transitions

so i've used the same chair at my wheel for almost 10 years. it has cracked in 1/2 twice, the rails keep popping out and now it has lost a very important screw. it has earned retirement but finding a suitable replacement is tough. my neighbor gave me a sweet little chair that i thought i could just switch out but oh my god, no. the new one feels like concrete on my butt and it's a different height. the old one has those awesome carve-outs that make it soo comfy..having the proper seat at your wheel definitely affects your throwing.

take care of your chairs, people.

another firing and a new glaze palette

so i fired my big girl for the fourth time last week...once again it was fun and exciting and longish and offered a billion new lessons.

i had 5 new glazes in the load and with such a big kiln and no super successful glaze base as of yet...i just make up 5000 gram batches (1/2 a 5 gal bucket) and go for it. it is challenging to glaze so many pieces (150-200) when you only have a vague idea of what it might look like.
in the last firing i had great success with a double dip on the outside/single on the interior, of m.davis shino so of course i loaded up on that....anytime that i think i have a glaze cornered enough to be moderately successful, i get burned. it fell off the pots in patches....all of them and did not blush in the dry spots (with the exception of 3 pots) so all of those went in the shard pile. at first i thought it was my lame dust sponging job but none of the other pots had glaze issues like that so i'm thinking it was the double dip not adhering.....my best guess at the moment.
i had also dinked with the bag wall which will be put back immediately.....first, the flames were shooting across the kiln instead of bouncing up and i also think it was the source of the larger than "normal" amount of brick dust that blew around and stuck in the bottom of many pots. i will vacuum out the brick gropple before every firing from now on.
i also learned in this firing that oddly enough....i had not been opening up the gas valves on each burner as much as i should have (thank you leif)....one of those things i had locked in my brain....i only turned up the gas until i couldn't hear/see any more effect on the flame and even though it was only 1/4-1/2 turn, i called it good. i had leif evaluate the burners and he cranked all of the knobs around an entire full turn....i almost fell over....it did kick it out of the stall and next time, i'll open those babies full up early on and see if i can fire in under 15 hours.
after overreducing and stalling out last firing, i tried to keep it in light reduction with a heavier one for 15 minutes around cone 9 1/2. i also cleared it out (oxidation/damper wide open) at the end for 10 minutes. the celadon was fair to good, yellow salt with turquoise did not overreduce and turn entrail pink ( i kept it to the bottom/front of the kiln) so that was good. the glaze tests were promising...just a little tempering of the turquoise, more sieving of the 2 cornwall stone glazes (bumps/chunks all over) and no more tan on the outside. as i sit here....i cannot recall what the victoria green stain looked like...yikes..i will run and check.
i don't know if adding a couple feet to my stack had any effect at all...i'm going to restack the bricks on the car bed to fit cleaner and perhaps a little of the door. i delivered all of the pots that were successful the day i unloaded before i took off for san francisco.
home now and anxious to fire again but must throw 200 pots first....better get after it.
enjoy.

the importance of well-oiled machine

so my hip has been bothering me for a couple of weeks and i've been trying to get to the bottom of it. i usually blame our bed but i also realized how much i have my foot up above my waist (ridiculous, yet true). i put it up by the heat vent when i drive (again, ridiculous but i've never been able to sit properly...always feet up), i put it up when i'm on the computer and i very often put it on top of my slop bucket when i'm throwing. sooooo....i've been keeping my feet on the floor and my hip was feeling better until last night. i made a midnight run out to my shop to turn up the bisque (25 yards from the house)....i had on my dansko clogs (the only shoes that fit with my footie pajamas on) and took my first stride to run back and holy god did my hip muscle pull like i had snapped it. yucko. so after limping up to bed, i lay thinking primarily about the effect this will have on tomorrow's workday.

anytime i am injured....my mind always races to evaluate how my pottery will be affected...not, can i walk....but can i throw pots, load a kiln, etc.

take my feet, but leave my hands alone. i grabbed a stick from the burnpile last week (obviously not noticing that the part i was reaching for was smoldering)...blistered my finger but not in a place of throwing importance...that really could have set me back.

so...my hip is pretty damaged for now but i can walk and it doesn't hurt to sit at the wheel (thank god).

there is really no point to my point other than it cracks me up a bit and makes me realize that i love what i do...

enjoy your day and be mindful of your body..

firing the new kiln

Sometimes I still find it surprising how little I know about firing a gas kiln...it's not that I've had loads of experience but somehow, i guess i thought after 10 years of potting and firing gas kilns here and there with others, that the baseline knowledge would have been in my psyche somewhere...not so.

i have now fired my new kiln 3 times and from each i have gathered a tremendous amount of information. probably the most from my may 5 firing.

I had more pots than the previous loads so the stacking was a bit tighter but still only about 3/4 full. it seems that i have been under the gun each firing and am also so excited to get after it, that i have yet to fill her up. previous stacking had been too heavy at the bottom and very loose towards the top. i believe this has contributed to my uneven temps.

i had just been in n.d. for a week with potter girlfriends and fired a big kiln with power burners (i have 4 venturis) and we had a discussion about reading reduction out of the bottom peep...i had been relying primarily on the top for backpressure. this firing, i tried my best to get back pressure out of my bottom peep to no avail. i was reducing like crazy...i could smell it and was getting about 10 inches out of the top. what i did not realize is that reducing can stall out the temp which it sure did. it took me hours to gain 50 degrees but i just kept tweaking and waiting so the time passed quickly. only after i reviewed my log did i realize how freakishly long it took. i mean...at 4am, when i finally shut her down, i knew it was wayyyy too long and especially when i checked my propane tank and found i had used around 100 gallons of propane (ugh).

soooo.....i added another 2+ feet to my stack (picture above) and next time will chill on the reduction a bit. i did get beautiful shinos and my celadon was lovely. i need to figure out my temp/reduction unevenness though from top to bottom.

i reread a section in Vince Pitelka's studio book and noted the following tips for the next firing:

-no big adjustments to primary air (on burners) ( i was tweaking them a lot)
-when turning up the burners, open the damper slightly to allow things to equalize and then slowly close it
-cool bottom.... try damper out
-cool top.....try damper in
- at least 10 minutes of oxidation cleanup/clearing at the end. ( i had some bubbling and only cleared it for a few minutes) (again.....4 a.m.)

i'll fire again in a couple of weeks and update after....

catching up...

o.k...once a month posting is not going to cut it....especially when i have so many things to talk about. i think so much when i'm working and then wow is it tough to get in the blogging groove.

so my potting life has been a little more challenging as of late as i transition from electric firing and stoneware to porcelain and a gas kiln. there are so many things i love about porcelain but warping and plucking not so much. i made a bunch of cake stands that i loved and did not anticipate the drooping rims....i'm going to try to find a nice white stoneware that will work for handbuilding and cakeplates. i'm concerned about them matching my tea sets though so we'll see.

i drove to beach n.d. last week (11 hours) and had a mini workshop of sorts with 3 friends. i adore being with people who can stand to talk about clay and technical glaze/kiln stuff for hours. i don't get too much of that around here so it's a treat. we made pots, pit fired, glazed and fired in tama's big, beautiful car kiln. she and her husband run an amazing pottery business....we had many a discussion about pricing/who we're making out work for/ how to make a living...etc. needless to say, my prices will be taking a small hike.

i fired my kiln again this week. third firing and the most challenging yet. i swear the only way i learn things is by doing them wrong. no matter how much i read or who i talk to, it just doesn't sink in until i mess it up myself.
so i was shooting for heavier reduction, a faster firing and a more even distribution of heat work....stay tuned for the debriefing.

tonite i have an opening reception for 'chicks with wheels' the show set up was last week and i finally got most of my pots there last night....(see kiln saga post to follow). at this point, i was just happy to have some decent new work to show. thanks to my friend colleen's window idea, i was successful. my artist statement was a bit crabby and negative but that's exactly how i felt...sometimes the public thinks that we just play in our studios and 'how fun it must be..' i just wanted them to know that it's damn hard work and a lot of the time...not so fun. i toned it down a bit last night though so i won't seem like such a grump. (thank you to the gallery manager for letting me redo).

o.k....back to the shop to fill orders and make another kilnload of pots so i can fire again.
later.

waiting for spring...

so....it's still totally winter here and other than being darn tired of gray skies and continuing snow...i'm getting into spring production. april and may are busy clay months for me...getting summer inventory started and into stores. i like to work under pressure and deadlines....i get more done that way but it is a relief to get shelves stocked and ready for visitors. i have an account with a great gift shop in Glacier Park, the Montana House, and she will take as much as i can get to her. i'm in 2 co-ops and have my own retail space to stock in whitefish. i sell to tourists and locals equally and am now selling online (heidihaugen.etsy.com) as well and between the three, continue to move pots out the door.

i also have a gallery show with 4 other women that opens the 7 of may. i have big ideas but not an excess of time, especially since i'm new to porcelain and gas firing....we'll see what comes out. i'm planning on working big....i feel like i haven't really pursued 'big' pieces other than special orders and would like to see where that takes my work.
i tweaked my back while snowblowing last week (don't run over a blanket with the snowblower and then yank it really hard to remove it). my back is a lingering issue for me but when it's out, it is a painful reminder of how much a potter uses her body in the shop and how limiting it can be when something hurts. it's getting better though and fortunately it doesn't hurt to throw....just loading the kiln and moving clay.

clay management

i live in western montana and am fortunate to have the 'archie bray foundation' about 4 hours away in helena. i've thrown many thousands of pounds of their cone 6 oxidation and it has been a very good clay for me. i'm now using their abf porcelain and this order also bought some high fire sculptural clay to use on handbuilt work for the outdoors. it feels nice and i'll test it out this week.

people often ask about the my clay supply/system...i'll offer a brief rundown of my process. i order clay in 50 pound boxes from the bray and have it shipped on a truck to a town about 30 miles away where i drive and have them load the pallet into the truck. then leif and i unload it one box at a time and it is stored in my shop. 1000 pounds of clay is only 20 boxes so it tucks nicely into a corner.

i keep 2- 5 gallon buckets next to my wheel where i put all of my scraps and throwing water. when those are full i transfer the slop to my plaster 'bray trays' and then the slop dries out for a week or so and then i run it through my venco pugmill. i usually pug about once a week for 20 minutes or so. it's been a smooth system for years. ( i must point out how valuable i think pugmills are....not necessary but ohhhhhh so wonderful.)

now, though, i've got cone 6 clay, and 2 varieties of high fire clay that i'm trying to keep separate and will have to completely take apart and clean out my pugmill before i start running the porcelain through. ( i usually clean the screen and barrel on my pugmill about every 6 months anyway). i don't blunge the slop or do anything special and i'm interested to see if the porcelain will be more sensitive...my guess is that it will take a bit more finesse.

today i picked up 1500 pounds of new clay and organized my storage area a bit...

it's nice to have a good relationship with the bray and also with the trucking company....they have been so good to me. historically though, when i was younger and didn't know any better...i would hop in my subaru and drive to helena and load it up with a 1000 pounds of clay as the salesperson shook their head and turn around and head home....seriously....had i not heard of shipping companies??? if you follow me for any length of time, you will learn that i rarely do things the easy.efficient.smart.proper....way the first time, it's just not my nature but i'm still trying to learn. one day....i will share with you the story of heidi building a kiln....it is long and funny but has a great ending.

enjoy your weekend.