February 6 - Treasures of the Earth setup

Monday we (terra4m:  Becky, Elaine, Kim, and I) went to Shelby to set up for the Treasures of the Earth show.  We were invited by our friend Corine to show as a group in the annual event.  It was the first time we have showed as a group with our work mixed together and I think our different styles compliment each other nicely.

After the setup we enjoyed a nice meal with Corine and her husband Hal.  Good food is always better with good company so the meal was excellent.

We will all come back Thursday evening for the opening.  It should be fun.

Elaine adjusting things.

Becky and Elaine arranging.

Our "main" showcase where we all took a shelf.

Hal, Corine, and Elaine.

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January 31 - More empty bowls

Tuesday it was back to throwing empty bowls.  Clayworks is committed to providing 300 bowls for the event and we just keep chugging.  I have a bunch of bowls awaiting glazing and a bunch more to make.  Several good things come out of this endeavor.  We help support the Second Harvest Food Bank, we get to refine our bowl-making skills, and we get to try out new glaze combinations.  It's a win/win/win.

I am enjoying throwing the bowls.  When I've finished, I trim the bottoms and using the existing clay, throw a foot ring which I smooth and burnish with my fingers.  I think it adds a more professional looking foot.

Bisqued bowls awaiting glaze.

Bowls I trimmed tonight.

Signature.
(One dot, then two dots means 2012.)

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January 30 - Kiln opening

Monday we opened the kiln and were thrilled with the results.  While we don't ever want to fire that long again, at least the outcome was worth the time.

My favorite pot.

You can see my individual pots here.



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January 28-29 L-o-o-o-o-o-n-g firing

Saturday we embarked on an extremely long firing of the gas kiln.  We started candling on Friday night, and finished the firing at 5:30 Sunday morning.  At some points we were climbing at only 28 degrees an hour.

We all worked on our own projects throughout the night, but we spent some quality time interacting and challenging ourselves to be creative.  Elaine worked on her large skull sculpture, Becky worked on her llama, Kim worked on several things, I made some more empty bowls and at 5:30 am on Sunday I was still glazing my bowls for "Bowling for Dollars" in Shelby.  We stayed busy.

I have attempted to create a timeline based on pictures and videos taken by all of us.

8:25 pm Saturday:  Becky sculpting on her llama.

10:55 pm Saturday: Kim and Elaine dancing.
(Little did they know how much longer they would be there.)

12:15 am Sunday:  Fun with skulls.

At somewhere around 2:00 am Sunday, Elaine challenged us to take turns thinking of a word and everyone making a representation of that word in clay in under a minute.  It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about each of our thought processes.

2:30 am Sunday:  Llama sculptures.

2:30 am Sunday:  lots of "minute sculptures".

4:00 am Sunday:  Kim, still wide awake.

4:00 am Sunday:  Becky still making.

4:07 am Sunday:  Becky combines all of our mini-sculptures.

4:09 am Sunday:  Checking the kiln.  Still going.

4:20 am Sunday:  My people from
"how many people can you make in two minutes?"

4:35 am Sunday:  Bigger people.

It was a long firing and we spent a lot of time together.  The fact that we were still enjoying each others company at 5:30 am says a lot about the quality of our friendship.  I hope you have the good fortune to have friends like mine in your life.

On my way home I stopped for bagels and had to wait ten minutes until 6:00 am when they opened, but I was the first customer for the first time.

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January 27 - Jason Burnett Reception

Friday evening was the reception for artist Jason Burnett who was leading a two day workshop on Saturday and Sunday on his screen printing and decal work.  We had a good turnout and he showed us a presentation of how he got to where he is in his art.  It's been a journey and his art is very interesting.

After the reception we (terra4m) loaded the kiln and then went to Lang Van for a late supper.

Jason Burnett in the red plaid shirt.

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January 26 - Glaze-a-thon

Thursday I was frantically glazing to get ready for the gas kiln firing we were planning for Saturday.  I am trying out several different glaze combinations and techniques on some new shapes.  There are dips, pours, trails, sprays and prayers on these pots.

The fire will let me know how they work.

The kiln can be a tough room sometimes.

Several shapes and styles.

This is a new shape and a completely new glaze idea for me.

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January 22 - New raku pots

We have decided that we are going to do several raku firings during our ten week class and Sunday I started making pots for some of those raku sessions.  Nothing fancy, but good for the raku process.

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