A Weight has Been Lifted....Hallelujah

...Wait a second, nope, that was the stove shaped albatross. I had the junk removal dudes come by on Saturday to take my extra stove away as well as all the detritus on my patio. If you have ever wondered (although probably not) how long a person could live with a stove in their living room, then I can honestly say that 1.5 years is about as long as any person can stand it. I know, 1.5 years. It just flew by though. One minute in August I had 1 stove, the next I had 2, throw in a generous helping of procrastination, and you have 1.5 years of living with two stoves. It was pushed out of the way and was partially hidden under assorted pieces of pottery. It was as if I had an installation art piece in my condo that “...explores the human condition through it's dependency on electricity and lays bare the divide in western culture between function and art by juxtaposing the sad stove and hand made functional art....” or something. But really, it was just that I am hardly ever home during the day, and am often not home before 9:30 pm during the week and I am lazy (Sorry Mum, it's true, but I think you knew that already)

So Saturday was a write off, I worked until 3, went to let the junk guys in at 3:30 and that was pretty much it. Sunday I loaded a glaze with all those cups in my last post as well as a few other pieces and lots of other student work. I threw half a dozen mugs, slipped and scratched a bowl with a geometric pattern on the outside and my new Dr. Seuss inspired Who House motif on the inside, worked on a commission for another ceremonial firebowl, put a tea pot together and finished trimming a low wide bowl/plate. It too will be destined to have the Who Houses on the inside.

On Saturday I also took possession of my new tungsten carbide trimming tool and a 20kg bag of New Zealand Kaolin. The trimming tool is fantastic, but it will take me a bit to get used to it. I think it requires the pot to be a little drier than what I am used to trimming. The Kaolin will be something for me to play with over the holidays. I am going to try combining it with frit to make a low fire, highly translucent porcelain body. I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with it yet, but once I get my hands in it, the ideas will come (I hope).

Hoarding – a Confessional

Ok, so I am not as bad an actual hoarder, but I can see that I have certain tendencies in that direction. I also work best when faced with a looming deadline. So, with those 2 things in mind, I booked an appointment for the junk collector dudes to come around to my condo next saturday after I get off work. They are going to take all the detritus off of my patio and a stove. A stove you say? Yes, a stove. My mother, in all her best meaning motherness, foisted, I mean gifted the stove that she did not need anymore after my parent's renovated their kitchen a while ago. I'll grant you that it is a much better stove. It is a ceramic top, it self cleans etc, but I knew that the old stove would become an albatross around my neck. My mum seems to recall offering to take the old stove away but that I refused the offer. I however recall that they dropped the stove off and left like jack rabbits. I tried to get rid of it the cheap way by calling scrap metal guys but no one seemed to want it, or if they did, it had to be outside.

Long story short, I have been living with this stove pushed up against my wall between my kitchen and my living room for more than is mentally healthy. I broke down the other day and booked a pick up time with the 1-800GJ? guys for next Saturday. I will now have to pay to have it removed, but in the long run, who cares, I will get it out of my house and I can begin thinking of new furniture. I really really want to change my living room, and this will let me do that. The sitting furniture is staying, but the shelving is changing (I hope). The only snag in that plan will be to see if I can hang the wall units that will be affixed to to the wall above and behind my new sitting area by myself and if my skills are up to the job so that they do not come loose and concuss or kill me while I am sitting in the “new” sitting area.

So, there is a lot going on, and hopefully these new improvements will help me achieve a new level of unhorderliness. So let the purge begin. I hope the dumpster out back is empty, because I am going to fill it up.