Callie Beller Diesel

Bit of a late breakfast. Mixed a tablespoon of hummus into some canned tomatoes, salt and pepper, a shot of hot sauce and some fresh herbs.  Simmer for about 10 minutes and then poach an egg in it. Serve with toast to dip in the yolk. Cheese toast shown, but any will do. 
These bowls are my go-to. I made them a couple of years ago and tried to make more for the public, but they weren’t as popular as I thought they’d be. 

@LeeU if you take the same pan roasted cherry tomatoes, they’re pretty tasty on hash browns too. Or it would indeed be amazing with sourdough! 
Cut tomatoes in half, a couple of tablespoons of oil in a hot pan, clove of garlic and herbs. Fresh if you have, dried if you don’t. Comes together in about ten minutes and they get all sweet. 

No bears in the city, however quiet it is! Lotsa jackrabbits though. And coyotes. 
Tonight, no one was particularly hungry because we’re not really active. Dinner was just pasta with a good olive oil, a big garlic clove, about a pound of pan roasted cherry tomatoes and some parm.  I did the pots. 
 
 

Well, I have not yet reached an acceptable refinement technique for a "final" version of my herb markers, but I'm getting there. So far there is alot of interest/enthusiasm for these. I have ten different ones (love the stamps I got from Joel Socwell/stamps4clay) to be glazed in ten different colors. They're approx. 7" after firing. All the scrap from cutting the form are used for tea light holders and small catchalls. white body, ^6. Small, portable to local stores, lightweight, EZ to ship.
 

I think mugs, bowls, Callie's dispensers will be a good sell this year I bet, and I always do well with soap dishes, since I pair up with a soap maker.  Geez o peetz, have I ever used soap the last few months!!!  And as we chatted about in another thread as far as online selling, the smaller items will be easier and less expensive to ship.  
Roberta

R2 porcelain specifically blended for crystalline work.

So far, it’s a mug with a swear word on it, because 2020 seems to be inspiring certain sentiments at every possible opportunity. It’s what my therapist would have termed an adaptive (as opposed to maladaptive) self soothing method, so whatever helps!

I did manage to get my hands on 50 or so pump dispensers (they’re kinda scarce as it turns out), and I made my first 6 hand sanitizer/soap bottles. They came out of the kiln yesterday and I think they’re quite nice! My MIL has already claimed one, so we’ll see how those go. I’m playing around with some soap dish designs, trying to find one that’s easy to make AND that I like. I’ve made ones I like, but they are a bit fussy. I need to simplify them so they’re faster.

So far, it’s a mug with a swear word on it, because 2020 seems to be inspiring certain sentiments at every possible opportunity. It’s what my therapist would have termed an adaptive (as opposed to maladaptive) self soothing method, so whatever helps!

I did manage to get my hands on 50 or so pump dispensers (they’re kinda scarce as it turns out), and I made my first 6 hand sanitizer/soap bottles. They came out of the kiln yesterday and I think they’re quite nice! My MIL has already claimed one, so we’ll see how those go. I’m playing around with some soap dish designs, trying to find one that’s easy to make AND that I like. I’ve made ones I like, but they are a bit fussy. I need to simplify them so they’re faster.

Hi folks, I have been working on some prototypes for pouring chalices. I have sent this image to the customer to see if I am heading in a direction he would accept. There are a variety of shapes, with a continued them of stem and bowl. I am more in favor of the deeper narrower bowls with closer to Golden Mean proportions, but tough to do exactly. All have two pouring spouts on opposites sides. Hoping to get a reply back soon.

 
best,
Pres

So far, it’s a mug with a swear word on it, because 2020 seems to be inspiring certain sentiments at every possible opportunity. It’s what my therapist would have termed an adaptive (as opposed to maladaptive) self soothing method, so whatever helps!

I did manage to get my hands on 50 or so pump dispensers (they’re kinda scarce as it turns out), and I made my first 6 hand sanitizer/soap bottles. They came out of the kiln yesterday and I think they’re quite nice! My MIL has already claimed one, so we’ll see how those go. I’m playing around with some soap dish designs, trying to find one that’s easy to make AND that I like. I’ve made ones I like, but they are a bit fussy. I need to simplify them so they’re faster.

Sorce

Yee haw---ain't nuthin' on my workbench cuz it's all on it's way to the kiln. Finally! 

My personal dumbest moment was back in college while loading the outdoor soda kiln in sub zero temperatures while not turning on the gas burners to heat the inside of the kiln. The posts and the shelves were so cold (they were kept outside) they froze the wadding, and when it melted, it shifted the stack and the whole thing fell over. I was not popular for this particular move. 

My second attempt at a self-draining soap dish works! Big thanks to Pres for supplying this suggestion:
Having a wall and a lip as two sort-of separate elements allowed me to cut a channel through the wall, but still have enough clay on the lip to pull and shape a spout. Now it allows the water to slide off, but not the soap!



 
 

Here are the three pots I made, glazed using every glaze (^04 commercial) that I could find in my house/studio.  They are in alphabetic order until I ran out, then went searching for more.  
They are slab-built, around 200 mm/8 inches tall.  Biggest things I've made, and all three in one week.  All fired separately, couldn't get more than one in the kiln at a time.
Had some cookie catchers/saucers hanging around so glazed them and put them on the bottom shelf.
 

My personal dumbest moment was back in college while loading the outdoor soda kiln in sub zero temperatures while not turning on the gas burners to heat the inside of the kiln. The posts and the shelves were so cold (they were kept outside) they froze the wadding, and when it melted, it shifted the stack and the whole thing fell over. I was not popular for this particular move. 

My personal dumbest moment was back in college while loading the outdoor soda kiln in sub zero temperatures while not turning on the gas burners to heat the inside of the kiln. The posts and the shelves were so cold (they were kept outside) they froze the wadding, and when it melted, it shifted the stack and the whole thing fell over. I was not popular for this particular move. 

We're in stage 2 relaunch here in Alberta after some pretty harsh nationwide shutdowns. We're down to 220 active cases in the Calgary area, and we were a hotspot for a while there.  Things like restaurants, retail, aesthetic services, libraries and some museums and other things are open, but with capacity restrictions and rules about mask wearing, distancing and cleaning. Kids aren't going back to school until the fall, and daycares are only for essential service workers right now. There are supposed to be some summer camps and childcare available, but they'll probably fill up very quickly. We're still not supposed to engage in non-essential interprovincial travel like holidays, although we can travel for things like funerals.  The maximum gathering size does vary by province, but here they're 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Mask wear indoors is strongly recommended, and the government has been handing out free ones (the disposable surgical kind) at Tim Horton's drive through's because we're predictable that way. Compliance on the mask wearing thing seems to be 50-60% at a rough eyeball at the grocery store. Phase 2 just started last week, and they're watching for any increases before deciding when they're going to go to phase 3, which is all systems go. School systems are still trying to form official plans for the fall, but they won't be able to declare anything concrete until late August. The kids usually go back the first week after Labour Day.
My weekly farmers market starts up this weekend, and my first round is the weekend after. Even though the whole thing is outdoors in a very large area, they're still doing headcounts, and only letting a certain number of shoppers through at a time. All foot traffic is one way, and we all have to provide hand sanitizer or hand wash stations, even if we're not food vendors. Food vendors need to prepare samples in a commercial kitchen in advance, and have them in sealed cups. We have to restrict the number of people allowed in a booth and set up 6' markers so people can maintain distances.  All tables need plastic coverings so that they can be sanitized regularly, as well as any payment keypads. I plan on having bleach solution on hand to clean each piece in between people touching them, in addition to having sanitizer available for people to use before and after picking things up if they wish to do so.  My display will just be across the front of the tent to discourage people from crowding. I'll be wearing a fabric mask, as per provincial recommendations. We have to go through a check in every week to declare we haven't traveled or been sick, and are currently not experiencing any symptoms before we're allowed to set up. There's other rules for people from different households working together, but I'm usually by myself so I haven't checked those.

We're in stage 2 relaunch here in Alberta after some pretty harsh nationwide shutdowns. We're down to 220 active cases in the Calgary area, and we were a hotspot for a while there.  Things like restaurants, retail, aesthetic services, libraries and some museums and other things are open, but with capacity restrictions and rules about mask wearing, distancing and cleaning. Kids aren't going back to school until the fall, and daycares are only for essential service workers right now. There are supposed to be some summer camps and childcare available, but they'll probably fill up very quickly. We're still not supposed to engage in non-essential interprovincial travel like holidays, although we can travel for things like funerals.  The maximum gathering size does vary by province, but here they're 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Mask wear indoors is strongly recommended, and the government has been handing out free ones (the disposable surgical kind) at Tim Horton's drive through's because we're predictable that way. Compliance on the mask wearing thing seems to be 50-60% at a rough eyeball at the grocery store. Phase 2 just started last week, and they're watching for any increases before deciding when they're going to go to phase 3, which is all systems go. School systems are still trying to form official plans for the fall, but they won't be able to declare anything concrete until late August. The kids usually go back the first week after Labour Day.
My weekly farmers market starts up this weekend, and my first round is the weekend after. Even though the whole thing is outdoors in a very large area, they're still doing headcounts, and only letting a certain number of shoppers through at a time. All foot traffic is one way, and we all have to provide hand sanitizer or hand wash stations, even if we're not food vendors. Food vendors need to prepare samples in a commercial kitchen in advance, and have them in sealed cups. We have to restrict the number of people allowed in a booth and set up 6' markers so people can maintain distances.  All tables need plastic coverings so that they can be sanitized regularly, as well as any payment keypads. I plan on having bleach solution on hand to clean each piece in between people touching them, in addition to having sanitizer available for people to use before and after picking things up if they wish to do so.  My display will just be across the front of the tent to discourage people from crowding. I'll be wearing a fabric mask, as per provincial recommendations. We have to go through a check in every week to declare we haven't traveled or been sick, and are currently not experiencing any symptoms before we're allowed to set up. There's other rules for people from different households working together, but I'm usually by myself so I haven't checked those.

Or even throwing it with a rim similar to the dish on the right, but maybe a bit higher? Closer to your own aesthetic.

This is a personal project for my house. I recently switched to using bar soap and bar shampoo, in an effort to reduce my plastic bottle consumption. I was using a soap dish I had made years ago, but soon discovered that it was not well-suited for an environment as wet as a shower. I made myself a new soap dish that is designed to shed excess water onto the shower floor. This concept is not original to me, I've seen photos of other handmade pottery self-draining soap dishes. But mine is the first wheel-thrown version that I've seen.

A sugar jar from last fall, but playing with photo editing. 

My county will still be in phase 1 of reopening for a few more weeks, even though the rest of my state (MD) is moving into phase 2. My county (plus one other) is where most of the cases in my state are. I am still staying home except for really important things. Businesses here have adapted and complied very well, so going out feels safe, but only because things are so restricted. For example, I needed some car maintenance last week, the shop was by appointment only and they were only taking one customer per hour. I was the only customer in the shop, and was still asked to stay six feet away from the employees. He disinfected a pen for me before I used it. 
I went for a long walk through my neighborhood including a popular park this weekend, and every single person was wearing a mask. We are not required to wear them for outdoor exercise, but most people do anyways. I’m grateful for that. 
I am troubled about all the huge protests that took place this week in DC. Not because of the meaning of the protests, the spirit of them is long overdue. But because we will either end up in lockdown for longer than we would have been, or we will discover that we didn’t need to cancel all the summer festivals. 
As for the pottery business, I am still making, and planning some more “free home delivery” events for the summer. And I am conceding that I need to (gasp) do some online selling too, which I am planning to do on a very limited basis. 

Today, on my workbench, is pot #1 of 3. Formed around a flower bucket, wrapped with bubble-wrap.  
 

A sugar jar from last fall, but playing with photo editing.