Firing tomorrow, Monday, and unload Thursday morning. A prayer to the kiln gods would be appreciated :-)
Sunday, July 10, 2016
KILN READY TO GO
Spent the last two days loading the gas kiln at the Hui No'Eau, the community studio. The kiln is a 24 cu ft updraft kiln, built about 15 years ago, with lots of use, and it shows. Luckily there is another one just like it, as well as a 30 cu ft downdraft that has not yet been fired. The facilities at this studio are amazing, and it's nice to hang out with other potters after spending time in my home studio. I usually have one or two people helping load, which makes it a lot easier. Much of the ware is made by students in one of the courses that run year around, so checking bottoms and galleries for glaze drips is necessary. The studio still uses mullite kiln shelves, weighing 20+ lbs for a 12"x24" shelf- and getting the last few top layers stacked is quite something! I figure as long as I keep doing yoga twice a week I can do it- when I can't do the yoga it may be time for someone younger....
Firing tomorrow, Monday, and unload Thursday morning. A prayer to the kiln gods would be appreciated :-)
Firing tomorrow, Monday, and unload Thursday morning. A prayer to the kiln gods would be appreciated :-)
Sunday, July 3, 2016
I'M BACK
Well, it's been a while- almost a whole year since I last wrote. Not sure what happened- after two weeks in Vancouver last summer I just stopped writing.
Since then, many changes: I am now the official- i.e. paid- tech guy at the local community studio. I get to fire the kilns, mix glazes, etc. Since I was doing all that anyway, it's just nice to get paid for it. I'm also teaching at the studio- first a hand building course, and now a more advanced throwing course. And unlike teaching physics 40 years ago, I'm enjoying this. Probably more in the fall- another attempt to get enough students for a teapot class. Doing all this, and making some of my own stuff, plus keeping 3 acres under control (although Sal does most of that), maintaining an off the grid house, etc, makes for a busy life- not at all what I expected when we moved here.
I started making sushi platters out of slabs of clay I rolled out with a two inch dowel. Hard work, and really slow. I was whining about that, when Bob Flint, another instructor at the studio, gave me an old slab roller he didn't want anymore. Needed a bit of work, but I just got it together. Now I can make bigger things!
Here is a photo of the monster- it's 40" across- more than I will ever need.
Since then, many changes: I am now the official- i.e. paid- tech guy at the local community studio. I get to fire the kilns, mix glazes, etc. Since I was doing all that anyway, it's just nice to get paid for it. I'm also teaching at the studio- first a hand building course, and now a more advanced throwing course. And unlike teaching physics 40 years ago, I'm enjoying this. Probably more in the fall- another attempt to get enough students for a teapot class. Doing all this, and making some of my own stuff, plus keeping 3 acres under control (although Sal does most of that), maintaining an off the grid house, etc, makes for a busy life- not at all what I expected when we moved here.
I started making sushi platters out of slabs of clay I rolled out with a two inch dowel. Hard work, and really slow. I was whining about that, when Bob Flint, another instructor at the studio, gave me an old slab roller he didn't want anymore. Needed a bit of work, but I just got it together. Now I can make bigger things!
Here is a photo of the monster- it's 40" across- more than I will ever need.
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