There be drywall!

WOO HOO!!! Apparently they are hanging drywall and working on the radiant heating in my condo and the other 3 units that were damaged/gutted during the flood last year. All inspections have passed and now they can go full steam ahead with drywall, cabinets, fittings and fixtures etc. It also looks like I will be able to review and sign off on the kitchen cabinet layout, counter colour choice, paint, etc by the end of the week or the beginning of next week. The cabinets will take 3 weeks once they begin the construction, the patio doors and windows are on order and are 4 weeks out. Once I get the layout for the kitchen, I will be out buying appliances.
In non condo repair news, I managed to take a couple of bins of pots down to Galleria on Saturday. It has been a while since I was last able to get down there to re stock, so hopefully these new pieces are well received, as they are a bit different than my usual work. Now I need to glaze the backlog of bisque that is staring me in the face every time I go to the studio (maybe this week?). I have many large bowls and platters to glaze, but the kiln will only accommodate a few at a time, so I will have to fire a few loads to get it all done.
The weather in Calgary has been brutally cold for a very, very long time (-35 and lower with the wind chill). We are normally blessed with the warm Chinook winds during the winter, but not this year. We had a few early on, but they have been nearly absent since December, and those that we have had were too short and did not have much of a warming effect. That being said, it is now March and the fortune tellers meteorologists say that it will be +9 on Saturday (I’m not holding my breath). It has been so cold lately that it is even making the glazing more painful for the students at the studio than normal. Glazing can be hard at the best of times, what with the unknown end results, but when it is this cold, it becomes physically painful. We mix our glazes by hand and those buckets are sitting on the cold concrete. It is like bathing in ice water.

Quack

The next phase in the transformation is webbed feet. The rain is ridiculous outside. I know June is the wettest month for Calgary, but come on, this is stupid. The news on the radio this morning was reporting that you can't take the Trans Canada Hwy to the west, as the RCMP have closed it east of Canmore due to flooding and began evacuating residents in the Canmore area in the middle of the night. My neighborhood is, thankfully, still above water. My little street dead ends on the Elbow river downstream from the Glenmore reservoir. The City tries to control the water levels with the dam, but it is a power generating dam and not meant for flood control so if the water levels rise too much, there is not much they can do about it. I think the mosquitoes are going to be fierce this summer.

70km/hr bath

On my way home from dinner with the parents last night, I saw this:

It has been raining all day and this person still thought it would be a good day for a ride on the bike. BRRR.
Calgary has had a slow start to spring, so I guess if the roads are not icy, it is considered good weather for riding. 

Spring Blizzard = Good Pottery Sales

I was participating in the Fairview Studios Pottery Sale this past Saturday. When I left my house at 7:00 it was sprinkling lightly, but not very cold out, so I decided against a jacket and wore runners without socks. By the time I got to the hall where the sale was being held (7:30), it had started to snow and was beginning to accumulate. I parked my car, got out, opened the hatch and immediately stepped into an ice cold puddle of melty slush (BTW, runners with mesh tops are not water proof). There were not many customers waiting for the sale to start, maybe 10 or 12, but by 9:30 it was packed and people were shopping. For a spring sale, I did reasonably well. My gross sales were on par with a slow Christmas sale. I ended up having to re-sticker all my pots as the ones I had used were not coming off very well. As I was standing at my table madly redoing everything, there were a couple of women looking at some of my stuff. The words coming out of their mouth sounded like “this is just beautiful, I love it”, and then they put it back and walked away. Perhaps I misunderstood them? Maybe they were looking for the same thing, but in blue? Actually, I think they were looking for the same thing, but in “Cheaper”. I do tend to price myself out of sales, but my thoughts are that why should someone else get it for $20, when it cost a minimum of $30 in materials and time to make it. I would rather wait a little longer to make the sale than give it up for a quick buck now.
I have the Mad Potters sale in 3 weeks on May 26th, and it will be curious to see how this one goes. I have been involved with them only for 2 previous sales and so far my earnings from them have been about half of what I can do at the Fairview sale, but then I am spoiled. The Fairview Sale, which has been running for over 30 years, has all the kinks ironed out and it practically runs itself. The Fairview customers are extremely loyal and it always amazes me how much money they spend. I will give this sale one more shot, and if the numbers remain the same, I will have to reconsider if I participate in it next year or not. You never know, this could be the year that everyone wants cone 6 electric instead of cone 10 reduction. At least I am not competing with salt/soda or wood fired work


I should note that the snow did not stick around. It stopped snowing around noon, continued to sprinkle on and off for the rest of the day, and then on Sunday the temperature was ~12 degrees celcius, and today, it is forecasted to be a beautiful 19 degree day, and tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer at 23 degrees. In saying this, I am looking at the weather forecast right now, and I see snow and rain on Thursday…oh well, that is what you get for living nestled up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Southern Alberta. No two days are ever quite the same and you can always count on a snowstorm in May.

vacuuming shmackuuming....gotta make pots!

TGIF! What  a week. I have been super busy at work, and my personal life, such as it is, has been suffering. Not that I’m complaining, gotta work to pay the bills.  

On a good note, the 2 days I requested at the end of the month were approved, and I can now go to Medalta to fire up the salt & soda kilns. I will be making up a flashing slip, a few stains, a terra sig, and a nice opalescent liner glaze, and a couple of stains to augment what Medalta will already have down there for us to use. I am very excited, and it is only 2 weeks away! I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will remain mild. It can snow all it wants on the 28^th, just please stay dry until then.

The Studio had a pot luck a couple of weeks ago, and apparently I was nominated in absentia to provide the entertainment and comic relief. A few people brought their spouses, and many of the attendees were students from nights that I don’t teach so Dave asked me to throw a demo. He then had me do another demo of his choice. The only proviso was that I had to be blindfolded. The sighted pot I threw never made it, I got too cocky and it collapsed after throwing a rather dramatic spiral into it that the thin walls, and rather bulbous form could not support. On to the blind pot...no issues, was able to get a rather well made bowl off (nothing complicated). Just goes to show you, throwing on the wheel has very little to do with the eyes, and a whole lot to do with touch. The food was fantastic too, it always is.

If I can, I will be firing a glaze load or 2 this weekend. I need to get stocked up for the spring. I have a couple of sales this April, and wouldn’t you know it, it is already almost half way through Feb and that means I only have 2 months to make sure I have everything I need, plus keep the galleries stocked up. Tonight I will wash my bisque, wax my feet, and let the pots dry overnight before I get at the glazing (sounds like a very strange spa experience to those that don’t know what I’m talking about)

 

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Well, maybe not frightful, but it is a bit chilly (-13 C with light snow). I was walking the pooper again last night, and we walked and walked until my fingers were about frozen off. Then this morning, she decided that she wanted to go for a long walk. I said NO to that idea. My hair was still wet or rather frozen, and I was not having any of that foolishness, plus I had to go to work, and if I am not out that door by 7:30, then I am late. It doesn't matter what rout I take, it is always the slowest one. It's like picking which line up to get into at the grocery store. You could pick the shortest one there, but then it will screech to a halt as the cashier needs a price check and the 15 yr old kid that comes to see what they need a price on doesn't know where to look and so it goes...the long line up has put twice as many people through as the line you are now in, but you dare not move, 'cause as soon as you do, the line you were just in will fly on through and the one you moved to will stop. My fingers are itchin to get back at some serious studio time. I will probably be in the studio on Christmas eve, Boxing day, and then every day after that right up to and including Jan 3^rd. I think I am going to need to get some clay though. I'm thinking 200lbs or so should just about cover my needs, maybe 250.

Starting to get webbed feet...

If it continues to rain much more, I will start to get webbed feet, and my condo will become a house boat...
At this rate, we wont have fire bans this summer, and the studio can raku with reckless abandon...
Just when you think the rain has stopped, the clouds open up and another downpour is underway.
It was hailing last night on my way home from work, and I heard that it was snowing in some part of the foothills this morning (it's June for crying out loud!) I guess we should never be amazed at the constantly ever changing variety of weather we get here in Calgary, but we always are.

On another note...
I was working at Ceramics Canada on Saturday, and I met two very eager potters. A husband and wife who just recently moved here from Portland Oregon were in the shop pricing out materials, and wheels etc... They seemed to be very eager to get going with their studio, and getting involved with the clay community here (such as it is). I told them about the CCAA, and they were all excited about the new group. I hope that in time they will become members, once we get ourselves sorted out and are able to offer something other than an e-mail list :)