I just looked back over these photos, sorry for the quality, I was shooting outside and it was freezing and I was in a hurry! I really have to get a better set up!!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A few things from the kiln
I just looked back over these photos, sorry for the quality, I was shooting outside and it was freezing and I was in a hurry! I really have to get a better set up!!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
That's the way I like it
Thursday, November 25, 2010
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
I was up at 5:30 this morning, shoved a poor dead bird carcass in the oven and now I will sear it's flesh so that I can feed it to 14 hungry people at noon today. Sound yummy? I think the rooster next door is feeling the pain of his mates today, he has been crowing like a mad bird all morning. Here are a couple of barn pics that I snapped yesterday in the worst possible light, but I was really tired and didn't feel like setting up my ridiculous photo thing for the perfect shots. Just take my word for it, they look better in person! For some reason, the camera doesn't want to see these barns the way my eye sees them, they get sort of distorted, so I don't really jump at the chance to photograph them, plus they hardly last long enough to get a shot, I sell them as fast as I can make them. I have two commissions right now that have got to get done SOON! Maybe this afternoon after everyone goes home. Just kidding!
Have a very blessed day with your families today!!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Really good firing!
My barns are all toasty brown and craggy. This is the grogweemee clay from Starworks and I love love love it! I used it for hand building and throwing and I was very happy with it.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Stoking music
Does it get any better than this? I just don't think so, I have a good life!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Shiny Happy People
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What's going on?!?!?
I don't know what is going on with my firings. The first day of the Raku workshop all went well. Second day the same glazes that melted fine, did not melt as well. The glazes are not melting at all now. Example: my simple tried and true Gerstely Borate/Neph Sy base does not melt on the first fire, but if I re fire it melts. I use this base as a white or I add mason stains for colors and it has never failed me. One of the workshop participants had a bowl explode the first day, so I thought maybe some of the debris was affecting the burners. Yesterday, I took the shelves out, blew out all the debris, blew out the burners, didn't help. My thermocouple also got bent during the workshop and I'm wondering if the temp is not regestering correctly. If the glazes had not melted on the first day of the workshop, I would think that maybe it was the chemicals in the glaze, but now my only conclusion is that maybe the pyrometer is wrong thanks to a bent thermocouple. It's really frustrating to lose so much work, but luckily I was able to salvage a good bit. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Maybe I shouldn't use my kiln for workshops?!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A better day, but busy
I started the day early, package shipped out, had Thanksgiving groceries bought before 9am, I'm set to cook for 15 of Gerry's family next week, recycled clay, glazed bowls for the wood firing this weekend, cleaned up the Raku carnage, and went to lunch with Gerry, all before 1pm. Whew!
Now the second part of my day begins, off to throw some bowls!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The very, very, very, very,very bad day
Yesterday was a completely mind numbing day. I had a ton of stuff to Raku fire for holiday shows, I like Raku for the holidays, it's so sparkly and different. I should have sat down on the sofa and read a good book when, first thing, I dropped a sculpture and broke it in half, but no, I went on out to the kiln and fired cycle after cycle, work over fired sitting right beside work that under fired, same glaze same shelf, I dropped pieces and broke them, ears broke off of really cute sheep, dependable glazes fired miserably, I lost about 60% of the work I fired. I did get one really great bowl and a few very nice ornaments, but really, the loss is enough to make you want to give up Raku altogether. I'll post pics when I go back out to clean up. It got dark on me and I left the carnage where it lay. Oh and to top off a really bad day, I got the thin "thank you so much for applying, but....." letter from the Durham Arts Council, fourth year in a row I didn't get the emerging artist grant. I give up on that fucking thing, how many years can I be an emrging artist anyway? I haven't a clue what those people want, something I don't have obviously! So, I'll leave you with my very favorite poem, as I start my day with more reliable terra sig work to do!
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Bascom
The thing I found interesting about this show was that some of the more well known potter names were not present. I don't know if they didn't apply or if the juror had different criteria for selection, but the artists that were chosen were some that I know but not the ones you see over and over in every magazine and gallery out there. I felt very honored to be one of the artists chosen considering the work that was in this show!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Smoking Pots
I also have a new thing I like to make. I sat down and threw some large platters yesterday, fun, fun!! I really like making them, never tried before, but they look pretty good. One will go in a wood firing in a couple of weeks, the rest in Raku. I'll post some pics after I fire them, how interested are you in seeing untrimmed platters on a bat anyway?!
Thanks for al the comments on the past few posts. I have sucked at replies, I zoom through my blog reading list, it just grows and grows, then I read your comments, and then it seems like it's time to go do something for someone. I'll try and get back at it.....
Monday, November 8, 2010
Dead Peasants
Have you heard about Dead Peasant's insurance? Maybe I have been under a rock but this is the first I have heard of it. You can google dead peasants and read lots more if you are curious like I was. Does anyone else think this is fucked up besides me? Our country is not governed by a government elected by "the people". It is governed by Bank of America, Wall Street, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. We need a REVOLUTION!!!!!
"Dead Peasant Insurance is sometimes used as a shorthand reference for life insurance policies that insure a company’s rank-and-file employees and name the company as the beneficiary. This means that the company receives the life insurance benefits when the covered employees die.
'Dead peasants' insurance pays your employer a secret, tax-free windfall when you die. Insurers have sold millions of policies to companies such as Dow Chemical.
Right now, your company could have a life insurance policy on you that you know nothing about. When you die -- perhaps years after you leave your employer -- the tax-free proceeds from this policy wouldnt go to your family. The money would go to the company.
Whats more, the company might use this policy to pay for retirement benefits and other perks not for you or your fellow workers, but for your companys top executives.
Sound outrageous? Such corporate-owned life insurance is also big business:
Companies pay a whopping $8 billion in premiums each year for such coverage, according to the American Council of Life Insurers, a trade group.
The policies make up more than 20% of the all the life insurance sold each year.
Companies expect to reap more than $9 billion in tax breaks from these policies over the next five years. The policies are treated as whole life policies. So, companies can borrow against the policies (though the IRS won't let them write off the interest). And the death benefits are tax-free.
Hundreds of companies -- including Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney and Winn-Dixie -- have purchased this insurance on more than 6 million rank-and-file workers
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Round Two
I have lots more pictures but this is all I got time for tonight. I'm really tired, I have fired 100 pieces of Raku in two days with six people and worked my ass off! Rewards were great though, everyone had such a good time and I ate really well for two days. I am soooo glad that everyone got good results, I love seeing the excitement that comes with a good Raku day.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Round One
Best part is that was where all the food was. These workshops come with great food. We had homemade foccacia, unreal! and apple turnovers, pear and almond tart, soup, beautiful salad, wine....... yum!