Why I don't dress nice for work.

Being a potter is the best job in the whole world.  That said, there are parts that aren't as great as others.  When I whine about the job it's always about the shelf grinding which is my least favourite part by far.  Half the shelves, from the back of the kiln, are easy to clean with just a hand grinder but the front half needs the angle grinder to clear off the melted ash and blobs of salt that show up even when I don't salt glaze.  It's a dirty job, takes several hours, is hard on the arms, and leaves my hands tingling for quite a while after but it's what it takes to get to the really good parts.  And I love to wood fire!  Now 6 days to the firing.

Getting Ready

We're getting ready for the next firing which should be on October 3rd.  Doing some last minute throwing, bisqueing, and getting ready to glaze.  The wood is cut and stacked, thanks to Wayne, the saint, and his friend the log splitter.  Couldn't do it without him.

Tumble stack bisque

Farmers Market

I've been going to the Creston Farmers Market since July.  It's been a really good experience being part of this community of makers and growers.  It's also been a good way to keep in touch with regular customers and meet new ones.  The market started a few years ago with just a handful of vendors and is now averaging about 40 with a high of 48 over the long weekend.  It's a bustling, lively place well supported by the locals and is a real draw for visitors as well.

Early morning shoppers

My table

Before the crowds hit

Some pots from the last firing

The last firing went so well but the pots were mostly just OK.  The shinos came out fairly well but the temmokus fell short of my expectations, which goes to show you probably shouldn't have them (expectations).  The beautiful tea dust from the June firing came out purple with green washes and the Hamada Rust was mostly rust, no black.  The little garlic house is a prototype which needs lots of work as I don't normally handbuild - seems a bit crude but hopefully after a dozen or so they'll flow better.

The next firing won't be until mid-September when we'll hopefully have had some rain, so now I can get some much needed gardening done.

2nd stack from the front

Hamada Rust bowl with geranium reflections

Garlic house

Keepin' Cool

Every year I promise myself that I won't fire in July again but every year I'm not quite organized enough to have all the summer stock ready by the end of June.  So we fired yesterday with 2 thunderstorms (one little one and one major) and a high of 28 C.  This kiln gets really, really hot and after the last firing in June when I thought I was going to have a stroke I decided drastic measures were required.  So we filled the clay mixing horse trough with our icy well water and when it got to be too much I just climbed in and left Wayne to stoke.  I think it was the best firing ever.

New pots from recent firing

We fired in the heat on June 28th.  The last couple of hours were pretty extreme - need to find a way to cool down.  Might use that horse trough next time.  Here are a few photos of pots from that firing.  Did some glaze testing from the John Britt Cone 10 glazes book.  The Coleman Tea Dust is the only test in the photos.

Shino bottles

Tea Dust Bowl

Shino bowl with Indian fabric stamp decoration

Serving dish with Indian fabric stamp

Coleman Tea Dust bowl

Shino Bowl

Serving dish

Temmoku jar & bowl

From the front of the kiln - natural ash and flashing.

Shino bowl

Cake plates

Thrown

My friend Ron recently sent me this book, Thrown, British Columbia's Apprentices of Bernard Leach and Their Contemporaries.  It's worth looking at if you're interested in Leach/Hamada and their influence on Canadian West Coast ceramic practice during the '50's, '60's and '70's (and to the present!).  It's a collection of essays inspired by the show of the same name at the Belkin Gallery in Vancouver in 2005.  It's well written and heavily illustrated, including lots of photos from the time.

And here's a photo of one of Ron's beautiful pouring bowls.