WOOD FIRE WEEKEND

Spent the last 14 hours glazing pieces for the Wood Soda Firing at Pottery West.

Glazed the "Bento Boxes" using a combination of flashing slips and glaze. They should be amazing! I decided to try using a latex wax and Aluminum Hydrate on the "lids" for the forms. Off to Aardvard Clay and Supply to teach class....

The photos I keep forgetting to add

Playing with the idea of "Lunch Boxes" -- Would have loved to open my locker at school or work to find one of these dudes with my lunch in it.... Now that they are to this point, firing, should prove to be a wadding nightmare.


The box scooter arrived in....Scooter -- YEAH

FUN STUFF

first spent a $1.75 to fill the tank on my new ride -- Cruising back and forth to studio on a scooter: Wearing a helmet as the Vegas drivers are NUTS!

Just got an email that my face mug "SPIDEY DUDE" was featured on a new artist blog; http://etsianartists.blogspot.com/2011/07/wonderful-wednesdays.html

Check it out.

Tomorrow I start splitting wood --- who's idea was it to wood fire when its 110 outside; oh it was mine.

New Adventure --

My new project: Bento Boxes, sort of...

Found a open to interpretation, the theme, “To Go,” hopes to inspire both vessel and sculpture creation, from the obvious flasks, thermoses, car cups, lunch boxes, things with lids, wheels… to the more outrageous or unpredictable. The possibilities are endless – surprise us!

I think this is a fun idea, even if I don't enter the show.

process photos soon

IT'S ALREADY MID JUNE....

So when last I blogged, I was loading the Wood Soda Kiln at Pottery West. The firing was AMAZING lots of really good work. We had a slight mishap, we used three of the hollow core shelves at the front of the load. Those shelves are now dead, and hollow core shelves are in general are dead to me.

For the last two weekends I have been in north of Salt Lake City selling pots. The first show was in Ogden UT, a great one day art show. The weather was amazing and the folks there ate up the new product.

Last weekend I was in Logan UT, it was a three day show called LOGAN SUMMERFEST. It was interesting. I did sell one of my favorite pieces from the Soda Fire. I was told told by the women who bought it was going to be a Father's Day gift. Her dad is a collector...

Memorial Day Weekend

What better way to kick off the summer heat in Las Vegas then an old fashion Wood Soda firing - we a Japanese smokeless design. So John Gregg, Marc Rosenthal and Myself (and some great students at Pottery West in Las Vegas) have been splitting wood, grinding shelves and furniture, kiln washing all the parts and glazing like mad.

We will be starting to load this Saturday (5/28) early in the day, and hope to start the fire by 8pm. I think we will be doing a 30hr firing, we could do it much faster, like 18 hours, but who wants broken pots, and non-developed color. The plan is 100 degrees pr hour for the first 800, then a bit faster to 1250. After that we can let it rip. Of course there is reduction at 010, and reduction again at cone 9.

I would really like the kiln to get to cone 11 bending, and keep it in that area for for four hours or so. Talking with Tom Coleman the other day, he said four hour hold should be fine, he would rather it be about six to get the best color development. We will see where our energy and labor force is..... I am already planning on DENNY'S very early Monday morning.

Some photos from the last wood soda fire in February....












What better way to kick off the summer heat in Las Vegas then an old fashion Wood Soda firing - we a Japanese smokeless design. So John Gregg, Mark Rosenthal and Myself (and some great students at Pottery West in Las Vegas) have been splitting wood, grinding shelves and furniture, kiln washing all the parts and glazing like mad.

We will be starting to load this Saturday (5/28) early in the day, and hope to start the fire by 8pm. I think we will be doing a 30hr firing, we could do it much faster, like 18 hours, but who wants broken pots, and non-developed color. The plan is 100 degrees pr hour for the first 800, then a bit faster to 1250. After that we can let it rip. Of course there is reduction in there, and again at cone 9. But I would really like the kiln to get to cone 11 bending, and keep it in that area for for four hours or so. Talking with Tom Coleman the other day, he said four hour hold should be fine, he would rather it be about six to get the best color development. We will see where our energy and labor force is..... I am already planning on DENNY'S very early Monday morning.

Some photos from the last wood soda fire in February....

FRESH FROM THE KILN

All of these pieces were fired at Pottery West in Las Vegas. John Gregg and I did a 19 hour firing in the propane reduction kiln.





These three cups were glazed with B's Shine over Laguana's Soda Fire body. Not sure the reason for the orange peel. Candled for for 4 hours at 250; two days after glazing... Love it, but confused.

This little dude is a porcelain cup that was a re-fire. I he was fired in the wood fire soda kiln a few months back, but had a huge dingus in the handle. A little grinding and a shot of glaze, and some more time in the kiln, he is good to go. (He needs a name..)


This small tea bowl has the same issue as the first three cups. But boy oh boy did the warmth of the Death Valley clay body come through.

Off to post a piece on Etsy.