BIG HILL POTTERY'S BLOG

It’s almost over…..

bighillpottery — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:25:41 +0000

and so on this winter solstice day, I want to say a very deeply felt THANK YOU to everyone who pops in here and checks out what’s been going on at the Pottery! The thought that the days will now start to lengthen is a good one, altho I realise that in many ways we haven’t even begun to experience those deep, dark winter moments!

It has been a very good year, personally and at the Pottery. We took part in the Artisan Trail map, produced by Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, this was very successful. As anyone who has ventured up the Big Hill can attest to, we are off the beaten track for sure, and this map was tremendously important and helpful in bringing customers to our studio.

Every Wednesday, from the beginning of June until the end of October (plus a Christmas market in December) found us setting up our tables at the Baddeck Farmer’s Market which was not only fun but very successful. Thank you to all the folks who organized this weekly event! And thanks also to all the wonderful regulars who showed up and spent their time (and money!) visiting us!

The Christmas show, Holiday Spirits, put on by the Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design, in Sydney was another wonderful event.

Not only was it well attended, looked fabulous – but was organized well and I certainly felt very well taken care of by the staff….A Huge Thank you to them!!! Sales were great (up 25% from 2010), and I always enjoy meeting customers and getting to know the other artists.

Now with only a few days let of 2011, I want to take this opportunity to send my wishes to everyone for a joyful and cheery holiday season….wishing everyone peace, love and contentment for 2012.

and finally, one of my favorite quotes….”BE BRAVE, STAY CALM, WATCH FOR THE SIGNS” (thanks to Dead Dog Cafe for that one!!)

Getting closer…

bighillpottery — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:34:15 +0000

Things have been movin’ and a grovin’ in the studio for the past week or so. Already have 2 glaze kilns fired and the 3rd one went on this afternoon….that was after i had loaded it and then had to unload it because i realised i’d put decoration on a tea-pot that was meant for an order that didn’t want decoration – i realised this at the very top of the kiln, where the teapots were to go…and the lid was, of course, at the very bottom of the kiln!!! After a mini tantrum and a small amount of self berating, i reloaded it… actually the reloading wasn’t that painful and didn’t take too long!
There is probably another 1 or maybe 2 kiln loads waiting….but things are moving along very nicely, mostly due to the wonders of the computerized kiln….have I mentioned how much I love this piece of equipment!!! Apart from being computerized it takes half the time, which means i can get twice as many kilns fired in the same amount of time!

I want to showcase some of the new items that will be available at the upcoming shows…..

These are the new Sushi sets….there are 3-4 different plate shapes, each comes with 2 small dipping bowls, 2 sets of chopsticks, and will retail from $55 – 69. Seen here are the Cream Gloss and Floating Blue glazes, they will also be available in the Celadon glaze.

This is the oval platter, which retails for $65.00, and the new espresso cup and saucer set, which will retail at $28 a set.

A dinner plate ($39), new shallower butter dish ($44), small teapot, retails for $59 (just right for 2-3 cups) and the new espresso cup and saucer set ($28).

Just a reminder that we have gift certificates available, for those folks you have a hard time deciding whether they’d like a teapot or a serving bowl!

The Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design’s Holiday Spirit show up in Sydney:

December 1st 5-9pm
December 2nd 5-8pm
December 3rd 10am to 6pm
December 4th 12pm to 5pm

Also, I will be at the Baddeck Christmas Farmer’s Market, Wednesday, 14th December, at the Masonic Lodge, Baddeck. Times will be 11am – 2pm.

Hope to see you at one of the upcoming shows. If you’d like to come visit us up on the Big Hill, please call ahead….295 2726, we’re always happy to see you!

Seems like we’re finally getting that winter storm we have been promised. It’s been snowing since around 2pm. But just to underline how mild this November has been, here’s Terry out fishing, at Englishtown beach, just last week!

and he actually caught a couple of fish!!!

The past month…..

bighillpottery — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:34:25 +0000

This has been the most amazing November…well until yesterday, when the wind was whipping around and the rain was lashing down….we lost power for most of the day! Luckily I had planned to do some slab work in the studio so I managed to do that in the semi darkness….and that’s the end of the wet work for this upcoming christmas season!

The warmth and the colour of this fall season have been truly spectacular.

I’m coming up to a couple of weeks of glazing, decorating and firing the pots, to get ready for the Christmas show in Sydney, at the beginning of December. Holiday Spirits will take place at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design: here are the hours:

· December 1st 5-9pm
· December 2nd 5-8pm
· December 3rd 10am to 6pm
· December 4th 12pm to 5pm

Got quite a few new items which i’ll show once they’ve been fired….but here are a couple of shots of pieces waiting to be finished!

We are also going to be offering Gift Certificates at the shows and here in the studio, so for those of you who find it difficult to pick the right glaze for that person on your christmas list….you don’t have to sweat it, they can make up their own mind!

I’ll leave you with this image from the other night, this is down in Baddeck around 4.30pm….i’m still finding it difficult to accept how dark it gets so early in the evening…but i’m told there are only 6 more weeks till the shortest day, then it’s all up from there!

A small update….

bighillpottery — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:55:20 +0000

I thought I’d do a catch up blog, since it’s been a busy couple of months …. There has been lots of comings and goings of wwoofers (willing workers on organic farms), and we just said farewell to the last one, Karen from Estonia. She was an absolute delight to have here and we were very sad to see her go!

Here she is deconstructing the garden the other day, when it was extremely cold and we had our first wood stove of the season on!

It feels very sad to put the garden to rest for the winter, all that promise of growth from seeds, such an amazing feeling when the planting begins! I was particularly disappointed in my tomato yield, lots of wonderful and lush and bushy plants, and loads of big tomatoes, but with the soggy summer we had, hardly any of them ripened….I’ve got lots of green tomatoes sitting on window ledges trying to ripen them……this is a shot of some of the one’s I didn’t keep, they did this weird splitting thing!

Karen also had fun in the studio….I showed her how to throw and she did pretty good….her main comment at the end of the hour she spent there was that she felt stiff and sore and had a huge respect now for what we potters do…..

We had a farewell party for Richard a couple of weeks ago….he was with us for over 4 months and mornings are not the same…..he was always up earlier than me and so the coffee was always brewing when I headed to the kitchen!

Here’s Richard taking part in the new game we learned “boot toss” – from our Danish mother and daughter wwoofing team…..

And here he is on his way to his next adventure, winter in Toronto and London!

The construction of the addition is moving on very well…..and now with no more wwoofers it’s mostly up to Terry to complete, he’s doing a wonderful job and the space will be a welcomed addition.

And finally, in the studio…things have been busy and we’ve had a successful season, even better than last year, mainly due to being on the Artists Map of Cape Breton and the sign we put up at the bottom of the road…..now it is time to get product ready for the Christmas season. I started a couple of days ago with some slab work….I love these new wooden stamps I have, the patterns and textures are just wonderful.

So that’s about it for now! Our showroom will be open by appointment after the 15th October, but please feel free to call us 902 295 2726 to see if we are here – cos we probably are!

A day at Big Hill….

bighillpottery — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:31:56 +0000

What a lot of industrious goings on here today: the new addition to the side of the workshop is coming along very fast and furiously! So here’s what went on around here today:

Maud, a new Wwoofer from Quebec has done the most amazing job weeding in our large garden…now i can actually see where my tomato plants are growing!!

Pier-David, Maud’s partner – has also been amazing in the weeding of the garden….they are both sporting the classic bug shirt or hat….absolutely necessary if you want to keep some sense of sanity while working in the garden!

Richard is getting ready to start nailing the floor on the addition! he sure looks eager eh!!!

I trimmed a bunch of mugs, teapots (seen here), creamers, jugs and more….this is me carving a teapot before the spout and handle are attached!

Terry et al starting to put down the floor…..

the guys have done a great job…and the floor is half down!!!

And to round out the day, Terry and I headed down to Englishtown beach…him with his fishing rod and me with my camera! some quiet moments were had!

and now it’s time for dinner….

Happy Canada Day!

bighillpottery — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:35:44 +0000

Well, here we are, July 1st…..and it’s the 140th celebration of Canada Day – time to remember what a wonderful place we live in! I’ve had a great day so far, working in the studio and listening to good old CBC (the main thing that links me, and many other artists…to the rest of the country)…..lots of great music, stories about how people have found their way to Canada. And me being an immigrant, it feels all the more poignant.

I thought it was also a good time to remind you that the showroom is now open!!!

You can find us here for sure…..

JULY – OCTOBER

TUESDAY – SATURDAY
10 AM – 5 PM

The chances are good that we will be here on sundays and mondays, but it’s best to call ahead (902 295 2726) cos we might have taken the canoe out for the day!

We are now in full summer mode….here’s our crazy friend Richard…taking the plunge into the pond.

I’m sure folks could hear his yells down in Baddeck!!

Summer just would not be complete without being outside at the market this past wednesday!

which reminds me, altho the showroom will still have some pots in it on Wednesdays, the bulk of the work will be with me at the market: WEDNESDAYS: 11AM – 2PM – NEXT TO THE LIBRARY.

Now doesn’t that just make you want to pull up the old chaise longues, poor a nice cool gin and tonic, and get into your summer reading !

Have a happy Canada Day wherever you are – hopefully we’ll head down to the Baddeck Harbour, this evening, to see some fireworks!

Farmer’s Market Starts Up!

bighillpottery — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:13:36 +0000

Well, another farmer’s market season started last week in Baddeck!
Wednesdays, 11 am – 2pm, beside the Baddeck Library. June thro to the end of October!

Boy what a chilly day it was, windy and pretty cold, but 3 of us set up outside….total nutters mind you….and the rest were inside (the smart ones!) So, when i headed down there this morning, leaving a very foggy Big Hill, i thought i would absolutely set up inside this time! Well, down in Baddeck it was much clearer, warmer so happily i set up outside again! To tell the truth, it would be so weird not to be set up beside George and Cora Lee!!!

There is such a wonderful array, even this early in the season, of vendors at this delightful community event. Here are a few examples…..

Michael Magnini, Winter Winery, has wonderful mead and honeywine.
Terry creates these beautiful wooden spoons and other implements.

Dennis and Judith not only have an amazing offering of vegetables of all kinds, right now it’s fiddle head season, but they also keep bees and make their own delicious honey.

Barbara Fitzpatrick has a very lush array of herbs (the lavender smelt divine!), tomatoes and much more!

Ashley House offers the most mouthwatering wood fired brick oven baked sourdough breads…totally awesome!
Michelle Smith is well known for her extremely tempting baked goods, and she always has fresh coffee on the go!

Everyone has a great time, especially when the weather is bright and sunny!

I also want to show a couple of the newer items in the showroom!

The new Open Casserole is being very well received as is the Brie Baker! Both come in all three glazes and are oven proof, microwave and dishwasher safe!

ok, that’s about all she wrote this time!!! Been a long day and i now have to unpack all the pots i packed up this morning, that i unpacked for the market and repacked to leave…..jezzzz….such a lot of packing going on here!

Getting Ready!

bighillpottery — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:44:24 +0000

May is almost over and we are being dragged into the work that now needs to be done to get the garden in shape, the pottery full of pots for the upcoming season. It just seems to happen overnight. For the past few months life has been pretty laid back, my wonderful daughter Bronwyn came for a visit….it rained most days but we had a marvelous time none the less…it was so great to have work in the studio alongside me….
we explored so many places around the island….here are a few shots:

And now we have the help of wonderful wwoofers! Richard has returned for this summer and here he is directing Terry in the truck which is full of horse shit….great stuff for the garden!

Here are Richard and Amandine, from France, unloading the pile of horse shit to be integrated into the garden, what a great job they did!!!

And before all this happened….the garden was prepared yesterday…..getting ready for the horse shit!!!

And finally, last but not least, the pottery studio and showroom are being given much attention! We had a great sale here on the Mother’s day weekend…..and i forgot to put out a post about that…it was hugely successful… lots of folks visiting and buying….helping me clear out the old and slightly flawed pieces. Everyone had a great time!

The showroom is now open, by appointment until the beginning of June. Then, we will be here, Tuesday thro Saturday, 10am – 5pm….maybe good to give a call in June cos things aren’t really grovin too much and we might take the day off to go for a hike!
But, you can also find us at the Baddeck Farmer’s Market, each wednesday from 11 – 2pm, right next to the library, and we start Wednesday, June 1st!

Welcome to spring on Cape Breton Island, where it can rain, hail and god knows what else in the same day….kinda like Scotland, no wonder i feel so at home here!

Glaze workingshop!

bighillpottery — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 16:19:36 +0000

I’ve always loved teaching, and I especially like it when a gang of folks that know each other very well, come to the studio to do a workshop. This group of women were a lot of fun! It started a few months ago, one of them was having a birthday weekend at one of the cabins, they hired me to do a throwing workshop, and so now they had to come back to do the glazing part!

click on the images for a larger version!

Glazes in their raw form look nothing like the fired piece so there were lots of questions, and much confusion, but they were great sports…..and basically they just wanted to have fun!!!

These women have been getting together on a very frequent basis, for over 8 years. They sing, play music, drink and basically have a blast! I’ve been invited to become a new member of this tribe…..I’m pretty happy about that.

NEW KILN…..

bighillpottery — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:14:59 +0000

What an amazing thing this new kiln is….I have to say I was pretty apprehensive firing the first glaze load in the new computerized kiln! I wanted the safety of the familiar, the understanding of how my old kiln works, where the hot spots are….when to turn the middle back etc…..in a word, I was a bit worried! Well, let me tell you, what a treat this firing has been…..we put it on yesterday evening around 5pm, our manual told us that a fast glaze firing to cone 6 would take approximately 4 1/2 hours…..the old kiln took, on a good day….13 hours!!!! So I was rather skeptical that this kiln would fire in less than 1/2 the time! It did in fact take a little longer…6 1/2 hours in total, so only 2 hours over the estimated time….and I went to bed an hour before the firing ended!!! Never heard of doing such a thing in all my history of being a potter! I usually have cones to watch, knobs to fiddle with etc…..Terry did of course stay up and was the keeper of the kiln firing for me. But he didn’t have to do anything – just check and make sure it actually shut itself off – and it did!!! I am in love with my new shiny kiln!!!

Here are a few shots of the pieces from the first firing.

And here’s the other wonderful thing….it fired so evenly that the 3 main glazes can be situated anywhere in the kiln…i used to have to figure out how to make sure the celadon glaze got a bit hotter – all the work looked great. There was a bit of a disaster, 2 open casseroles, with the cream gloss glaze, ran too much and stuck to my brand new shelf…that was just sad!!!

I totally love the look of a pile of pots just fresh out of the kiln….here’s a shot of most of the first firing!

Not only did the firing take less than 1/2 the time the old kiln took…..it cools down way faster too!! so we were able to start the firing at 5pm last night, and unload the kiln this afternoon around 4pm!!!

I’m am going to say it, cos I know a few friends of mine are already saying it…..why did I take so long to move up in the technological world…..truth be told….money mostly. I got a wonderful grant from Cape Breton Craft and Design Centre, in Sydney which enable me to even think about this new kiln!