciting new is that I will be part of the NCECA Gallery EXPO this year. Thanks to my new friends at 18 Hands for inviting me. The work for this show is bubble wrapped and ready for shipping.

I have been creating lots of my ususual sgraffito work, but I have also done a little experimenting. Here is a basket I demoed in class. It will probably sit on the shelf for a while since I have no idea how to glaze it. I made a big platter using my new Pure and Simple bat mold. The clay for this platter was colored with black mason stain and then trailed with some pink glaze.

Curls of Clay

Here is a little peek inside the studio today. I went in early and trimmed this big bowl. I love the way the soft clay curls into ribbons. They almost look good enough to eat. I took the video with my Iphone which I propped up on some glaze jars, but you get the idea.

Jugtown Inspiration

I just returned from a pottery road trip with two good friends. We headed out on our 16 hour excursion from Kansas City, MO to Seagrove, NC last Thursday morning. We visited The NC Pottery Center, Jugtown Pottery, Dean and Martin Pottery, Ben Owen Pottery, Chris Luther Pottery and Bulldog Pottery to name a few. There are so many potteries in the Seagrove area that they actually renamed hwy 705 "NC Pottery Highway". This town of potters were some of the nicest people I have ever met. In every studio we visited, pots were being thrown and glazed, and kilns were being loaded or fired in preparation for the big festival next weekend.

The busy studios did not prevent these generous artists from sharing their time with us. We heard personal histories from all the artists. Some of them came from a long line of area potters and can trace their roots back to the Stafforshire potters of England. Others moved to Seagrove within the last year of so. One Seagrove potter actually graduated from the same high school in Independence, MO as my husband. It really is a small world. They all shared info about their clay, glazes, and firing methods. They were also kind enough to recommend other area potters to visit and raved about area talent.

After a few days in Seagrove we headed back west toward KC. On the way we stopped and visited Penland School Crafts. I was glad for the detour. It gave us a chance to drive through the winding roads of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Penland is amazing and my visit there just confirmed my desire to attend an 8 week concentration in the future. This coming Spring, the teacher will be Kathy King, whose work I am infatuated with. I will be in Seattle for NCECA in March so I can't attend then. I am crossing my fingers for the Fall 2012 schedule.  I am hoping for an atist that interests me. The final stop on our pottery excursion was just 15 minutes away in Bakersville to the studio of Michael Kline. Yet another amazingly nice and generous potter.

After a good nights sleep last night, a little catching up at home and some unpacking of pots, I headed to the studio around lunchtime. When I got there, this little jug was slipped and just waiting to be carved. I think it knew I had been at Jugtown.

Renegade Craft Fair - Austin

I am excited to be joining the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin Thanksgiving weekend. If you are in the area please come by and see me in booth #14. Here is some info about the event from their website:

The 1st ever Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in Austin will be November 26 + 27, 2011, from 11am – 6pm at the Palmer Events Center!! Always free-to-attend, you can skip the mall this Black Friday weekend because our curated roster of 150 top notch indie-craft artists will surely have something for everyone on your handmade holiday shopping lists! We’ll also feature hands-on crafting activities and food, beverages and libations will be available for purchase!

At the Renegade Craft Fair you can expect to find only the best indie-craft and DIY artisans! Featuring both local and national talent, shoppers can anticipate a vast array of independently designed jewelry, clothing, paper goods, home + garden goods, posters, artwork, plush objects, bath + body products, and so much more!!

At the Fair, attendees can get crafty by participating in a number of interactive workshops, and find inspiration from local independent businesses who keep Austin in the loop with all things creative!

Part boutique, part classroom, part awesomely-shiny Airstream – Austin’s The WonderCraft will back with their trailer, Stella, leading an ornament-making workshop, selling their wares, and signing people up for creative classes that are sure to inspire.

Yarn bombers extraordinaire Knitta Please will bring their inspired large-scale knits to the Fair in the form of a giant knit yoga ball installation.

The cleverly creative folks at EcoRise Youth Innovations will teach workshops turning upcycled materials into accessories while providing information about their mission to teach the values of environmental stewardship.

The cool kids from Dowdy Studio will return with their trailer of fun and provide photo ops with their lifesize half-merman, half-lumberjack cut-out.

Attendees can look to a handmade future with the time capsule project from AIGA of the Art Institute of Austin Student Group.

DJs from Waterloo Records, a cornerstone in the Austin music scene, will provide the soundtrack to the Fair, spinning soul, pop, and rock tracks for attendees.

Attendees can ham it up and commemorate their trip to The Renegade Craft Fair by visiting the free photo booth provided by The Magnolia Photo Booth Co.

Glazathon

Today is a major glazing day. I am busy making pots to sell at Renegade Handmade Austin and the KC Clay Guild Holiday tour. Here is my bisqueware all laid out on the table and sorted by color; red, orange, purple, blue, pink and green. I probably have four kiln loads of work to get glazed in all. It will take me all day today and probably another day too.

I am only on step one now, brushing on 3-4 coats of colored glaze. When that is done I will brush a coat of wax over that. I will finish by spraying a clear coat of glaze on the unwaxed parts and wiping away the overspray.

UPPERCASE Magazine

I was interviewed via email a while back for UPPERCASE magazine. I did the interview, sent them pics and forgot all about it. I recently came across some back issues of the magazine at Hammerpress. Wow! What a beautiful publication. It is a thick, meaty quarterly, full of juicy, delicious art, crafts and graphics. I was thrilled to even be considered for inclusion. I have been dying to see if my interview would actually be published. I was pleasantly surprised today by a tweet from Jeanee of Dirty Laundry congratulating me on the feature. The article "Scratching the Surface" is a part of "The Work-In-Progress Society" in the latest issue, #11. The issue focuses on creating art with sharp object like knives and chisels. It also includes a feature on Dolan Geiman, whose mixed media paintings and collages I love.

I am thrilled to be a part of this issue with it's wonderful carved crayons on the cover. You can order an issue or view the article online on pages 86-87 at http://uppercase.squarespace.com/uppercase-journal/2011/10/21/flip-through-issue-11.html Uppercase is also available for purchase at Hammerpress in Kansas City and a variety of select retailers around the world. Thanks thanks to Jeanee for the heads-up.