Failed Glaze Firing

It had to happen sometime.
And it did.
Not that I expected every firing to come out perfect…
Well, yes, I did.

So what went wrong?
- Too much glaze coats
- Under-estimated glaze run
- Extra long cool-down schedule
- Not thinking fast enough to turn off the kiln when i noticed the wrong temperature.

And what did I learn from this?
- Don’t wait 2 months to get back to clay
- My throwing is getting better, even thickness from the bottom up
- Triple check my kiln settings

So, back on the wheel again.

Thanks for checking in.

Have yourselves a safe and happy holidays!

Fall French Market Poster for Lycée Français 2011 by Yann Legendre

A short post today to update this weekend’s show at the Fall French Market at Lycée Français Chicago this weekend.

Fall French Market 2011
Lycée Français de Chicago
613 West Bittersweet
Chicago, IL 60613

Look for Miki Shim-Rutter at 2Frogs Ceramic Arts and Legendre+Rutter booth in the Gym!

Fri. Oct 14, 2011 7pm-10pm (tix $40/p, adult only)
Sat. Oct 15, 2011  10am – 5pm (tix: $5/adult)
Sun. Oct 16, 2011  11am – 4pm (tix: $5/adult)

The Lycée Français de Chicago Fall French Market.
Shop and dine with over 50 vendors, including Figaro Parisian Antiques, Bijoux Fantasia, Careful Peach and Provenance Food & Wine. Watch notable Chicago chefs prepare local specialties. A pavilion for children ages 3-10 will provide supervised activities while you shop.

MARKET E CARD 2011

Next is the Lycée Francaise’s Fall French Market on Oct 15-16th. I don’t have full details yet, but will update as soon as I have them.

On feature will be the Carved Series and the new forms in the Pebbles Series.

Form by Miki, carved by Lance Rutter

Carved Vase Detail

Carved is a series that Lance and I worked in collaboration. I create the forms and Lance designs the surface. I think it’s a perfect expression of fall. Settle in with a war cup of tea poured from one of these teapots… I personally prefer one of the black teas with a little milk to sip with my annual knitting project or a good chick book. You know the ones with a little laughter, a little tear and a happy ending at the end. The glaze is also applied in a way to enhance the texture and highlight the various surface impressions. While it is difficult to achieve guess at how the glaze might move on a pot, especially with carvings, its always a happy surprise when the kiln is opened after 18 hours of final glaze firing.

Pebbles Vases

Pebbles…that’s the name that came to mind when we photographed the earlier forms. They looked like pebbles in a stream of water, peaceful and tranquil. Working on these forms were just as theraputic for me. Here I’ve used my usual red caramel glaze and tourquoise glaze. I’m finding that these two provide me with so many options its great to work with, but I’ve determined that they have a mind of its own when it comes to how they play with each other. Kind of like raising children! At least they play nice.

I premiered these Pebbles vases at the Ravenswood ArtWalk and that is when I discovered the real beauty of these pots. The glaze seem to have magical properties (I even considered changing their name to Opals). My booth was drench in southern exposure and the pots with the red caramel glazes shined and glittered and the matte turquoise glazes sparkled. WOW! I need more sunlight in my studio was what I was thinking! Lance…? Anyway, this glaze offers so much diversity, you will be seeing a lot more of this glaze on my pots.

More on the Fall French Market soon.

If you are out and about town in Chicago this weekend, Come out to the Ravenswood ArtWalk.
Look for me at 4611 Ravenswood Ave., 2nd floor. Sat. 11 am – 7 pm, Sun. 11 am – 7 pm

For more information, www.ravenswoodartwalk.org

A Family Affair is an exhibition held at Gallery107 at ClaySpace Ceramic Arts Studio in Warrenville. As a featured artist, I prepared an exhibition theme that is close to my heart as a way to celebrating and showing my appreciation for their emotional support, inspiration and love.

Artist Statement:
By day, I’m a commercial artist. But at heart, I’m simply an artist working to find the voice that allows me to express my personal ideas of beauty. Ceramic arts have been a love of mine since my college days, but I had to put that love aside in order to build a career. Now ceramics are back in my life in a way that has been nothing short of transformational.

Because my family is at the center of both my life and my visual world, they have become an inspiration—and participants in a collaborative artistic journey. The electric kiln that has been in my basement studio over the past two years allows me to spend more time at home and, more importantly, gives me the means to share creative time with my husband and two little boys. We’ve all come to value the times that we can spend in the studio together.

This exhibition is open to the public but requires an appointment. Please contact ClaySpace for viewing: 630-393-CLAY, info@clayspace.net.

This show will feature the Carved Series (more photos to come), Pebbles and the yet to be named series of pots featured below (naming suggestions welcome!).

The ArtWalk is free, thanks to support from dozens of neighborhood businesses and a strong donor base. Besides featuring the work of more than 300 visual artists, it also includes music, food vendors, kids activities and a live graffiti wall.
I will post updated location information as soon as it is available.
Save the Date!

A booth of my own at a neighborhood art fair in Chicago!

Visit with me at Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest (6900N-1400W Rogers Park)
August 20-21, 12pm – 9pm each day.

This venue is free to the public with 2Frogs joining other artists showcasing locally produced and community oriented works.

My booth will be listed under 2Frogs Ceramic Arts featuring new pottery series featured above and a sneak peek of collaborative pieces carved by my husband, Lance Rutter (see previous post).

Hope you will explore fest and visit with me at my booth.

Carved 1: Wheel-thrown, Hand-carved, White Stoneware, Cone 6 Electric Kiln, Red and Turquoise Glaze (Miki & Lance Rutter)

I often wondered how a husband and wife team can really work. I mean, you live together, sleep together and then you have to wake up and work together. How would they be able to separate their individuality? Or, how could the work show the best of both contributors? Plus, would we still like and appreciate each other after days and days of working together?

My husband, Lance, has always been a very supportive of my passion for pottery, of the time and efforts into making pottery. We have occasionally dabbled with collaboration—my forms to his paintings, but it always felt like he had to work with what I offered him, or to ask me to make a form to fit his designs.

This Carved series comes pretty close to bringing our combined aesthetic together to create something that we can equally contribute. We are still working with the glaze combination that I’ve developed, but applying it in a way that highlights the delicate details of his carvings. His designs explore the variety of curves, lines and depths that complement my forms. And I modify my forms accommodate with thicker walls. We also needed to adjust for the movement of the glaze over the forms and carvings and try to anticipate its path.

With all of this designing, creating and planning, the kiln opening is a shared element of surprise and excitement. Not being able to wait for the temperature to cool enough, we peak under the lid to satisfy our impatience at 500+ degrees. Waiting another 4-6 hours to open the lid and use heavy towels to finally take the pieces out while the pots are still too hot to handle. There have been plenty of half satisfaction and full disappointments. Still, the thrill of the one or two pieces, like the ones in this post, are what keep us working together to create something that we can share.

So, husband and wife teams of the world, I get it now. It’s not that you lose your individuality and get absorb into the work of one or the other. It is about celebrating the beauty of what each of you bring to the table—or the kiln—to share.

Carved 2: Wheel-thrown, Hand-carved, White Stoneware, Cone 6 Electric Kiln, Red and Turquoise Glaze (Miki & Lance Rutter)

This Egg series pots will lead the way at the 4th Annual Mayslake Peabody Estate Fine Art Fair !
I should have named them Pebbles. These are special vases with bulbous body and super glossy glaze that oozes down to a satin red finish to the bottom. A unique coloring that range from a very deep chocolate breaking to varying degrees of greens, reds and orange. It’s hard to describe. You have to see it and touch it to really appreciate its beauty. Wheel-thrown, white stoneware is glazed red on the inside so it is water tight. Hand wash recommended. All of my pieces are glazed with lead-free materials and is food-safe.

Special thanks to my husband Lance Rutter for a great job on the photograph!

I will be showing my new works at
4th Annual Mayslake Peabody Estate Fine Art Fair presented by Alliance of Fine Art this weekend.
Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24, 2011.
10am – 4pm both days.
1717 W. 31st., Oak Brook IL  60563
Open to the public with plenty of parking!

You can find me in the ClaySpace Booth along with 3 other ClaySpace artists: Marge Couden, Susan Delaney, & Sharon Spitzer.

Still to come:
Plan ahead to visit me in August at the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest, August 19-21. I will be sharing my booth with fellow potter, Sharon Spitzer and together will be showing a wide range of functional tableware and tea pots & cups.

Dimples Series Exclusively at The Haymaker Shop in Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois.

These playfully dimpled pots are hand made teapots, cups and bowls are only available at The Haymaker Shop. Semi-gloss white glaze in side with white and red glaze outside. The overlap of the red glaze over the white turns the color to a golden brown, very little to no movement of the glaze. Bottom half of the pots have dimpled texture much like you would see on a golf ball…about the same size as well. The red glaze pools into the dimples accentuating the textures.

Teacups form to your hand as you cradle them in your hand. Teapot handles have a very playful attitude, some swooping all the way over the top and others looped onto itself with confidence.

All are made by hand, hand thrown body, spout and lid with pulled handles.
Lead-free glaze is dishwasher safe, but recommend hand washing with warm water.

White stoneware, high-fired to cone 6 in oxidation, electric kiln.

For more teapots, please visit my Teapots page, visit 2FrogsStudio @Etsy.