Mugi Show in New York City - DATE CHANGE!!!

The show at Mugi Gallery & Studio will open on Friday, October 15, 2010.  More details will be posted soon.  We hope to see you there!

Have a great day!

David

California Sink...

This sink was made for a customer in California and will be shipped out early next week.  The glaze is a shino with a wax pattern and woo blue over it.  The lip has satin black on it.  Can you see the fish overflow?

Have a great day!

David

Studio Repair Time...

So, I have had a broken window on the backside of my studio.  We finally got brave enough to replace it!  Last weekend, we took the windows off and replaced the framing around the window.  We are now waiting for the glass to be cut (they told us 5 days...we need to wait another 5 days...let's hope the glass will be here next weekend).  In the meantime, we have plastic over the window.

As you can see from the photos...Gina did some cleaning on the backside of the building for me.  There were vines and the dirt was uneven.  We can walk back there without a problem now.  Thanks, Gina!

Happy Saturday!

David

Busy Working Away...

The buckets above are my new creation which I have designed all aspects, including the handles.  Besides the buckets, I have created oil servers with handles (see blog) and now I have added some baskets with handles.  This has been fun for me!

I have started throwing the next kiln load.  Cups! Cups! and more Cups!  Mia (our husky) was trying to help trim them.  Plus, I have more items drying - plates, large vases, and covered jars. 

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

David

 

The Kiln is Out and Everything Looks Beautiful...

We just unloaded the kiln this morning. WOW!!  All the pieces came out looking fabulous. I have five new pieces that will need metal handles which should be fun to design and add to the pieces.  This picture with the door down and all the pots in the kiln. 

For anyone who has tried calling me in the past week...my phone has not been working!  We finally called Comcast and have it resolved.  So, please give me a call back.

Have a great Saturday!  Enjoy the nice weather (finally). 

David

A Little Story about the Cone Packs....

Cone Pack on Shelf in top front of Kiln.

So, I loaded the kiln yesterday and this morning with Gina.  It is now warming up and it is my hope to get early tomorrow and fire the kiln.  The goal is to beat the heat!!!  The weather is going to be hot (90 degrees or more), again.  The kiln shed will be much hotter to deal with...

Cone Pack that was in the last Kiln. 

The story about the cone packs and why there are three packs placed in each gas kiln.  They are cones 010, 1 and 5 for body reduction and copper reds (they are blue and two brown cones in the picture).  When these three cones melt they melt into the clay holder and disappear.  Cones 8, 9, 10 and 11 are  for final melting/temperature in the kiln (they are yellow, white, pink and blue).  These cones will curve over from the heat and it is my hope to have 10 down and 11 still standing which is what my glazes prefer.

Peep Hole - I watch the cone pack during the firing through this hole.

The cones are located in the bottom front, top front and bottom back. The cones are viewed through peep holes in my door that I brick up and in a hole from the back of the kiln.  I keep a brick in it when not viewing.

Brick in Peep Hole.

The kiln door is bricked up every time there is a firing.  The bricks are stacked within the kiln shed to stay dry when not being used.  The door is double bricked (two layers).

Bricks on the side of the shed.

Stay cool during our newest heat wave!

David        

Creature Love Letters....

Below you find two notes written to Lucy Frank to thank her for the Creatures (see blog entry below) from her friends.

“I adore my little magical fish-piggy, which has joined a certain woodpecker on my noise-making shelf. When I said I, too, collect folk instruments, what I really meant was that I collect noise making instruments. The noises they make isn't music, or is only sort-of music. So I have a train whistle, a slide whistle, a weird canister that makes sounds like thunder and bad weather, a gourd you blow into, a Chinese thing that whirls, and stuff too hard to describe. Thank you so much, Lucy, for adding to this odd but much prized collection.”


“I am looking right now at my funny little--hmmm--piggy-aardvark-sort-of-a-stegosaurus whistle (with the wonderful toes and googly eyes and wing-ears)--a stedvarkapig? Or is he more of a stedvarkapossum? I am crazy about him, anyhow, whatever he is--and I'm pretty sure he's a he, though I have no idea why. Please tell David what a hit ALL his work was. (The three apples are still lined up neatly on his beautiful little tray.Tres magnifique!)”

Lucy, thank you for sharing these wonderful notes with us. 
 
It is my hope that we (Gina and I) start to load the kiln today. 

David