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Things that happen when you're working with a deadline!

10/27/2013

When I was away last weekend I got a request for a set of 3 vases. I had one completed vase and I needed to make 2 to round out the set. Well, with special orders, I always make extras to have insurance for kiln catastrophes and other variables that can muck up the works. When I got up on Monday morning I got to work.

Then it got COLD in New England and my basement stayed DAMP.

My studio is gearing up for our big Show & Sale and the deadline for (completely dry) greenware is today. My vases are still damp so I am trying something a wee bit strange and possibly slightly risky. I am drying the vases in my kitchen stove. I have my fingers crossed that 200 degrees (I can't set my electric oven lower) is enough, but not too much, heat to make these moisture free by the time the Patriot's game is over..........

If they all come out in the end, 3 will go to Arkansas (HOORAY for adding another state to my list) and the rest will be up for sale the weekend before Thanksgiving. Show & Sale info is at www.pottersplace.info

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Special Orders can be stressful but, oh so rewarding!

10/6/2013

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One spring day I got a private Facebook message from a stranger. She was very concerned that her bird, Frosty, was getting too big for his bird bathtub. She asked me if I could possibly make a new bathtub for poor Frosty and sent me this picture to show me the tub he loves so much.

I was fairly certain I could pull off what Frosty needed but, the parameters were very specific: straight walls of a specific width and a specific height, a specific diameter, and the color should be blue, so as not to make Frosty feel uncomfortable in his new tub. I had no idea that birds were so sensitive. The entire process would test my ability to make something larger than I normally do and also test my math skills while calculating the shrinkage rate of my clay.
I gave it a go.

I was more than pleased when the tub survived the drying process, 2 firings without warping or cracking, and it was EXACTLY the specified size and shape. I put my favorite drippy blue glaze on it. Here is Frosty's tub on my deck railing.

Mailing Frosty's tub to the state of NY provided a chanllenge so I had to enlist the help of my neighborhood packing and shipping store. I was very nervous. I had never trusted anyone to wrap and send one of my pieces. I was more than relieved that it arrived safely at its new home. But, then I had to wait.

and wait

and wait

Apparently I had to wait until Frosty asked for a bath before I could see a picture of him using it. His owner said that if she offered him the tub full of water, without his first asking for a bath, he might deem it a play toy and do everything other than bathe in it.
I waited so long that I feared that Frosty rejected his new tub and, I was not satisfied with my work until I knew it was serving its proper function.

Then one day this showed up in my inbox.........

Frosty looks so great in his new tub!
I am very happy!

I call this Form & Function at its finest.

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Things that happen when you're working with a deadline!

Special Orders can be stressful but, oh so rewarding!

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