Saturday, March 28, 2009

Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain . . . .

It has been raining for the last three days, sometimes with great downpours, and the backyard is like a pond. I know we will be looking for rain in July, but right now it is a mess. The worst part is having to wipe the dogs' feet off everytime we let them out so they won't bring all the mud in the house.

I don't have much to show for this week. The glaze kiln was not started until Thursday morning, so it will be next week before I see what I glazed on the 19th. I did produce some more bud vases to sell in Halifax on April 11th. And, I made another two-piece urn, very similar to the smaller one pictured here, only about three times larger. That, along with the bud vases will be glazed next week. I also brought home my jar on which I carved the door and brick wall peeking through the cracked "stucco" wall. It has been bisque-fired and is ready for glazing. I think I am going to use my stains to add color to the jar and then spray it with clear glaze this week to be fired.

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I am thinking more about trying to build a wood fired kiln that will produce some finished pottery. Last year, I tried building a kiln from plans I pull off the Internet. It was basically a small train style kiln made out of regular bricks that I salvaged from old foundations of the remains of old houses in the woods nearby. Even though I was not able to get the kiln hot enough to melt the cone 5 glaze I had used on a few pieces, it was exciting to see the flames shooting out of the chimney and to peek in and see the glowing red ware. I have since bought a copy of the Kiln Book by Frederick L. Olsen and am going to rebuild the kiln in the design of his fastfire kiln. I have already started salvaging more bricks to try out this design. More on that as it happens.

No comments: