Getting Ready

I unloaded bisque today and will load a glaze firing tomorrow to get ready for Spring Fair on May 1. I have some bowls in a new style this year and am trying a few with red clay and white slip finished off with clear as well. With Kate's wedding coming up on the 24th there is not much time to get things done before we have to leave town and almost no time when we get back.

Electricity

Finally, at long last, after much patience and anticipation, there is electricity in the new studio building! The Winter was too cold and snowy to start in January when we were scheduled and wet weather precluded trenching several times once the temperatures rose. But it is finally done . Unofficial Clay Alliance electrician Becky Geiger and her husband Doug did a nice job and were good to work with. If you need work on your service or kiln, they can fix you up.

Astute viewers will notice a very fat electric cord running down from an outlet next to the service panel.Yup, that's 60 amps of 240 volts powering my old Evenheat kiln. I finally got to plug it in for the first time and it heats up fine with all elements working. Any potter knows being able to do some of your own firing is a huge step forward.

Wednesday, I made a quick trip to Charlotte with 14 pitchers with matching wooden trays and a 10 x 20 canopy for daughter Kate's upcoming wedding. I did 3-90 minute demos for her art classes Thursday. The kids were attentive and we all had a good time. That was a lot of throwing in one day.

On the return trip, I went through Asheville and detoured around the I-40 rockslide by going up to Weaverville and taking route 25 through the Cumberland Gap to Corbin Ky. The picture is looking at Powell's Valley that runs from the Gap down to Lafollette,Tn. It awakens my sense of history to think that my great, great, great grandfather Joseph Allen walked that path into Tennessee 200 years ago.

The last stop before home was at Tater Knob pottery outside Berea. Sarah Culbreth and Jeff  Enge are wonderful country potters and I always try to visit when I can. They have been making custom pots to fill orders and Jeff has gotten into print making as well. That's about it for now. I'm filling out the show schedule for this summer starting with Spring Fair May first. Don't miss it!

More Pictures

I took better pictures of the tea bowls. Some will be at the Krohn Conservatory and some I will have at Springfair. Also I am thrilled that the electrician has finally started rewiring the house and powering up the new studio.

Pitchers and Tea bowls

I am happy that I got the last five of the pitchers for our daughter's wedding out of the kiln this weekend. It's a relief to know that I have enough for each table and a few spares. Jean Ann fires the gas kiln and always does a great job but this firing was extra nice. All of the pitchers were perfect and the shino flashed and carbon trapped like crazy. Thank you, Jean Ann.

I have been trying to make some tea bowls for a show the club has coming up and I thought I would include a couple of pictures of them as well.

Spring has finally started to arrive and with it comes the electrician! It looks like I will soon have power in the new studio. The electrician came Friday, worked out a few details and said she will be here Monday to start on the installation. I was so excited I spent all afternoon Saturday furring out the walls for insulation and installing another window in the side of the building.

Lastly, a quick apology. I updated to the new improved version of Blogger and have been having problems figuring out how to format the post so the images are where I want them to be. Just bear with me and scroll down.

 

Snow, Snow, Snow

This is the snowiest winter we have had in many years.So far we are at 23 inches for February after a January that had snow on the ground almost the entire month.The electrician who was going to upgrade our service and bring power to the new studio has not had a prayer of getting started so the studio is just sitting for now.What has not been sitting is my little diesel tractor.When you are supersized and well into middle age, the last thing you need to do is shovel large quantities of snow. The tractor has been great for digging us out. Just a few minutes of plowing has replaced hours of shoveling by hand.I'm really glad I got it and I'm also glad I have a wife who didn't complain when I did.

On a pottery note, John Britt posted some glaze tests and has nice things to say about Ohio Slip at ncclayclub.blogspot.com. Ohio Slip is a local glacial clay that Gary and Pam Adkins dig and process out in Bethel,Ohio.It is a very good substitute for the old Albany Slip and you will never meet nicer people.If you haven't tried it, check it out at akclay.com.

Pray for spring but keep a bag of rock salt around just in case.