Saturday

You can't turn on the TV or radio anymore without seeing/hearing one political ad after another. And most are negative. So I was grateful for today and a chance to escape to something positive and reaffirming --- clay!

All those test tiles Elaine & I made got the glaze treatment today. We're troubleshooting some problems we had with glazes we mixed recently. We also loaded the ^010 bisque kiln with birdlets, bottles and baby seals. Hopefully these pieces will all emerge as "treats" during Barrel Firing #5. It happens on All Hallows Eve in the Clayworks parking lot - 6PM 'til the witching hour.

I have to say I'm in the mood! And so was Darlene, one of the participants in today's "Muddy Fun" event at Clayworks.

Earlier in the week, this feat of engineering showed up in the yard at Storybrook, right next to the barrels where I store sawdust and cow pies for our barrel firings. I take that as a portent of good things to come.

And sis and I carved this owlish pumpkin last weekend. Our jack-o-lantern may not last 'til Halloween. But it's already out lasted its seeds...which we oiled, salted and toasted to perfection. I'll make more before we fire.

Much fun is in store this Friday for our Halloween BF #5. Rumour has it that "The Bat Girls" will swoop in to put in an appearance.

And while that could be truly scary, it will be a lot more rewarding than sitting in front of the TV, being subjected to endless political messages.

I'm Claydog and I approve this message.

A Funny Thing Happened....

...on the way to yesterday's recording session. At Concentrix Music & Sound Design, we pride ourselves on serving our clients some really fine coffee. But during the recording of a song for Crossroads Charlotte, we served it in some pretty fine mugs.

Lead singers Brad Hudson (singing voice for B Max in Raggs) and Christine Navarro (yoga instructor at Yoga 1) enjoyed a java break. So did Al Sergel, the extraordinary drummer we brought in for the song "Standing At the Crossroads".

At Concentrix, we keep the coffee brewing all day. So there was plenty left for our backup songbirds Kay Roebuck (singing voice for Trilby in Raggs) and Dani.

Jared from Emulsion shot footage of all the singers and musicians we brought in for the session. So I think he enjoyed his late afternoon coffee break. Great job, Jared!

It was a great day and a great recording session. So it really wasn't funny...but fitting that music and mugs come together yesterday. Because both are a part of my world.

Testing Testing

Most of my Sunday was spent making test tiles. Now that I'm trying to make glazes myself, these guys are very very necessary. Elaine & I are testing together. So we made tiles of Zella, Loafers Glory, Phoenix, Helios and Grolleg 257.

I threw better rings for test tiles than I did pots today. Go figure. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned there? No pressure throwing something I know I'll cut up into test tiles. Plenty o' pressure trying to throw anything else.
Came home...ate some homemade soup...and molded 5 more birds for the Halloween Barrel Firing while watching "True Blood" on HBO. Yep. I admit I escape to fictitious tales of vampirism these days. (I've had enough of the real-life blood draining going on in Election 2008. From BOTH sides. And that's as close to a political rant as you'll ever see on this blog.)
I'm thinking I'll throw a saggar nest for those birds? Since there won't be any pressure -- it's just a saggar afterall -- it could end up being a bonafide masterpiece. ;)

Spanky's OUT...

...and so are many, many wonderful pieces from the gas kiln firing at Clayworks.

The morning c-r-a-w-l-e-d by (no glaze pun intended) as I waited for the 2PM unload. When I arrived, the door to the kiln was already standing open. Beckoning. Begging to share its treasures with us. Amy, Jane & I were more than happy to oblige.

And treasures there were! Max had some wonderful results with his unique sconces.

Max, if you ever decide to sell one of these, I'm buyin'.

Amy had wonderful results as well with the shinos she used on her beautifully thrown yunomi.

There were so many other beautiful pieces in this firing & I wish I could have taken pix of all of them. But between unloading the kiln and loading the shelves with finished ware there just wasn't time.
Of course, I was eager to see how Spanky fared in the firing.

Overall, I was pleased with the results. Very little glaze...mostly slip and oxides.

There are more Spanky sculptures in my future. But this one was a good start.

Gas kiln loads again in another 2 weeks. Guess I'd better grab a bite of supper and get busy.

Spanky's IN

Tuesday night, Ron's class loaded the gas kiln. Ron, himself, positioned Spanky --- a portent of great good.

Tomorrow at 2pm, we'll unload the kiln. Will the black slip on Spanky stay true and not go blue? How will the rutile look? And the yanagahara on Spanky's chest...what will that do? Given past experiences with the gas kiln, I can pretty much expect that I won't get the results I expect. But whatever the results, it will be good to see the new Spanky.

In the meantime, my "bully boy" watches over Ralph's exquisite pieces. (And no, this pit bull doesn't wear lipstick.)

Openings

Friday night, Fred & spent a pleasant evening at the opening of the Circle of Eight show at the Lark & Key in NoDa. Individually, each of the Circle potters create amazing work. Seeing it displayed collectively is even more impressive. I didn't take my camera but photos and accounts of the show can be found here, here, here and here. The exhibition runs through November 2 and is well worth seeing.

Saturday was reserved for openings of a different sort - centering, opening & pulling clay. I've been concentrating so much on pinching and molding lately that my throwing skills, such as they were, have suffered. In last week's class, Ron demonstrated a nice bowl form. The biggest challenge for me was centering over 3 lbs. of clay. A lot went to the altar of the Wedging Gods but I managed to turn out three reasonable pieces. This one is ready for the bisque shelf.

And these two, though not the form Ron showed us are larger than any I've thrown to date. It's been a while since I've thrown with Earthen Red. I'd forgotten how much I like it.


The inner curve on these leave a good bit to be desired but I'll trim them anyway before class on Tuesday. We'll be loading the gas kiln that night! Sure hope Spanky makes it in this time. He's been sitting on the shelf in the garage, patiently guarding the gas kiln and awaiting his turn in the "big doghouse". .


The real Spanky is sitting on the loveseat, patiently waiting for me to wrap this up and take him outside for a game of "catch."
Duty calls! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


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