Spring has sprung....a leak

I am going to develop webbed feet if this rain keeps up. I think we have had ~100mm over the last week or so, and if that keeps up, along with the spring runoff from the mountains, we are all going to be learning how to quack pretty soon.

In non soggy news, the studio has been scrubbed down. Well, not precisely scrubbed, but wiped, swept, stacked and tidied in preparations for the OPEN HOUSE this weekend.

We will have 2 out of 3 instructors there as well as an assortment of students. We will all be ready and willing to talk pots, throwing, classes, etc. Ellen's famous carrot cake will be on the menu, as well as coffee. I will be firing up the raku kiln at 12:30 into which I will attempt to fit as many tea bowls as possible (if you come, you might just get to take one home with you as a THANK YOU for coming. I anticipate the firing to be over around 2:30, and the pots should be ready to take home around 3 ish.

So, if you are in the area and are looking for a fun and informative afternoon out, swing by the studio. You might just find the hobby/passion/obsession you have been looking for. The weather is supposed to be nice  (little to no rain) so the big door will be open wide. Come on in and check it out.

That Was Exhausting

I taught my regular Tuesday class last night and it was jam packed (14 people I think?) In contrast, I taught on Monday night, and there were only 5 people there, 2 of which are taking some time off to have a baby and were only there to finish glazing their pots. I like teaching smaller classes, but of course, that doesn't keep the studio doors open. Fairview Studios is in fact looking for more students as enrolment has been down for quite a while. This past summer we dropped the Wednesday night class as nobody was showing up. I know we would like to bring it back on line, but the demand has just not been there. Hint - if you are looking for classes and you live in Calgary, check Fairview out.

I can usually deal with large classes, but I had a couple of fairly new students, and I had to do 3 demonstrations when normally it is usually just 1. First the throwing demo (normal), then I had 2 new students from last week that needed a trimming demonstration, and finally I had students that had yet to glaze anything so they needed a glazing demonstration. I usually arrive at the studio at 5:30pm right after work so that I can get a few of my own things done before class begins at 6:30, and then I can usually continue to work on my own stuff throughout the class in between the odd question. Not so much last night. I was going to load a bisque last night, but that definitely did not happen. I will see if I can load it on Friday and glaze on Sunday. I really need to get some work finished to take to the galleries and complete commission work etc.

And now it begins...

I will be teaching every night now for the next 2 weeks and two days. The only days I won’t be teaching are Friday nights, as that is my own time in the studio and there are no classes that day, and the weekends. I will be dropping the key to the studio off during my lunch hour on weekdays, as that is way easier than getting up early to drop it off in the morning. I will also drop the key off on Saturday morning before I go to work at Ceramics Canada. Of course, I will be bringing the key home every night as well. I have a feeling that I will be very tired by the time Dave gets back from Kansas. However, this will allow me to get things fired. I usually only fire on the weekends so that I don’t interfere with Dave’s firing of student work.

Firstly, I will be firing a load of my dinner ware set that needs to be complete soon for the turning the table show on November 13. As soon as I get it glaze fired, I will turn right around and lustre fire it. Then, I need to get the work that will be going into the two pottery sales I have coming up. I never know what I have ready until the last second it seems. I need to provide an inventory sheet for the CCAA sale on Nov 7^th so perhaps this will make me more organized. The Fairview sale is never that demanding. So long as my pots are priced and packed by the night before, I am in good shape.

I keep saying that I will post pictures of what I am up to, and every time I go to the studio, I leave at the end of the day without having taken a single shot. Perhaps I will manage to take some pictures while I am glazing etc...

I had booked a few days off from my day job near the end of November so that I could go to Medicine Hat and fire in the Medalta salt kiln, but as I mentioned before, that is on hold. I was considering not taking those days off, but now, I think I might just need them after all this. Maybe I will book a massage for that weekend.....

 

I never seem to learn my lessons

My demo for last night’s class should have been titled “how to make mud pies”. I was roving around on the interweb yesterday and came across some nifty neato altered vases. I thought to myself “Hey, those would make great teaching demos, I can do that”. Yeah right. I know that I should never attempt a new form (to me) for the first time in front of an audience. I threw the body of the vase too wide, and the neck too narrow so when I started pushing out the ribs with my finger, the shoulder collapsed and that was good by vase. It still demonstrated the essentials of throwing, ie, centre, open, collar, raise, collar, raise, raise, shape etc... but the “wow” factor was definitely not there. They all gasped when it collapsed, and they all made helpful suggestions on how it could be saved, but it was also a lesson for them on when to just throw in the towel and start again, learn from your mistakes and make the next one better.

While I was in the studio last night I was also attempting to glaze what I bisque fired on Sunday. I know I should never attempt to glaze during a class night. One, the time to do it is not enough; and two, there are constant interruptions from students. So, in an attempt to get a jump on glazing, I think I just made more work for me on Friday when I will be in the studio again. Another lesson left unlearned.

 

 

2 upcoming sales - gotta get cracking

Well, it is that time of year again, and I find myself faced with 2 spring sales this year, and am running out of time to get ready for them (nothing new there).
My first spring sale is the Mad Potters Sale, and is at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Centre on April 17th. The 2nd sale is the Fairview Studio Spring Sale, and is at the Canyon Meadows Community Centre on May 1st. I have never participated in the Mad Potters Sale, but they have been in operation for a while, so hopefully the turnout will be good. Fairview is always a good sale. The students get together twice a year and offer up their work for sale to help off set the cost of classes and firing. You can usually get a good deal on all kinds of pottery.
Oh ya, I have glazed the new "mountain" pots I was working a couple of weeks ago, and as of Tuesday, they were waiting to get fired. I will be in the studo tomorrow, and hopefully they were fired, but I am not sure there will have been a full load ready. Chances are they will still be in the kiln (if at all) tomorrow, and I wont be able to get at them until Saturday. If they are ready, I will take some pictures and post asap. I am eager to see how they turned out. I am worried that the rims will be too fragile (they were very delicate in the bisque state), but my hope is that the porcelain will yeild some strength. I have had a lot of comments on them. Some people were confused by the delicate nature of the pots rims, but others were very enthusiastic about them and thought they exuded a certain "Zenness". I glazed them with a commercial glaze on the lower half of each pot (Mayco "stoned denim"), and then the entire piece is glazed in the studio clear glaze. The commercial glaze turns a smokey blue under the clear, and I am hoping will accent these pots nicely. I wish I could afford to do some lusters on these pots. I think they would look very nice with a little platinum around the rims.