Lookout Mountain Pottery

New Ash Glazed pots

2012-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Unloaded today in the rain. Had a nice 131/2 hr firing. Lots of pots for the Chattanooga Food Bank Hullabaloo Empty Bowls that will be this Saturday Night. Should be lots of good food and lots of fun making more bowls .

Firing for Hullabaloo

2012-01-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Im firing today, Sunday and a lot of the pots are for the Chattanooga Food Bank . Hullabaloo is this Saturday Night. They have great food from all the good places to eat in Chattanooga. Also evreyone can make a bowl. Lolly Durant makes a lot of slabs then the slabs are draped over ballons and evreyone can decorate using stamps the Lolly made.
Also in the firing are some platters and food servers that Sinclair Ashly made that never got glaze fired. His family had donated them to the Food Bank for the Empty Bowls.
I glazed them and are in the kiln now. Lolly will come here Wed at noon to help unload and price the work that Sinclair made.
So I will be having a Kiln Opening at Noon Wed.

Kiln Opening

2011-12-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

We made it through the Kiln Opening and Sale last weekend. It went great. The weather was perfect. Lots of people showed up and the kiln was still warm Saturday at Noon. We sold most everything that was in the kiln. I also sold lots of pots in the Lookout Mountain Pottery Gallery. I have been making face jugs and a bunch of them left here for a new home. Some get filled with whisky. I wish I could make and sell Moonshine and fill my jugs. Here are a couple of the pots that were in the kiln load.

New Clay

2011-12-16T04:50:00.000-08:00

I had bought a 100 lb bag of Lizella a while ago and finally decided to use it. I mixed it up with Fire Clay and added a dash of Feldspar. I made 3 different batches . I like the 50/50 the best for color. I fired it to cone 10 reduction in my good old Alpine . I made some mugs and I also made some small jugs and some Face Jugs . I really like the colors of my glazes on the clay. I glazed on small jug with Shark Skin Shino and ii is yummy. I have also used the Shark Skin Shino in the wood kiln and it was amazing .

I fired my Gas kiln Wednesday and am having a Kiln Opening at 12 Noon Tomorrow . It will be still warm. I also used a bunch of different glazes on the new work. I have no idea how it will be. The kiln was packed. It took 16 hrs to fire. The cones were even top & bottom.

December 17 & 18 from 10 to 4 with Kiln Opening ,Pottery Sale with friends

Ash Glazed pots

2011-10-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have fired the trusty Alpine twice this week , I made some face jugs and they just crack me up. I guess Im now a whisky face jug maker. I also had other pots in the kiln . I had made some Basket vases and also some of my slab platters where in both firings. I just really enjoy firing the Alpine. Its sort of easy to fire, get to reduction and sit back and let the kiln fire . When the kiln gets to cone 10 on the top I back off for a 1/2 hour and the firing is done.

Making Lots of New Work

2011-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have been making pots and firing kilns. I glazed Friday and fired the Alpine Kiln Saturday and I have a bisque kiln going now. Im going to unload and load and fire to have new work for Praters Mill show October 8 & 9 next weekend.

I have started making some whisky jugs and I have eight that are in the kiln now. I actually started to make face jugs. I think my face jugs are different than the face jugs I have seen. I am going to use my ash glaze on them.

New pots from the Plum Nelly Manabigama

2011-08-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

We fired Tuesday and that made it extra hot , We fired in about 12 hours. I started using small wood and a propane burner at 4 AM and we had the kiln finished about 4 PM . We got cone 10 in the back and and cone 12 was flattened in the front.

New Pots fresh out of the kiln

2011-07-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Finally Ive fired my trusty Alpine. I have been making pots and just stacking them up waiting for the urge to glaze. After working on two old tractors , planting corn and okra in the big garden and repotting lots of my Cacti and succulents I glazed a load of pots. I have 3 big Bonsai pots that came out of the kiln and lots of platters and bowls. I also had made a bunch of mugs and 2 sizes of glasses and a couple of Bourbon bowls. I used Purple Haze on the cups and bowls and af course my 50/50 ash glaze. I used a lot of Val Cushings Tomatoe Red . I really like that glaze and its good in my kiln. I want to do a test with Baileys Red next firing next week. I amd gearing up to deliver pots to Perspectives in Watkinsville Ga. The show is 50 Georgia Potters

New Whisky Cups

2011-06-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

I threw a bunch of Whisky Cups using some Jack Troy Wood fired porcelin that I got from Standard. I wedged in some colored grog that Chris Campbell send me. Im hoping it will show up as colors when I fire it. Im going to Salt some of the cups and wood fire the rest.. I am using a Dirty Girls wire tool that I really enjoy using.

Making pots

2011-06-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Howdy all, its been a hot one, I finally quit working on cutting up fire wood. The rest will have to wait till it cools off. I have stacks of logs and rounds to turn into fire wood.I just started working with some Jack Troy wood fire Porcelin . I have 500 lbs of it and it has been sitting for a year or more.I am softening it up and it seems to throw OK. Im thinking about signing up for a wood fire at Hambidge with Rick Berman or I will just fire my Manabigama. I have lots of bisque pots and am firing a load right now. I might have enough to fire the Alpine about 3 times. I made some big planters and large platters and they eat up lots of space in the kiln. I have been throwing a lot of mugs and wine glasses to take up extra space. The clay for the Alpine is Wonder White. I really like my Ash Glaze on it.
Ive also been working on two old tractors. A Farmall 100 and a Avery V. They are money pits. Its like I still have a sail boat..
Also have growing all kinds of weird succulent plants. I have been pollinating the Pachypodiums and actually have been planting seeds of Pachypodium Brevicaule a really cutie

Thanks for reading
Mark

Still Splitting and stacking fire wood

2011-05-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

One of these days I will be a Potter again. Since the big wind storm/tornadoes Ive been cutting , splitting and stacking fire wood. Here are a couple of photos of what Ive been doing. I had to quit for today because its 87 degrees out there. Actually I get worn out fighting these big rounds of Oak. Once I get them on the tractor bucket Im able to put them under the log splitter . I am able move them around using a Cant Hook..Great tool

I have found more big trees on the property with there roots in the air.I think it would be a lot easier if I was 30, or 40 or even 50 years old again

Also Im showing a photo of our Bog Garden. The pitchers are growing and also they are flowering. I had bought the Pitcher Plants from Ponds and Plants in Dayton Tenn. We also buy all kinds of Conifers and other cool plants there.

Critter Habitat

2011-05-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Nona and I worked on cutting up the old Oak that went down during the wind storm Wed. I make piles of brush and have been doing this for years in different spots through the property. I have been adding to old spots and its interesting that the old piles have been breaking down and needed to be replenished. Of course there is no way to do all this with out my Blue Tractor with the quick release forks and bucket.Also its 4x4.

We spent all day sawing and lopping limbs to be able to stack them on the tractor. I have piles of brush all around the property for Critter Habitat. Its a great place for birds and other wild life. We have about 15 acres and a lot of it is still wild. We have lost maybe 6 or 7 really nice trees from this storm. We are also going to buy some mushroom spores for inoculating logs to grow mushrooms. I do love the mushroom soup that Nona makes. Of course I will have lots of wood for firing the Plum Nelly Manabigama.

Wind Damage

2011-05-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

I havent posted for a while . I had Cataract Surgery and was told to stay away from clay because of dust and could not lift 25 lbs. I got the Go Ahead yesterday to go back to work. Well now work will be dealing with a big old Oak that went down during the Tornado outbrake that hit a lot of the South including the small town of Trenton. Trenton was hammered. Two people were killed. We lost power at 12:15 P.M. Wed and got power back late Sunday. Trenton Georgia is 7 miles by car and 3 or 4 miles by crow.We were very lucky. I will have fire wood for a long time.

Here are a couple of photos of the tree. It also took down 3 other trees

NCECA/Tampa

2011-04-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

I was in the Larkin Booth for this NCECA with pots that had just just been unloaded a few days before we set up the display. Jim sent a box of soft fire brick for some elevations. I had Pots from Becky, Loren , Brenda and some of mine. It seemed to me that the crowds werent there.There were some great demos going on and having the Clay Galleries close by was a treat. Its great to be able to look and actually handle pottery that was 4 sale.

During this trip my Wife and her brother walked a beach and picked up a big bag of shells for using in the wood kiln. We also drove to Miami and visited with my Mom and went to a shell store and bought a bag of shells for wadding. I will now have lots of shells big and small for wadding in the wood kiln.

Some of you know I grow plants and my favorite are succulents like Pachypodiums and Adeniums. Well I have started takeing some of them out of the greenhouse. The Pachypodiums are flowering and in doing some pollination of a few of the Pachys.

Plum Nelly Manabigama Kiln Opening

2011-03-26T14:05:00.001-07:00

here are some more photos

Opening The Plum Nelly Manabigama

2011-03-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

We had a great firing, finally was able to unload the kiln. There were many happy surprises. Im going to pack a bunch of pots from this firing to be in the Larkin Booth at NCECA. Please come and see the pots my photos dont do then justice

Thanks for looking

Wood Storage

2011-03-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

I keep collecting wood so that I can store it and use it a year later. I was able to get metal cages that are more or less 4x4x4 . They come from a friend that reconditions 275 gallon totes. They have a metal cage and a plastic bladder. He ends up with a lot of cages that he used to sell for scrap. I now buy them from him to store wood. I also sell his reconditioned water totes that I use for saving rain water

When I drive up to the Studio/Shop I jump on my tractor and using the forks I lift up a cage and park it behing the truck and just throw the wood in the cage. What I like about this system is that I only handle the wood one time..Horay!!!

Here is a photo of a cage I just loaded and a couple of photos of some of my wood storage set-up

wood haul

2011-03-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Getting wood for my wood kiln and 3 wood stoves is a interesting pastime. I mean I can cut trees that have been hit by lighting or wind damage on my property which I do. But that means hauling out the chain saw , useing the dremel tool to sharpen it , get some gas mixture cut the tree up, get the log splitter , spend the time doing the splitting then moving it and stacking it or find a place that I can get a truck load of hickory cut ready to use after some curing. I actually have 2 places , one makes pallets of popler , hickory and oak and the other place makes handles for logging tools like peavies and cant hooks. I also have a way that I throw the wood into crates that are 4x4x4 and haul them around with my tractor. I get a truck load for $20 and $25. Got another load today of the handle wood,,

The Old Alpine firing

2011-03-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

I had 2 firings this last week. My crew and I fired the Plum Nelly Manibigama wood kiln and I also fired my Old Alpine. It was a hot firing where I put cone 10 down top and bottom. I used mostly Ash Glaze 50ash/50 red art and some Shark Skin Shino. I also had a few cups with Purple Haze. It was a very good firing , meaning that most everything turned out fine. My Alpine is a 24 cu ft that came from Florida Keys College years ago . I had to throw away the burner system because of rust from Key West and I put in a High Pressure system and it works fine, Here are a few photos of the firing

Waiting now

2011-03-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

We fired the Manabigama today. I started at 4 AM with small chunks of wood using a propane burner. Had the burner off by 4:15 AM.. What a great day to fire , the first day of Spring. We got cone 10 in the middle of the kiln around 2PM and we then pulled 2 passive bricks in the chimney and fired till 4 PM. We got cone 10 down in the back looking through the passive . I put a lot of cuttings from pine trees around the pots as we loaded. We used some really old hickory , some new hickory and some funky pine that had lots of Pine Beetles , That was one way of getting rid of Pine Beetles. All in All is was a great day to fire, Nona made some great food to feed the firing crew .Im planning on taking the embers out Wednesday and we are going to unload Saturday. Im hoping we will have some really nice pots that will be sitting in the Larkin Booth at NCECA in Tampa next week.

Also had a really good gas firing 2 days ago. Lots of nice ash glaze mugs and some Angel pots and a mess of baskets..

New Vases

2011-03-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

Just threw 4 vases using Phoenix Clay . I like the way it comes out of the wood kiln. It flashes really nice and the ash drips look great. I have signed up for a 3 day workshop firing the Manabigama at Arrowmont. Its in a week , I hope it fills. Im hoping to see new ways to fire the kiln and maybe see some new slips and glazes .. That way when im ready with my firing crew we will have some new ideas..

I was hoping that winter was over but its 34 degrees here today, Ive had a fire in the studio all day and just lit another fire in the greenhouse

Im back in the Studio

2011-03-05T05:24:00.001-08:00

I have been on a few trips, We went to Reno then to Point Arena on the California Coast where we stayed at the Light house. We hiked on beaches and walked the beach where the San Andreas Fault goes back to the sea. I picked up some interesting beach sand and hoping to try it with some ash for a glaze. We bought some tiles at the Point Arena Tile Works, great place. We also found a new Pho Restaurant in Reno, we ate there 2 times , it is perfect Pho..
We went to out to see Paul Herman and also his pal Joe Winter. Nona bought a covered Raku container from Joe. His wife did the decorating and it super
We got back just in time to spend 2 more days on building the salt kiln shed. Then took of to go to Mobile for the Alabama Clay Conference. I threw pots in the Potters Council space and saw lots of old friends and met a bunch more. Also the was my 1st Mardi Gra , WOW !!!!!!!!!!!
Then went stay with Sara and Robert Mason at Gulf Breeze and went on boat ride and he built the boat. Also ate lots of shrimp. Went to Pass Christian and stayed at Lisa Watsons place and ate lots of oysters and beer. Also I got to see Brian Nettles set up. He has a brand new studio . It is well lit and I did a couple of demos , that wa fun. He also has a big wood fired kiln.
On this trip we drove to Fairhope and went to the Kilnstudio.com owned by Susie Bowman , really nice Gallery. Also check out deanmosher.com , we walked to his home and took some photos then we were invited in , What a amazing couple of weeks.

Salt Kiln Shed

2011-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

We worked on the building for the Salt Kiln today. The weather was wonderfull. It was great working in a T-shirt and we saw the sun. WOW.. We got a bunch of the rafters up but now we need to add 6 feet of chimney and I need to clean bricks and that is a nasty job. I need to get a filter for my full face mask.

Face Pots

2011-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

I just finished 6 pots for holding plants , they have no holes . Once in a while I will sit down and make some of these. It seems that this cold weather is good for some thing. When it warms up I will be busy outside doing yard stuff like making new planting beds and playing on my tractor.

I learned how to use and make press molds from David Dye when I was at the University of South Florida in 1972. We would work on planters together. I would throw and put handles on hanging baskets and David would come and put all kinds of crazy press molds on the baskets. We would Raku them so that they were black and we would plant them with strawberry plants. I wish I still had one of them. I have different things in my studio that I have made press molds from.

I had made 3 of these planters and we had them at the house, my wife put 2 of them in the gallery during our kiln opening and Holiday sale. Well we ended up selling them. I really make these for myself and my plants. I will most likely use a shino on them.

That is also a photo of Elvis Issenberg ,nothing but a hound dog

Altered Flower Vases

2011-01-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

Im back in the studio making pots, Yay,, Im making a group of Altered vases . I will be at the Alabama Clay Conference demonstrating in the Potters Council space . http://ceramicsartdaily.org/potters-council12011-alabama-clay-conference/

I really like making these vases. Some I sell with a metal frog or Kenzan to hold the flowers. Im trying to slowly dry them. I have wood heat in my shop and it gets warm quickly. I have been keeping them covered to somewhat control the drying. I guess the hard part to fiqure out is do I want to wood fire them or use Ash Glaze and Gas fire them. Im really looking forward to the Alabama Clay Conference and hoping to eat some fresh sea food in Mobile

slab platters

2011-01-13T04:31:00.000-08:00

So besides just trying to stay warm and hauling wood around to all the wood stoves Ive been making slab platters.I mostly start a new clay cycle doing hand built pottery before I get in the swing of making thrown work. I am really lucky to have a great 4X drive tractor to keep my walkways open .

I have been using up all the forms in my shop for making my slab platters. I have some really nice big woks and small woks and other forms that I have collected over the years. I have them hanging in the shop on hooks when Im not using them. I was able to buy the big woks at a used restaurant supply house. They sell used stuff. My woks had at least 4 inches of grease built up on them. I had them sand blasted and painted . The problem with the slab stuff is they really take lots of space. Im going to have to start throwing shortly and want to make a group of altered pots like the ones that I will be demonstrating at the Alabama Clay Conference. I will be throwing in the Potters Council Booth

4 X wheeling in the snow

2011-01-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Just finished back blading my property so that I can walk up to the Pottery Shop. I knocked down 6" of snow to 1" of snow. Now its easier to walk to the green house and back and forth to the Shop. I have a wood stove in a green house and the shop that Im keeping running. I let the wood stove in the house be cool for the day. So I have 3 woods stoves and wood eating kiln. OH My!

Started doing slab platters yesterday . Made 8 platters and hoping to put feet on them today. I thought I should use the slab roller now before it gets covered up with stuff. I uncovered it for the Kiln Opening and Pottery Sale.

Bonsai Pots and Cactus Planters

2011-01-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Just finally was able to unload the firing with all the Bonsai Pots and Cactus Planters. I grow lots of Succulents like Adeniums and Pachypodiums. They are African shrubs. They flower and have great fat bases and become succulent bonsai. I actually polinate the plants when they are flowering. I have a 30x50 green house full of them. When it warms up again I move all of them outside for the spring ,summer,and fall.

I glazed the planters with Shinos ,TomatoRed, Ash Glaze, and Temmoku , then fired to cone 10 reduction in my old Alpine.

ash glaze

2010-12-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

I fired for my kiln opening and most of the clay I used was Orange Stone from Highwater Clay. I had about 400 lbs sitting around and was out of Wonder White also from Highwater . I ran the Orangestone through my Peter Pugger to soften it up for me to throw. It was sitting for more than a year. I new that it would make my iron glazes look good and they did. I sold every bowl and platter from the kiln. I used Angel Eyes and also used Vals Tomato Red. That is a really nice iron red.

The reason I like the Wonder White is because it makes my Ash Glaze sparkle . Here is a photo of two mugs , one is Wonder White and the other is Orangestone.

Well I now have more that 2,000 lbs of Wonder White again so I am looking forward to a New Year of making Wonder White pots again.

I also have some Phoenix for the wood kiln and have some Jack Troy wood fire clay and some McKensie Smith wood fire clay from Standard for the wood kiln. I will be firing the Plum Nelly Manabigama January 20 with the group from Mid-South

My ash Glaze is 50 ash and 50 Red Art

Its Snowing

2010-12-25T06:55:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas yall

I unloaded the Old Alpine this morning and have some nice planters and 2 small porcelin bowls. I will go back later and get some photos of the planters ,here are the bowls

Bonsai Pots and Planters

2010-12-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

I am firing again so that I can open the kiln Christmas Day. I had made a group of Bonsai pots and planters for my Succulent collection. I grow a lot of Pachypodiums and Adeniums. I made a lot of thrown planters out of a Moon White clay and I also made a group of Altered planters out of Orange Stone where I threw the body and added a bottom and feet and I drill a bunch of holes for drainage. I might even share a few of the pots with my friend Stan from Old Man Cactus.com
Im going to get up early and start the kiln, its the Old Alpine .
It was a little chilly for spraying out side . One of these days I will hook up a spray booth in side.

Kiln Opening December 11

2010-12-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

Kiln Opening

2010-12-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

The Kiln opening was a blast. I had lots of good pots and lots of people showed up. I sold every bowl and platter. I got lucky on the weather because it snowed Sunday. We had the Bean Soup for the people that were here selling work. We had Pottery, Weaving and Metal work. We had Hot Cider and cookies for the people that showed up.
I had put a bunch of lizard cone packs around the kiln and found out that the kiln is much hotter in the back . Interesting..

Happening soon

2010-12-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Loaded the Old Alpine and fired Wednesday. Im planning on opening the kiln Saturday at 12 PM for my annual kiln opening. Its always a surprise for me and the people that are here. I have lots of mugs ,bowls and soup mugs and also 4 Piggy Banks. I dont make to many of them but I like them. Talking about the pigs I uncorked my Savings Pig where I put in quarters and got $350 ,YAY..

Also I made some more of my Lizard or Gator cone packs. I actually sell them for $10 each. I had made them for a while and I put them on top of the kiln after the firing. I have people come buy to check out the pottery and I sold 6 cone packs all in a week. It was a run .

We have have cleaned up the shop and getting ready for the kiln opening and Holiday Sale tomorrow .

Show Time Today

2010-12-04T06:36:00.000-08:00

I will be glazing today and tomorrow to load the Old Alpine for the Kiln Opening Saturday Dec 11 at 12 pm

We just fired the Plum Nelly Manabigama and had great pots come out.