Now that I don't make many pots I tend to consider whether each piece is actually useful. Is the pot destined to be admired on a shelf or will it hold cookies, vegetables, milk, sugar, tea or, most likely in this latest batch, flowers? Even if the pot is decorated, carved or just amusing I'd like to think that it will be used for mashed…
Twice a year if I'm lucky, is how often I have the special pleasure of helping to unload a kiln full of soda-fired pots. Last Tuesday was one of those days. Alan needed the car so, for for the first time, I Ubered both ways. What a treat! There's no way Cheryl will tolerate late-comers! I had helped to load the front shelves on the…
After spending the summer getting ourselves settled into our new townhouse, and enjoying a Vancouver Island holiday with family, I was delighted to start making pots again. The little downstairs bedroom now has a vinyl floor and houses my wheel, a work table and the slab roller and makes a fine studio. Thanks to TriCity Potter Max Yang's Coquitlam kiln I was able to bisque…
"TriCity Potters have been preparing for our group soda firing at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts for a few months. Last Wednesday twenty potters brought our pots to the Vault kiln for liner glaze, flashing slips and wadding. Some members helped to load the kiln the next day and learn about spraying soda into the kiln at its hottest on the third day. We had…
What a week it's been! As you saw we emptied the soda kiln last Tuesday. On the Wednesday I took better photos of each pot so you can get a better look at the varied slip surfaces that appeared. I've also made another reel which shows the back of our house and then inside the kiln shed, where I have my light box, and a…