My father sent some pictures of my finished work, really happy with the reduction and colours that came out. I layered wood ash, copper red and a black glaze on top to get some of the colour variations :)
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And so today, on my last day home before heading back to Ottawa, we are trying to squeeze in a wood firing. A lot of people always thought it was so quaint and nice that I was a potter before, 'oh wow, I wish I could do something I loved everyday', those kinds of things. People often romanticize being an artist, when there is real reason for the term "starving artist". (Also, pretty good reasons for why I'm back in school :p) So here is the reality of being a potter. I spent the week cleaning, decorating and glazing my work. This began with cleaning out the spray booth, something we've made (a mesh, open window, wooden box and fan) to suck out the spray and chemicals when we glaze. It gets pretty coated and covered, but even so, this simple home made spray booth is literally saving our lungs a world of hurt and cancer inducing chemicals. Our complex and technologically advanced spray machine (shop vac put on reverse, mason jar+nozzle) allows us to apply glazes evenly and lightly instead of the mess of dipping everything. Once this is all done (usually about a week of full time glazing (a normal day of glazing for me is starting around 11 am and finishing around 8 or 9 pm), comes the loading and stacking. This seems relatively simple, but ends up taking around 2 or 3 hours each time. The kiln needs to be loaded in a specific way, allowing for glazes which react to heat differently to be placed properly (some places in the kiln are hotter than others, and some glazes can run or drip), while allowing space for the flames to pass through, and also trying to find the perfect balance of packed in nicely, not touching, and not wasting space. With my father and I both working, it's not soo bad, and luckily this time, it's not -20 outside and freezing. Once the work is stacked (2 rows of shelves, front and back), we have to brick up the kiln opening with 2 layers of fire bricks. So once the kiln is loaded, bricked off, and cleaned up, we're ready to start. My father started working this morning around 7 am, and we got the kiln finally started at 2:30 pm. We start slow, with only one fire box lit, as the pieces need to raise in temperature slowly, roughly up to 1500*F in 5 or 6 hours. Once we get to that temperature, we can start reduction firing, (where we burn more oxygen in the kiln than can get in, causing flames to shoot out and making the glazes react in different ways), which will last another 8-10 hours. On a good day, we can fire successfully in 13 hours or so. On bad days, it can drag out for 15-17 hours. That all depends on how it was stacked, how much would we use, how often we stoke the fires, and tons of other variables (how many pies I eat while firing). Luckily, there are a lot of perks, as Ayano has mastered, including drinking hot chocolate and guarding the marshmallows, and later making smores on the open coals. So these pictures are the kiln in full swing. With both fire boxes going, and heavy reduction taking place, we generate a lot of black smoke, filled with carbon. This is what will allow our copper red glazes to change, burning all the oxygen molecules up in the glaze, and coming out red. Otherwise, if we make any mistakes, the glazes will oxidize, and come out white/green. It's a delicate balancing act we have to keep up for several hours, as we struggle to have the temperature rise, without losing that reduction burning. And so, finally at 7:30 am, we finished the firing. We block off the kiln, allow the temperature to stabilize inside, and we will let it cool down naturally and slowly over the next 2 or 3 days. One benefit was seeing a beautiful sunrise just as we finished. And so, now for an hour or two of rest, before I'm back to Ottawa. Good Morning :p
Being back for reading week has been an absolute joy. A lot of good food, relaxing, and the lovely fall scenery has done wonders for me. It's also nice to be back in the studio, glazing and getting ready for a firing this Saturday. Here are some pictures, mostly from nearby Waterford, which has a beautiful trail and walk around their old railroad bridge.
This is from back in September, at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas, Ontario. Kayo, as some of you might know, was my father's teacher and mentor in pottery, and has been a lifelong friend and inspiration to my whole family. Being able to see him and Diane and share in their wonderful show was a complete joy. And of course, his work, pottery and paintings (which he was showing for the first time), were absolutely stunning! Here are some pictures, which don't do his work justice! A little more technical info: Kayo's work is all handmade on a potter's wheel (some with alterations), glazed with his own personally developed glazes, and fired to cone 10 or sometimes 11 in his gas kiln. The paintings are done simply with black acrylic applied to a canvas with either a brush or stiff broom. Enjoy!
We were lucky enough to have a bit of free time last weekend before cooking our first roast, so with Gifferd and Betty, we ventured out into the savage unknown territory of La Québec!! Gatineau has some gorgeous places to explore and I can't wait to hike some more :) This was Luskville Waterfall, which sadly was a little underwhelming, but the budding fall colours more than made up for it! :D
So while we've been adjusting to life here in Ottawa, we're starting to prep for the colder months. As our apartment has wood floors, Ayano decided to take care of me, and knit me some gorgeous slippers. I was really impressed since this was her first attempt, and it only took her two days. Look how cute and amazing these look!! I'm already in love with them and feel ready to tackle whatever winter throws our way!! (at least indoors :p)
I thought I might as well share my work from this weekend. One is a book search reviewing 2 picture books and one novel and how they can be useful as teaching devices. The other is my reflection piece on Bill13, the anti-bullying and discrimination act for Ontario school boards. A little dry, but it is still interesting and a topic worth discussing.
Well, ducks at sunset (picture by Ayano), walking to school and a really creepy tea party I pass every morning :s
We stopped by FloGlassBlowing today for their Culture Day event. We got to get right into the studio and help make a cool blown decoration. It was just a quick little workshop, but still a lot of fun. We got to choose our colours, help turn the glass in the furnace, and blow out the shape. Melody the co-founder was super friendly and made the whole experience really interesting :) I think we'll definitely be checking out some of their more in-depth classes for the future. Also, they have the most amazing dog, and we'd go back just to play with her :D
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