Dr. Wheel-good...

  Ok, so I haven't posted in a while...make that a long while...and I haven't turned anything in quite a long while, but I decided TODAY was the day!  

  Apparently the universe had different plans...dad turns on a tall wheel he built 30 some odd years ago...he says it's better for your back, but to me it's just too tall and I enjoy the variable speed foot pedal this one doesn't have...(see below) I prefer the standard shorter Brent CXC wheel (to the right of gigantor the too tall turning tractor seat wheel) ok, back to the point...

  Dad takes the smaller wheel to shows occasionally to do live throwing demonstrations, (sooooo not on my agenda anytime in the near future) and today we needed to get the wheel off the back of the trailer and back in the shop.  Except that when we did, the aforementioned variable speed foot pedal no longer worked...well, that's not entirely accurate...it worked, there just wasn't any variable speed, in fact there was only on...no off...hmmmmm, could be an issue?

(Gigantor tractor seat dad wheel = left; reasonable normal height wheel = right)

After a short discussion about why cutting off the pedal from the other wheel we use for trimming and reattaching it to this wheel might temporarily fix the problem, but wasn't a great idea...since long after he and his electrical "rigging" skills are gone I am going to have to deal with the fallout...

So he goes digging around and manages to find the EXACT part he needed to repair properly...(imagine that) So the wheel Dr goes to work:

So while I entertain the cat, dad Macgyver's the wheel pedal and all is back to operational...perhaps the NEXT time will be more productive (but not likely to be as entertaining!) 

I can handle this...

  Finally...I sat down at the wheel today and actually turned a few pieces.  My last several attempts were complete failures...dad says some days it works and the other days you just close the shop door and go back to the house. 

  I was pleased that today the lumps of mud stood up and actually looked like a cylinder.  (The walls were even close to the same thickness on both sides!) ha!

  So I turned those cylinders into coffee mugs!  Well...I turned those cylinders into coffee holding cups...ugh, I hate pulling handles.  I know you can extrude them, but they are never just what I want, and the scale always seems off.  So, after I let them dry as long as I could (some may also refer to this step as procrastination) it was time to attach handles.

I think they turned out ok...now as long as they survive the firing! (Famous last words...) maybe the kiln fairy will trim them for me so they don't become coffee holding cups again? Ha! 

Every 50 years or so...

Whether you need to or not, every 50 years or so you should clean up the shop.  Well, that's my dad's idea of "spring cleaning" anyway...

  The second week of February is when you should be turning...especially when you have a show in March.  But Dad is a really great procrastinator...(as several of you who have ordered custom items can attest) but he procrastinates in such a way that you don't always notice he's not doing what he's supposed to be...because he's usually busy doing something else!   Hence the storyline of this blog entry...

  The Hilton Homeplace has been not only home to 4 Generations of Hilton potters, but it was also declared a century farm by the state of North Carolina in 2013.  There have been Hiltons living, farming, and "potting" there since the civil war.  

Do you know how much "stuff" accumulates in 100+ years?  A LOT!  Dad's shop...back when it was HIS grandfather's was actually the chicken hatchery...(where the baby chicks live until they move into the chicken house with the adult chickens...which is now the Gallery).

 

 My grandfather (Poppie), Boyd S. Hilton, turned it into his pottery studio many many years ago and after dad, Boyd R. Hilton, graduated high school he and Poppie added on to the original shop creating  the space we now use for slab work, glazing, and firing.  (Some 50 years ago) 

  Now, those of you who know dad, know that "spring cleaning" is more likely to mean "getting rust off of springs" than what you and I consider "spring cleaning" and yet the glaze area had taken on a life of its own...and kiln stilts? Forget EVER finding 2 the same height!  Things just kinda end up where they were last used...

..."Dad, have you seen"...(insert item you are looking for here) "sure Heather, it's right there!" (Dad points to the below pile)

  So Saturday dad and his long time "right hand" Dan decided to build new shelves...that apparently needed to be able to support the weight of my car...to hold glaze & kiln stilts.  (Hmmmm, could this be a productive form of procrastination?) 

I have to say, these 60+ year old men worked me to the point of exhaustion, but we can actually get to the things we need now.  

Although I am still convinced it is more of an excuse not to start turning, the shop is ready for glazing...(just nothing made to glaze yet!). So lesson learned...in 2064, I guess we will "spring clean" again? 

"Hairy" Houdini...

  This is how my Saturday turned into "Caturday".  Allow me to tell you the tale of this hairy little escape artist with a fluffy little tail...

  A few days ago this little black cat started showing up around dad's looking for someplace warm and mybe some food.  Not willing to let the poor thing starve dad started feeding her...(mistake #1) then we got snow...and dad didn't want her to freeze so he let her in to eat food before he put her back out...

(This is still a pottery blog...I'm getting there)

  So now, having been invited in, this little monster knows how the "other half" lives.  Not willing to be cast out into the cold she finds a broken window pane and chews her way through the "temporary" replacement pane and finds her way back into the house after 2am...not once, not twice, but 3 times between 2am and 4am.  (I might mention here that upon each successful breach the barricade to keep her out became increasingly Macgyver-ed)  In a house already full with 2 dogs and another cat, there were loud objections to this "cat burglar" waking the entire house each time and earning her "Houdini" name...

  Ok, you have been patient and we are getting to the pottery part...I finally had some time to come visit dad and start turning a few things today.  When it became evident that turning pots from frozen and thawed clay was not going to work in my favor, I switched to hand building. 

  This...is where "Hairy" Houdini comes in. Sweet as can be, but the most mischievous cat I have seen in a long time Houdini decided she should help me...by walking all over the drying racks!  

  So this October, if your platters and trays have "paws" on them, now you know why!  

If you fire it, they will come...

Ok, not quite the same as baseball fields and Kevin Costner...but the 10th Anniversary Hilton Homeplace Sale was a big success!  This was the "last" year of the free cider cups (last being tentative since I heard that the 5th year was also the "last" year).  Nevertheless the free cider cups (also affectionately referred to as "those damnedable giveaway cups" by my father) were a big hit.  We had a line waiting at 8am wrapped around the corner and into the parking lot...

It is really humbling to think about how much this event has grown since the first show in 2003.  That was a true "kiln opening" with dad (BR Hilton) Sybil (Pottery by Sybil) and John (John Hilton) where the three of them literally opened the kiln on Saturday morning and sold pottery from it. 

  Now the show has 8-10 potters, 3 generations of Hilton potters, live throwing demonstrations, a Hilton Homeplace cookbook, and we've invited 700 of our closest friends and family to show up in dad's front yard to shop...(shameless PR plug here...it's the 2nd Saturday in October each year info at www.hiltonpottery.com) We have so many visitors from all over the country...even 96 South Carolina (just past 95 but before 97 ha ha!)  thanks so much for all of your continued support. 

  While I don't know that I would quite call myself a potter, I certainly would say the light at the end of the tunnel is not a speeding train headed for me...that is I guess to say, if you fire it...they will come...

Thanks so much to all of the friends, family, and customers who helped make my 3rd pottery sale a success.  I still say it's cheaper than therapy...and I have to get rid of it all so I can make more!  Until then...

Wood you believe that?

Well if it looks like wood, and feels like wood...it must be clay! (Wait, what?)

My adventures with texture appear to have been successful.  The trays with wood grain actually made it through the firing without warping or cracking!  

I made a few larger trays with leaf and acorns so hopefully they will survive as well.  The large leaf sets appear to have survived, and a few other things will be added to the shelves for the October 12th show.  Hope to see you there! 

Those legal, perfectly legal, herb pots...

  Again I have to share that while dad tells stories of running a "little pot business" from the "family farm" he does, in fact, mean pottery...so as I share pictures on Facebook of my "herb pots" you can only imagine the comments I get from those who aren't exactly looking for a piece to use for planting their parsley and cilantro.

  The few mini-planters (and I do mean mini not many) seemed to survive glaze firing and will be available for the October show...(I am forced as the chief marketing officer to insert shameless Hilton Homeplace 10th Anniversary Sale promotion here). Stop by and see us the second Saturday each October.  

I will also have a few trivets to place hot pottery on in your serving area without worrying about damage to your dining table or countertops.