Fired the kiln (again)!!!

John and I have been so busy preparing for the upcoming shows that we are in.  We were able to fire two glaze loads and one bisque load over the past week.  Last night I started a third glaze load and this morning I started another bisque load.  With our new kiln we are having to learn a little as we go.  There were some great pieces that came out and some not so great pieces.  Hopefully, they will get better every time.

One piece that didn't make it was one of my people pots.  I small crack opened up around the lady's neck.  I was really disappointed because this is a double people pot (very time consuming) and it was glazed with the Saturated Metallic, which I never use on my people pots.  But, they now have a happy home in my flower bed at the studio!

I know these aren't for everyone, but they are all very personal to me.  It is weird how one can become emotionally attached to the work they are doing.  But, I have been asked to have five pieces in a show at the Royal Bean in Raleigh for the month of October.  They are doing a "Dark Art" theme and I guess some would view my work as dark art, especially my funeral urns (not sure why...).

There is a positive side to these kiln firings and that is that John and I have finally mastered our favorite glaze: Pennell Strontium Matt Glaze.  I mix the glaze from the raw materials, which is kinda like baking a cake.  But it is very finicky and has to be fired to an exact temperature so that we get the effects we want, but it is not running off the pots onto the shelves.

I have also made a ton of jewelry pieces and will be posting these to my website : www.liquidambar.artfire.com a little at a time. 

The first show is this coming Sunday, October 4th, in Chapel Hill from 1-6pm.  I am just hoping for some weather like today - perfect!

And since my blog wouldn't be complete without a picture of "nature" - here is a picture from Sunday morning by the front deck. Thought it would put us in the October mood.

Potter Otto Heino, Died age 94

Ok, I have to admit that I didn't recognize the name Heino. But I am sure we covered his work in school. But as a potter Otto Heino is such an inspiration that I wanted to share. This is his website: http://www.ottospottery.com/index.html

The following is taken from the News and Observer (who took it from the New York Times) 7/28/2009:

"Otto Heino, a prolific ceramicist whose simple, elegantly shaped pots and opulent glazes earned him not just a fortune but also a reputation what he shared with his wife, Vivika, as the personification of sturdy American artisanship, died July 16 in Ventura, Calif.

Heino was 94 and had lived in Ojai, Calif.

The cause of death was renal failure, his niece Lillian Heino Long said.

Heino (pronounced HIGH-no), a driven craftsman who was said to produce up to 10,000 pieces a year, was know as a purist in his work and clay. His pieces were texturally natural, with finger ridges left in them, and he mixed wood ash into the glazes he developed and used.

One glaze in particular stood out: He and his wife, who died in 1995, created a rich yellow so widely admired that pieces finished with it routinely sold for as much as $25,000."

Yellow glaze w/ barnard slip decoration, 13.75"h X 7.5"w, $10,000 (As seen in Cowboys & Indians magazine)

10,000 pieces a year!!!! I just hope that I can make that many over my career as a potter. I guess I better get busy.