Back to basics

After far too long away from this enjoyable practice of writing down my thoughts, I'm back.  Teaching has wrapped up for the summer, as has my tech position.  This leaves me with some time to actually make some work again.  The studio has been cleaned, I head off tomorrow to pick up a new batch of clay and restock my tool box.  Funny thing how tools walk off, especially the one you really like. 

This past week saw me teaching the second of two day long workshops at friend and potter's Robbie Schmit.  She teaches wonderful kids and adult classes all of the school year at the Boys and Girls club in St. Catherines.  Every summer however she runs a weekly workshop with some of her adult students and her home studio.  She has been gracious and had me come for a couple of weeks for the last couple of summers.  It is always a great time with wonderful students, scenery and swimming.  As potters always seem to do the food is excellent too.

She always has a wrap up party later in the summer and I'll try to get some pics of the finished work.

train starts chugging

Yesterday we loaded the train at friend and fellow potter Darlene Benner's studio just outside of Hamilton. Four of us gathered around 10 am to load and miraculously managed to get all our pots in the kiln! It was a really nice mix of cups, bowls plates and bottles. A couple large vases went inthe throat arch, which always gets a bit blasted. After many weeks of wet rainy spring we were all surprised to find the kiln in very good shape and not wet. That being said it was a bit mossy, but a days firing will take care of that.

We had the load finished and the lid and kaowool cover on by 1 and with full bellies from a wonderful lunch had the fire lit and going by 3. After my shift which ended at 7 pm, we were at 600 f. Hopefully the evening and night went well and that they are chugging along well.


I have been doing as much woodfiring as I can the last couple of years and am starting to feel like i have a bit of a handle on loading and flame paths. I was allowed to do most of the loading yesterday which was a great treat. I hope what I think will happen happens and that everyone is happy with their work.

We are going to salt the kiln a bit, late in the firing. Hopefully all my Matt Long flashing slips get nice and wet! Bon feux mes ami !!!

eight days a week

Well things seem to be piling up around here again. The doorway at the College is finally up and looks fantastic! Thanks so much to the crew who work so hard to get it installed.

This week sees two wood kiln loadings, one gets fired, one opening reception, one gas kiln firing, and oh, the first humidex warning of the Spring!


I have been frantically making over the past two weeks to get the work made for the wood firings. It seems like I just finished the last batch and was back at it again. I wish I had manged to get a bit more time to make this round of work. Some of the forms seem a bit rushed and I would have liked to see more bottles get finished.


I have also been fighting with some terrible cracking in my large slab basket platters. They all seem to be cracking through the center as they dry. My favorite bullet proof clay seems to letting me down on these forms.

nudge

Sometimes I think that we are rewarded for the things we do, not the things we have done or the reputation we have built. We all put our heads down and work as hard as we do so that we can enjoy the time left with those we love. Today I was reminded by my sister of a voice in the back of my head which sometimes gets drowned out by all the other things going on. The voice that calls out to help those who cannot help themselves. To give a hand when needed. To do your part to better you community in any way you can. Not for yourself, but for everyone else, so they can lift their heads up from their work, and enjoy the ones they love.

Today I start this years bowl donation for empty bowls. This cause helps food banks all over the world stock their shelves. We here in Hamilton, through the Potters Guild of Hamilton and Region, donate thousands of dollars each year to our local food bank distributor, Hamilton Food Share.

Here goes the start on 100 for this year....

that's all

Today is the day the pots have to be to the kiln to start loading. I'm heading up this morning to help get the kiln ready and maybe start the week long loading. It's rainy and cold so it must be a spring firing. I managed to get a bunch of work ready and it is packed and ready to go.


The kiln was as always a cold damp wonderful place to be, filled with old friends and good conversation. We didn't get a lot done today by the pictures but it sure does eat up a lot of work on each shelf. We wondered if there was too much work and too little. Seems like we do this every time!

We got smart this time though and only brought down to the kiln enough work for the start of the back stack. Chris brought down this great potting table and we used that for what little brought to the

Here is a look at the first layer of work. Back bottom. I guess this is the last I'll see of it til it has been fired for 6 days and needs some fresh blood for the last shift! See you in 2 weeks pots.
Be safe, sturdy, and accepting of what ever comes your way...

Here we go again

Some times life gets in the way of the things we are doing, or maybe the things we are doing make up our lives? In either case my life has been changing and so I have been away from this place too long. I'm back and renewed and so is the blog!

Life became really busy around here about four months ago when we welcomed our daughter Olena to the world. My time flies by when your not able to pay attention to it.


Now that life is settling into a bit of a rhythm, I'm back to work and with a real push. I have 3 wood-firings on the horizon and a lot of work to do. None of the pots are made yet and the loading of the first one starts in a little over 2 weeks! EEEK!

I better get back to the studio, more to come, lots more.

2 steps forward one step back

Yesterday I realized that my plan for firing this doorway was not going to work as planned. I had loaded the whole kiln with only three posts per shelf. I hind sight this was a bad idea as the corners of the shelves without posts were not sturdy enough. So the whole things was unloaded and reloaded with double the posts. Each shelf now has 6 posts per shelf and is ready to fire. I has been candling since monday morning and will be fired slowly to cone ten tomorrow. If the day is dragging too long then I might only go to cone six. I'll play that by ear.

Last nigh the potters Guild of Hamilton and Region was treated to a presentation by Bruce Cochrane about his career and influences over his tenure as Head of the Ceramics Department at Sheridan College. Bruce is probably one of Canada's best potters. He has been making wonderfully designed and beautifully executed work for over 35 years. He has Retired as of this fall and is now exploring new found time and freedom in a shared studio space in Toronto. Good luck Bruce!