It's all in the Game

We so often find that just when we are at peak production we'll get hit with a big slowdown.

That's what happen this last week with both kilns demanding repair. New elements, new relays, new thermocouples... the works, everything but the switches had to be replaced. Our kilns work hard though so it is understandable; it's also understandable that we don't like to take unnecessary chances and fix them asap.
After the fix, we fired during the day so we could be sure it was working well. It is difficult to make important decisions about the firing when you are half asleep which is the case when we fire overnight.
Of course, we couldn't use the studio while it was firing so we lost a half day but it was worth it to be sure the kilns were working properly. Though these kilns have a digital programmer, Steve checks the kilns 3-4 times during the firing. Problems that can arise like uneven temperatures top to bottom are then controlled manually as well as possible.

loading the glaze kiln

Continuing to glaze

Success!

Again with a little bit of feeling!

Virtual Studio Tour

loading the bisque

301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310....

Steve's ready for Halloween....

Throwing off the Hump

This term is used to describe the technique of centering a large amount of clay on the wheel before partitioning it into smaller sections one at a time to make numerous small pieces. Steve learned this technique at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts under Mutsuo Yanaginara in 1973. It saves some time and space in being able to continue throwing piece after piece without stopping, placing another ball of wedged clay on the wheel and centering that piece. Still each section has to be individually centered, thrown and removed from the larger mass. The trickiest part is compressing the bottom of the pot when it is not against the wheel head and cutting the piece off of the main 'hump' of clay. Steve uses this technique for throwing all the minis.

                                 

All in a day's work

plain & fancy

noodles!

Working on Snow Drops

drying the glaze in the sun!

last night's kiln

more of the same

the first 13 of 400 minis for the MET        :-(

Stone Crop Garden Break

We have been terribly busy in the studio and had to have a break to keep our sanity. We chose to go to one of the Garden Conservancy's 'Open Days' last weekend in Cold Spring, NY.  Twelve acres at 1,100 ft. elevation with Tudor buildings from the original estate, Stone Crop Gardens is in the Hudson Highlands about  an hour south of us. It is an educational facility where botanists train so there were lots of names and numbers but also a lot of beauty. See?

beautiful color!

beautiful patterns

whee!

water lilies

Magnolia. Umbrella type.

Me and my shadow

M&T Bank's Clothesline Festival in Rochester, NY

Steve and I have never been to Rochester, NY before and were delightfully surprised at the strong presence of cultural interest this small city has to offer. I wish we had taken more photos of the city
but time did not allow for it. The show we went to was the Clothesline Festival sponsored by the M&T Bank. It was a benefit for the Memorial Art Gallery. Originally part of the University of Rochester, the Memorial Art Gallery is a vibrant part of the community with over 300 volunteers, outreach creativity programs, a beautiful gallery store and two art shows. 16,000 people showed up on Saturday to see over 400 exhibitors.

We received one of the eleven Awards of Merit. Yea!

Our corner space

Who is talking to whom?