Important Wall Hanging

I got this poster hung in the gallery at the studio this afternoon.  (The angle is strange because I was trying to avoid a glare from the sun coming through the windows.) "A happy, busy place," is how Allen described his studio.  I hope that it continues to be that. 

Here's a better shot of the picture itself.

I have always loved this picture of Allen, and Prissy was kind enough to make a copy for me. 

THIS is how I want to remember him.  It was important to me to get a copy of this put up for everyone to see.  I want people to know who he was...and that without him none of us would be there doing what we do. I'm so grateful for everything that he taught me.  I miss him so very much.  The sad kind of sneaks up on me sometimes.  

In other news, we had another glaze fire this weekend.  Jeff and I unloaded yesterday.  Things continue to go well.  To quote Lisa C, "I love the new kiln!" 

A few leaf trays in floating blue and bronze green matte.  Allen used to accuse me of drinking the floating blue glaze.

A few egg separators.  These are handy to have in the kitchen.

Weird little pitcher thingy.

Bowls in faux salt and M&M clear red.

A small vase that turned out nice. 

Some small bowls.

I did a little carving on this bowl because it was really heavy.  I used clay that was really soft, so I had to leave it thicker than I wanted to.  It looks nice even it if is still heavier than I'd like.

Ta da!  Leaf platter in floating blue. 

It Works! It Works!!

Last week I learned about buying powdered glaze, mixing it with water, and getting it ready to use.  I also learned that it is probably best not to wait until you are almost out of everything to get started on this process.  

I don't know how many times over the years that I've seen glaze in buckets just like in the picture below.  This was one of the many things that Allen just always did for us, and one of the very few that I didn't ask him tons of questions about.  I noticed that the glaze started out like this and then after a few days it was magically in the buckets ready to use.  Sigh...oh how I wish I'd asked questions.  I know that he would have patiently explained it all - how much water to add, how long to let it sit, etc.  

Like I said, I learned a lot last week...I'll spare you all the details because they aren't really interesting.  I will say that the process took longer than I anticipated.  This was probably partly because I didn't know what I was doing and partly because it is a slow and tedious process.  

Finally got it all done and we were ready to glaze some pots!  

The second bisque fire went just fine and nothing else fell off the kiln.  Phew!

I have so much work to glaze!  This is just a little bit.  I'm still working on getting it all done.  There's a pretty good back log of pots to fire, so we will have another glaze fire very soon.  Pretty much as soon as I can get around to getting the rest of my work glazed.  Ronnie, Gail, and Lisa have also all been hard at work getting caught up. 

I loaded and fired our first glaze fire in the "new" kiln on Monday night.  It was cool enough to unload this morning. 

I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see colors like this when I opened the lid.

The new kiln works just fine and we all got great results this time.  Below are some of my pieces.

Ketchup Red - actually the red color I want instead of the brown color I've sometimes gotten - and Bronze Green Mat.  And all the pieces are consistent...no matter where they were in the kiln. 

Here's the same combination of glazes on one of the mugs for Hannah's Coffee House.

And on a bowl.  I really like this glaze combination, so it gets used a lot. 

Floating Blue - is probably a little thick still.  I'll work on it.

EP Green on a bowl with lots of texture. 

Here are a pair of mugs in Falls Creek Shino (the tan) and Ketchup Red.  The tan glazes we use (Falls Creek Shino and Faux Salt (not pictured)) both have been coming out much darker than they should.  It is nice to see the creamy color here with the brown details on the texture.

I'm really hopeful that now I can sort of settle in to a routine at the studio for the next little while.  I could do with a little less stress and uncertainty.  Maybe, just maybe, I've had all the surprises and new experiences that I'm going to get to enjoy for the immediate future. I know there will be something else, but I sure would be happier if it would come months from now and not next week.  

Kiln Work

I have learned a lot about kilns this week.  On Wednesday, David Snyder (the Kiln Doctor - check him out at www.kilndr.com) came back and we got the new kiln put together and working. I'm going to try to explain what we did. 

First, we took out the old elements we were replacing.  Then we took the kiln apart to make it easier to work on the bricks. We also called in reinforcements with muscles (Jeff) to help us lift the old kiln up enough to get the stand and castors out from under it. In the picture above, there's the base and bottom ring of the new kiln, the stand and castors from the old one, and the old kiln. 

Below, you see two of the parts of the new kiln sitting on the table and David who said that he did not mind appearing in pictures for my blog.

 I am amazed at how very fragile kilns are. They are basically soft brick held together by strips of sheet metal. Our first task was to remove all those screws to take the hinge off.  Most of them were rusted and wouldn't budge.  Plan B: work on the screws from the inside of the loop of metal.  We needed to take the sheet metal off so that we could get to the bricks that needed to be replaced anyway.

There is is.  Two rows naked kiln bricks. 

I worked on the rusted screws with a hack saw and David worked on deciding which bricks to replace with the few new ones we had and which ones to sort of patch with the bricks that were coming out.  I am not good with a hack saw, so my part didn't go very fast.  Eventually we had the two rings of bricks the way we wanted them and the sheet metal bands back on them and tightened up.

Then we started with the new elements. 

 Working from the bottom up, the new elements were carefully placed...

 ...element pins were put in place and pushed in until they were flush with the edge of the brick.

I got to help with this part.

 Notice how I'm managing to do this without messing up my hair too much.  I had to go to graduation at work after this all day project. 

(Photo credit to Lisa Claytor)

I almost forgot to show you this.  Remember how we took the casters out from under the old kiln? The plan was to take the legs off that kiln stand (that fits the dolly with casters) and put the new kiln on it.  Unfortunately, those screws wouldn't budge either. Why not just sit the new stand on the dolly? Because it wouldn't fit.  The old kiln was just a little bit larger than the new one. This Plan B involved 4 of the old bricks cut to fit the corners of the dolly, then the lid from the old kiln, and the new kiln sitting on all of this.  I did insist that we get the kiln centered on the old lid as much as possible.  It might have been suggested at this point that I am a wee bit obsessive.  Call me what you want, but that minor adjustment means I'm going to be much happier with how it looks. I plan to look at this for a lot of years.  My kiln has wheels - very handy.

Once the elements were all in, David worked to get the wires all connected to the control box and attached the box.  I paid attention to what goes where in the hopes that next time I need new elements maybe I can do the installation myself.  Fingers crossed.

And now for the new hinge for the lid...that big old spring supports the weight of the lid, so it is super easy to open and close.  Another added bonus is that it holds the lid open so we don't have to prop it against the wall, nor do we have to be concerned with it falling down on our heads while we load and unload.  

 Lots more screws to get it all attached...

 And finished!

Thursday morning, I loaded up the first bisque fire. I was so relieved to be able to get moving on all that work that had piled up. Everything seemed go fine with the fire except...

The weld on the clamps on the sheet metal strip on the lid let go.

I talked to David and got advice on what to do, and Jeff and I worked on getting that fixed on Saturday.  As of now, I think we are good. We'll see if it holds next time I fire.  I'll be loading another bisque early next week.  The work is ready, I just wasn't up to getting it done this weekend.  Jeff gets major props for putting up with me through the repair.  I don't handle it very well when things don't go well and when I don't feel like I know what I am doing.  Plus I'm sick with a yucky cold and a cough.  Bad moods all around.

 Next project: Old Kiln Demolition.

Took out the elements first.  Then I carefully destroyed one column of bricks to get them out of the way. After that, the others were easy to lift out. I kept a few of the least damaged ones. You know, just in case we needed them again for some reason. 

 The rest I put in buckets to make them easy to move. 

I didn't get a picture of the carcass of the old kiln, but once the bricks were out, it was pretty easy to move.  I'll get back over there later with the truck and load up the metal and the old bricks and haul them off.

If you find yourself in need of kiln repair, I highly recommend David Snyder from All Fired Up in Charlotte.  He is pleasant, knowledgeable, and patient.  That website again is www.kilndr.com.  

Leafy Things

Look at this beautiful peace lily! Sweet Prissy brought me the plant on Saturday to say congratulations.  It is signed "Love, Prissy and Allen" which pretty much caused me to become a sobbing heap of person right in the middle of the floor of the gallery.  I'm glad no one came in right then so I didn't have to explain why I was sitting on the floor ugly crying.  There are a few people who fully understand why that affected me so. I didn't have a chance to talk to Allen about buying his studio...to get his blessing. There was some communication, but we didn't get to talk. I have been told that he was happy that I was interested and that he smiled.  I like to think that he would be pleased and proud.  I think I would be if our situation were reversed. 

Some of you are probably going to think that I am really silly when I share this next bit.  Just keep your thoughts to yourself if you do.  I need to think about it this way...

This is a humming bird that Allen made.  I had taken some of the banana boxes that Allen used for moving pottery to and from shows and such over to my parents' house for them to borrow for a little while.  This bird fell out of the newspaper onto the concrete drive way and did not break when I was getting the boxes out of the car.  It felt like Allen sending me a sign that he WAS pleased about what was happening...that he was saying that it was going to be OK.  Pretty sweet, huh?  Then I forgot I'd put the bird in my pocket and it went through the washer and dryer and broke a wing and a beak off. Not sure what that means, so I'm choosing to stay focused on the it's all going to be OK part.  

I promised leafy things....since it is spring and there are leaves again, I've been using them.

This all seems like a great idea until time to glaze...then I'll wonder why I made so many pieces with leaves...

In other news, the Kiln Doctor is coming back on Wednesday morning to finish up the repair work.  I'll be able to bisque fire soon!  

More Of The Story

Now that the news is out, I feel like I can go back and share some of the hurdles from the past month. 

1. First of all there was the question of will the landlord want to continue renting to a potter or do they have different ideas about what they would like to do with their property?  I have to say that everyone at Hoyle Rentals has been great.  They sounded genuinely glad to rent to me and shared in my sadness that a change was necessary.  First hurdle cleared.
2. The kiln needs to be replaced.  Yay.  Found a used one that was in better shape than what we had and Jeff and Demetrius (have you met my son Demetrius?) helped me get it in the building.  Thanks to Vicki Halloran for the picture.  She happened by the Saturday that we were moving it in and volunteered for picture duty.  There were a lot of pictures of our butts that I am not sharing but am still giggling about.  This one was good of all 3 of us.  Step one of replace kiln (get new kiln in building) is complete. 
   
3. Next up - Utilities.  To change the utilities to my name, I had to complete a Change of Tenant form in the city zoning office. Then that form, plus a picture ID, plus my social security card, plus a deposit were required in the Utilities office.  I got the paper work done in the zoning office, made an appointment with the Fire Marshall and Building Inspector for the next day, and headed over to the Utilities department.  Both of these offices are within sight of the studio, so going from one office to the other wasn't a problem.  Got everything taken care of there - let's do bank draft to avoid the $800 deposit, please add recycling to the services.  I'm back at work and get a phone call.  There's a permit fee that needs to be paid before the inspections can be done.  Back to the zoning office...

   

   That's a pricey piece of cardboard right there.

4. Step two of replace kiln (have Kiln Doctor move control box from old kiln to new kiln) commenced the next day.   We worked for a couple of hours getting things set up.  I say we.  I held things when David needed an extra pair of hands.  He explained everything he did and I learned a lot, but do not ask me any questions.  My understanding of how the kiln works is only a tiny bit more involved than "plug in, press buttons."  I can now add, "there are wires." By the end of the afternoon, we had the "new" kiln in place and put together and the control box moved.  At this point, it became clear that new elements are also needed before we'll be up and running again.  Hopefully I can update you soon on the completion of this project.  The green ware is piling up. 

   

   Normally I would do a bisque fire when one set of shelves is filled up.  Currently there are 2 sets of shelves full of pieces waiting.

   

   Kiln parts everywhere!

   

   Oh lookie!  Wires.

   
   
5. In between holding things for David and nodding and smiling like I understood the finer points of wiring, I met the Fire Marshall and Building Inspector.  That went just fine.  The only thing that I was asked to address was to change out the inside lock on the door.  When the door was replaced a few years ago, it came with a lock that required the key to turn on the inside as well as the outside.  I needed to replace the inside with a thumb turn.  I was assured that JB Ellis kept them in stock and that it was easy to change out.  Honestly I was happy to learn that I could change this.  I never did like having to use a key to lock or unlock the door from the inside.
6. JB Ellis Locksmith did, in fact, have the part that I needed.  I asked again about how hard it was to change and was assured again that it was as simple as unscrewing the old one and screwing in the new one.  LIES!  This was not easy to do.  Everyone failed to mention the removal of the face plate and loosening of the set screw.  These are vital steps and should not be overlooked let me just tell you.  Some swearing, a little bit of crying, several panicked texts to Jeff, and one YouTube video later, I managed to get the door fixed. Maybe if I have to do it again it will seem easy, but this was not easy.  Not. At. All. 

This is where I am now.  I am waiting to hear that new elements are ready for installation.  I can lock and unlock my door with my bare hands when inside the studio.  Rent and utilities are paid up. I am wrapping up the spring semester at work.  Once summer begins for real, maybe all of this will settle down and I'll feel better.  It would be nice to sleep through a whole night again without waking up to worry about studio issues.  The next hurdle involves a glaze and clay order.  Not sure why this is stressing me out so, but it is.  

I Have News

I have a lot to say and I don't how to start.  So much has happened in the last month.  It would have been easier in lots of ways to share little bits of this sooner.  In fact, I almost wrote a number of posts, but it never felt right.  Now though, checks are written, names are changed, and inspections have been done, so it is official I guess and time to share my news.

I have purchased the studio.  

If you have talked to me in the past few weeks, this is not a surprise.  I've been telling people the plan if they asked what was to become of Allen's studio.  Before today though I said that I am buying Allen's studio.  Now it is done.  I have bought Allen's studio.  In my daydreams, I have a studio...at home...in the barn after Rusty the horse moved out...years from now...when I retired from teaching.  But this is now.  It is for real and it's in Uptown Shelby.  I have a studio.  Holy cow!  I have a pottery studio. 

The support I've felt from everyone that I have shared with has been amazing.  I don't know where to start with the thanking...Jeff, Mom, Dad, Ronnie, Gail, Lisa, Vicki, Prissy...I'll leave people out if I try to name everyone.  Thank you every one.  There's no way that I could do this without you.  

A Griffin Pottery at 302 South Lafayette Street in Shelby will continue as A Griffin Pottery Associates.  We still aren't in a position to post regular hours yet, but if you see the open flag out, someone is there.  Please stop in and see us!