The Return of Ducks Head

I have been waiting a long time to make this announcement...and so have many of you. Ducks Head Black is finally back. It has taken a lot longer than I thought it would to reformulate this incredible combination of black, silver, green, blue and iridescence. First it was too black, then it was too green, then it was too iridescent. If I got all of these qualities in balance, the glaze wouldn't suspend well or wouldn't apply well or wouldn't form a solid coating when raw. Potters don't judge a glaze solely on its fired appearance and that can make the road a long one indeed.

And it's premature to suggest that I have reached th end of that road on this one. in fact, every glaze I have formulated will be in the "tweaking" stage for a long time to come. That is no less true of Ducks Head. In addition, this particular glaze is very finicky with regard to application. Like Heather Blue, there is a fine line between too thin and too thick. Experience and practice will take care of that.

Of course, the cruel irony in that is the fact that the cold weather is rapidly approaching. As I write this, we are having our first snow storm. Check out the date on this post. We do expect things to get better for the next week or so, but I'm getting the hint. It will be time to shut down the studio and drain the water pipes very soon. To compensate, I'm doing as much glazing in Ducks Head and Ducks Head & Turquoise as I can so that I can have at least a modest stock of items. I'll be focusing on mugs and other small items.

When I do close the studio for the season, I'll be posting a complete inventory list on the web site so that people cans ee what is available in the off season. In addition, I'll be working in my home studio producing some items as well.

It's time to go back to the tile project now.

Coming up: Building a new studio in 2012...?

In Time for the Holidays!

The Web outage didn't last long, but someone did have to push a Big Red Button to get things squared away. Honestly, software that likes to add irrelevant bits and pieces without consulting me just boggles my mind.

But enough of technical woes. The web site is functioning just fine now thanks to the folks at DailyRazor.com.

I'm very pleased to announce that the Cutout Candle Holder is available just in time for the Holiday season. I have made a limited run of these popular candle holders in the new Evergreen glaze and they are expected to sell quickly.

The Cutout Candle Holder was originally created by Sheila Varnum at Rowantrees as a means of salvaging pint pitchers that had not survived the trimming process. Occasionally the spout would split making the pitcher impossible to complete. If that happened, Sheila would cut the top portion of the pitcher off and cut designs out of the side. The evergreen tree design was the most popular and gives off the most light even from a small candle.

As with all my products, these holders are made one at a time by hand. The tree images are cut out freehand. Each piece is unique and the new Evergreen glaze is eye-popping.

This edition is available in the Evergreen glaze only. If you are interested, they are $35 each or a pair for $60. You can order them on the Lowell Hill Pottery web site.

Next item up for discussion: Announcing the new Ducks Head glaze!

The Web Site is Down...Temporarily

And only temporarily. Technical glitches happen just like...that other thing that happens now and then. This morning, I discovered that my web site turned into an "INTERNAL SERVER ERROR" some time during the night. A support ticket has been generated and I expect the problem will be corrected pretty quickly. The hosting service I use is generally very responsive to these issues.

My apologies if this problem is inconveniencing you. The email address is working, so you can contact me at office@lowellhillpottery.com if you need anything.

Of course, things like this choose the worst possible times to happen. I am just about to announce that Ducks Head Black is FINALLY back! I will detail that one in the next post along with an announcement of a holiday special.

Then there is the matter of my Established Customer discount program. I'm putting the final touches on that one and will announce it in the next week or so. So keep an eye on this blog. Things are in motion!