the cool down

during the 2 days of cooling for the kiln, the first day is spent sleeping and eating while the second seems to be an obligatory trip to the beach to clear the head and paradox the intensity of fire with some outstanding visuals and some outstanding friends.

new pots

The fire went pretty good this time around, lots of great tea bowls and tumblers, and a few juicy tea pots that just keep making me laugh. This time we used cedar up until around 1800 degrees F then moved to fir and oak with a bit of cherry, elderberry, hawthorne, yew, alder, and apple. More pics and thoughts as i finish investigating the pieces. As always you can click on any image and it will magnify itself.

gearing up for the may wood firing

The next fire will be focused around larger works; I love making the big wall platters and shields, it gives me a chance to play with a lot of ideas in a two- dimensional format, though it's always hard to picture the end result being that the fire changes things so much. I'm hoping to have at least 8 of them ready. The following are 4 of them that are ready to go. They are 26 inches diameter and should shrink to roughly 23 inches when they're done.

STUDIO FRENZY

The damage toll has been minimal this time around; so far Kim has managed to only whack her head against a post resulting in a minor bump to the head. While Kim is working in the studio it's the intelligent person who simply stays away, the chaos of the studio encompasses her; emotional valleys, wet paint, razor blades flying, and table saw mambo. I simply shuttle wood for the stove in and try to avoid a whack to my head. Looking at her work of intricately cut paper and thousands of nails, one might not be able to imagine the whirlwind of activity behind the scenes. This thursday, february 26th we'll see how OPB has decided to edit these activities as she will be one of the featured artists on oregon art beat.

February '09 firing

72 hours of burning 2 cords of wood (a mix of oak, yew, cedar, and fir) 2 days of sleeping and eating afterwards, and I was unpacking some pretty interesting looking pots. I feel like the effects work better with the forms this time around; now I'm not sure yet if that's because the forms have morphed a bit, or if it's because the firing has improved (this being the 5th firing,) or a combination of the two........ probably the latter, regardless, I'm having a great time cleaning and investigating each one. I think next time I'll seal out oxygen while it cools and go for the more matte surfaces, for pleasure and to see more about what the cedar ash can do.
The above pics are a few pots I'm really diggin' for the moment and the chimney at fire-off.

FLOOD WATERS = SURFS UP!

My friend Corey Adams invited me to come check out an afternoon of surfing with him and his buddies....... on the river. The yamhill river is at flood stage warnings so it's sure to be an epic day.
click here for video

Randy Selede's sculpture inspired by "timbertown" willimina, OR

31 hr anagama

1 cord of wood and 31 hours later; greenware to 2400 F. Some pretty interesting results, though I have some ideas on how to mix it up next time.
Coming Oct. 3,4,5 and 10, 11, 12 the Art Harvest Studio Tour. 39 artists in yamhill county open their studios and homes to the public, so come on down to the wine valley and check us out.

3:30 am

Sometimes sleep happens when it should and sometimes it should but doesn't. This morning I'm greeted by two owls chatting and our night blooming cyrus(?) this plant is truly amazing; it blooms only at night and for one night only, with an aroma that is so potent it borders overwhelming and invasive. The flowers are appx 6" diameter.
At this time of night it's a good time to be a potter; reading would probably scare the hell out me right now as I'm reading "The omnivore's dilemma", watching t.v. just isn't an option, so I reckon I'll put on another espresso and go out to the workshop and keep making tea bowls. I can't seem to stop making tea bowls and they seem to be getting bigger and bigger; to the point that small birds would enjoy bathing in them, perhaps I'll see what I can do about making some for small children to bathe in.