2018-03-10 - Saturday - Wood firing

Saturday was the wood kiln firing. It's a community affair, like a barn raising. If you took a barn apart piece by piece and burned it, that is.

It really is a lot of fun.

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2018-03-09 - Friday - Empty Bowls and loading kiln

Friday we unloaded some bowls for Empty Bowls. I was pleased with the slip transfers.

Later I went out to Lawndale to load Hal's kiln for the next day's firing.

Hal in his kiln.

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September 15 - FIRE!

Saturday was firing day in Lawndale.

We fired the kiln by throwing wood in the firebox until we achieved the correct temperature and the pots were done.

We had a lot of fun during the day and a great lunch, not to mention lots of boiled peanuts.

Afterwards we had a beer and visited for a bit before heading down the road to home.

I can't tell you how great it is to be a part of this firing.  It's fellowship, the joy of making, the anticipation of the finished pots, and enjoying time with the great people doing it.  Hal and Corine have such a wonderful home you can feel the good karma all around you.  It's a magical place and I feel honored every time I visit.

If you have a chance to attend one of their home sales, you can see what I mean.  Don't miss it.

Back to the firing...

During one of the breaks I snapped some photos of the various artwork that sits atop the kiln.

The crew taking a breather.
Adrienne, Hal, Dave, and Chad.

That's over 2000 F.
If you don't think so, stand next to it for a second.

Hot stuff.

Finished with the final blast,
some of the pots are visible behind the flames.
Time to close it up and let it cool slowly.
A job well done.

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September 14 - Loading the kiln

After catching up last month I have fallen woefully behind again.  I have too many things to make one big catch-up post so I am going to throw these posts up quickly to get current but not leave out any fun stuff.  Hang with me, here we go.

On Friday we loaded the wood kiln at Hal and Corine's place in Lawndale.  Hal climbs in the groundhog kiln and loads the pots using a very sophisticated transport system:  a laundry basket that we slide back and forth over the firebox on two boards.  Hey, it works.

There were a lot of pots to load but he got them all in and the basket made many trips.  After that, it was time to shovel the old ash and charcoal out of the firebox so we could fill it up again when we fired it.

After everything was done it was time to go home.  We'd be back tomorrow to heat it up.

Hal loading the kiln.

Chad taking a bucket of ash from Hal.

Hal digging out the ash.

Yup, it's really Hal.

You can see him standing in the firebox.

That's a hard-working man.

That's a finely loaded kiln.

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2009-05-20 Wednesday in Lawndale

On Wednesday I was invited to Hal and Corine's home in Lawndale to a wonderful dinner in honor of Dave and Mary's visit from Salt Lake City. Corine and Hal have a warm, comfortable home and it was a pleasure to visit them there.

We sat on the back deck for a while and caught up before dinner. Soon a fine repast was on the table. We dug in quickly and I don't believe there were any leftovers. After eating we looked at the kiln, took a walk down to the creek, fed the goats, and enjoyed a magical gloaming.

Once back at the house, Corine delighted us with toasted home made pound cake topped with fresh strawberrys and ice cream. Ah, simple yet decadent. We spent more time in great conversation and all too soon it was time to leave.

I would like to thank Corine and Hal for giving us a special evening with great friends. It's important to slow down once in a while and just enjoy an evening. Thanks for reminding us of that.

Time to feast.
(Notice all the great pottery!)

The wood kiln.

Inside.

Further inside.
The fire box is in the forgroud
and the floor of the kiln streches
back to the shelves.

Down by the creek.

The sun is heading down for the night.

It was an evening of easy laughter.

See those people waaayy down there?

Same people after zooming in on them.
(I enjoy playing with my new camera.)

Heading back from the walk.
There's the kiln shed, the house
and the big vegetable garden in the background.

Some beautiful pots on the porch.

The decadent dessert.

Hal with their not-so-wild cat.

Dave and Terry...

Terry and Mary...

Mary and Ron...

Corine and Hal.