Birth

Birth of a kiln:



...shovel by shovel...



...brick by brick...



...with sweat and excitement mixed in.



...more to come!

My Raku Adventure

Getting a little fresh air

We've had gloriously sunny weather. It's been a rejuvenating change from a month's worth of rain. Sun as far as the eye can see on the weather report meant I was trying out this "raku" stuff at some point. That point was this weekend. I lugged my little kiln out (can you see how very little it is now?) and proceeded to fire up a small porcelain tea light (which wasn't very well made anyway, but he made the perfect test vessel) in the raku method.

Brave little vessel

Fire on high for an hour or so. Check! Then rip the piece out and submerge in paper. Check! But, not letting it stay in the reduction chamber long enough was a mistake. I believe I would have gotten better results if I left this vessel in longer. I will say though that I love the whole smokey look and the burning that appeared near the bottom. That captivated me. It is haphazard and beautiful at the same time. Of course, I had to try it again:

KABLOWIE!

...and had little success AND a huge mess to clean up in my kiln. I'm rather glad this vessel shattered though. It didn't just "pop" it exploded everywhere and in bits so small it made for a lengthy clean up job and it prompted more research.

I had been searching and buying books for a while on raku and had always hoped to use my little kiln to do it in and not one article or book had mentioned any ill about using the electric kiln. Of course, last night I did finally find some ill reports and the main issue is that my elements could go bad and go downhill rather quickly if I keep this raku stuff up. I certainly don't want that because "Starbuck" here, although small, still needs to work for me on bisques and glazing and work for a long time doing this, even if a new kiln arrives one day.

So, I cleaned her up and had faith that this one shot raku try didn't harm her, after all, the only way I can even look at a witness cone is to open the lid and expose the elements to a few seconds of air. The use of the electric kiln was easy. Cart it out, pop it on high for an hour and you are doing raku! So, I looked online for more info and maybe a kiln that could handle such an operation and I happened upon this:



I am SO into this!

SOOOO, into this and the darned thing even LOOKS amazing in their garden!!! HOT DOG! So up my alley and DOUBLE DOG....I have a garden! :) It looks like they are putting glaze on the greenware. I know some methods out there require such techniques. My head is whirling. What fun! What an adventure! What a huge amount of wares they got into that kiln! So, I'm off on another adventure for certain!!! And TRIPLE DOG.... I am so glad I have been doing this work out since the middle of April: Chalean Extreme, cause I am truly now ready to dig a hole. (BTW, this circuit training workout is amazing! I can't sing it's praises enough and I have lost a ton of inches and am building muscle. Strong folks...you get strong with this one.)

Alone Time- 4:30 AM

Small decorative bowl

Opps. Been a while since I updated here.

For two weeks I have been struggling to get work done both around the house and in the studio. My son is home now from school and is enjoying his summer break and although I do love lounging by the pool and playing in the yard, work does need to get done, and after two weeks of the loungin' life, I started to get itchy, uncomfy and overall annoyed that I wasn't working and couldn't during my normal hours so I just started getting up before everyone else and getting in three solid hours of quiet, uninterrupted studio time. This new time frame offers very little internet time though and although I've missed blogging this week I have tons of photos to share.

Look at that ooze. So reminds me of raku

Commissions have been first and foremost in my mind during the morning hours. The work has been soothing and relaxing and totally what I needed. Without this work I literally go insane. No one wants to be around me when I haven't been in my studio. Although rising at 4:30 AM sounds nutty it is really a beautiful time of the day to be up. The birds sound so loud here in NYC during that time. It's so pleasant and full of good energy.

The second issue on my mind has been pottery making; raku in general. With this little tiny weeny regularly glazed stoneware vessel came the thought that I might like to really give this raku thing a go, but I don't have a raku kiln and firin up some propane isn't really legal here within city limits, at least not in the capacity I want to use it for my pottery. So, who wrote electric kilns can be used to do small raku pieces? I don't remember, but when I read that on another potter's site and found a link to his book online I bought it. Know what it said? It said that an electric kiln can be used to do raku.

Okay...

So today I will try to pull my little kiln outside next to hubby BBQing and see if I can fire it up on high and get my new raku glazed vessels to fire up and we will see what happens. This is the time for all those bum pieces of pottery to shine! If anything it will be fun to share my love of the kiln and pottery with my husband as he teaches me more about BBQing today. The two of us playing with fire.

NEW: Porcelain horse hair tea light

NEW: Porcelain horse hair vase


Well, the holiday festivities and other preparation await. To all of you out there I wish you a very safe and happy Fourth of July and to all those serving to protect this great country's freedoms who can't be home with their loved ones...thank you for your service.

Busy With...

My new boy "Sojourn"
Fraley's "Rayne" resin in a no spot appy

Busy as a bee with:

* Ordering new supplies from Ceramic Supply of NJ. (I LOVE the fact that they deliver straight to the studio on Tuesdays).

* Reorganizing my studio to one day accommodate a larger kiln (My fingers are crossed).

* Taking portrait shots of my husband for his business card. (I've decided men are more vain than woman).

* Sanding down a religious statue outside our home. (Somehow I was deemed the official "religious statue" painter. There are two more of these statues waiting in the wings for me).

* Thinking about all the things in the wet box that need to be cleaned (Sleepy bunnies, rat sculpts and wheel thrown boxes).

* Daydreaming about that brand new horse show coming to the Poconos (I really could use a show right about now).

So, it's been a wee bit quiet on the blog this week, but I promise to have photos of a ton of stuff soon. Until then though, here is my newest boy for my own personal collection. His name is "Sojourn" and I just adore this Fraley sculpture. It reminds me of most of the horses I've ridden at the barn.

Another shot of Sojourn

BAD Kiln Guardian....BAD!

Sittin' smug

Don't snarl at me! Bad boy!

You know what you did! You totally went off to party while I had important stuff in the kiln. All that time consuming scrolling and slip design hidden behind awful glaze. Hours spent planning where to place the dots and curves, not to mention how cramped my hand was after trying to make these additions to the clay with a cake decorator. Ever use a cake decorator Gargy-G? Yeah, it may be a breeze with frosting, but let me tell ya, it's no cake walk with slip!

This Amaco glaze is just....
Who you seein' Garg-man? Who or what is keeping you away from guarding the kiln? The big reveal of this medallion was coming soon. In another two weeks. I had high hopes for it, but no matter how much you try and convince me that it has a "retro 70's feel" the truth is, no one wants a baby poo colored medallion!

...Words escape me

Pyrometric Cone did HIS job perfectly. He swayed down in a perfect bend and made sure the temperature came to a perfect cone 05 just as Amaco recommends. He reminded me, before firing of course, to prop the lid ever so slightly to allow just a little more oxygen in the kiln for more beautiful results. See, this is where you, Garg-Dude come in. You're job it to make sure nothing interfers with these plans.

Oh what? Me? It's my fault? Well, how do you explain this gem coming from the same firing and the same glaze session?

That is more like it!

See, something is just terribly wrong here. Same glaze company. Same glazing techniques applied and the same amount of glazed placed on the same bisques. It baffles the mind.

So, that is that. Pyrometric Cone is advising me to fire higher to fire off this terrible mess. My son has told me I can make another one and make it better. What is your suggestion Garg-bud?

Beautiful drawing by my son soothes any
mistakes pulled out of the kiln
"Me & Mommy"

A Piece Of Home

My "wild" clay after bisque firing

Early this morning, with my morning coffee at hand, I pulled the very first piece of "wild" clay out of a bisque firing. WOW! I was surprised to find a terra cotta-like strip sitting there on the test shelf. To my surprise, my little piece of home wasn't quite fully bisque fired at cone 04. That's about 1945˚. So now I have to decide how hot I need to go. I'll admit, I'm a little lost now. Cone 04 is pretty hot for earthenware and this test strip is close to being bisque, but not there fully. It doesn't have that proper "tink sound and just a wee bit of the clay dust is coming off on my hands. So...next step is refiring.

Wish Me Luck!

Clay from the wild being tamed

Well, today is the day.

I have one test strip of the "wild" clay dried and ready to be fired in the kiln. Prepping this found clay was time consuming but my enthusiasm built when I placed a hunk of it on my wheel and turned out a couple of vessels. They are smallish, but very interesting, to say the least.

Wish me luck!