A heron video I took last Friday on The Cobb

A quiet little video of a heron out on The Cobb, on Friday the 13th of May, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVDLNT3p_8

And here's a still of when he finally did take flight.

Here's another photo of him perched in a tree.

I got up early on Friday morning and cleaned up the studio from some glazing I'd done several days ago, wedged up some porcelain balls and threw six tumblers.  I then took a short nap and threw some stuff together and drove out to camp, stopping in Augusta to buy a Brita water filter pitcher.

Got to camp and filled the feeders and then jumped in the kayak.  I paddled for about 2 or 3 hours; went over in the cove across from camp and then down to the Route 126 bridge, and then back around the back of the islands where the osprey nest used to be.  That's where I took the video.  I came back to camp and put things away and headed back home to shower and get ready to go to Guthrie's.

I slept in late on Saturday and then spent a few hours cleaning, sweeping and washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming, dusting, laundry, etc.  Rick had to go up to campus for graduation.   Sara graduated but the ceremony was held inside and tickets were scarce so I didn't attend.  It was nice to stay home alone, even though I spent most of the time cleaning.  Once Rick got home we spent most of the afternoon and evening watching movies.

This morning I got up before 5 a.m. and went up to the studio to trim the tumblers I'd thrown on Friday. I also put up the rest of my pottery collage posters.

I thought we had a graduation party for Sara today but found out about 10 a.m. that the party is next Sunday.  That was a big relief because I really just wanted to vegetate, which is basically what I ended up doing.    I did actually get around to painting these tumblers I'd made a couple weeks ago with underglazes.

Loons, Eagles, and Assholes

Discovered Friday morning that our neighbor somehow managed to get a building permit to build a house on a beach front lot to which 40+ families in the Tobey Development have a right of way.  We dealt with this issue two years ago at the Planning Board and they agreed that the ordinance did not permit a home to be built on the lot.  Somehow, under the cover of secrecy, he managed to slither back in this spring and get the permit.  We'll be consulting with an attorney tomorrow to see if there is recourse.

Friday was a beautiful day but I couldn't stand to sit on my deck and listen to the construction noise as they further raped the beach front lot with more tree cutting and digging.  So we decided to take some supplies to camp so that we could go back out there Saturday afternoon to spend our first night.

We went to Danielle and Shawn's adoption party Saturday and headed right out to camp afterwards.  Unfortunately it started raining just as we left the party and was still raining when we got to camp.  We hung out for a bit and by 5 p.m. the sun was out and the wind had died down.  So we unloaded the kayaks and went for a paddle.

As soon as we got to the other side of the stream we saw this beautiful juvenile eagle perched high in a tree.

We explored around the area for a while and noticed some dark clouds moving in so headed back to camp.  About half way there we came across a couple of very vocal loons and I took this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7PYrfBD3L4

Deck furniture returns

I enjoyed a nice Sunday around the house, cleaned the studio and then had our first barbecue of the season.  Rick brought the table and chair set from the cottage and Jared helped him with the grill.  Justin and Keeley came over for hot dogs, hamburgers, and salad.  Keeley made a delicious chocolate and vanilla pudding pie.  

I don't think we had the deck at this time last year.  It makes spring feel like it comes earlier because it's so much warmer up there off the snowy ground.  

There's still more than 2 feet of snow off the front of the deck.  It had been in the high 60s or low 70s earlier in the day but got pretty chilly by the time we finished dinner. Came inside and lit some logs in the fireplace.  

Yesterday I did a bisque firing using a cone 04 in the kiln sitter.  It fired for about 6 hours before the kiln sitter shut it down.  The bottom witness cones were 05 06 07 and the 05 and 06 bent fairly well.  The witness cones on the top two shelves practically dissolved, leaving parts of the cones on the shelves.  Guess those two shelves are hotter than the bottom one.

Pottery Notes: Second Successful Glaze Firing

I had been having trouble with the kiln.  I tried to fire it twice last weekend and neither worked properly.  I foolishly discovered that I had mixed up which was off and which was on for the switches, so I was starting with it completely on and gradually turning it off.

I figured it out by opening the lid and and starting from scratch and watching the elements come on as I turned the switches.  We also used it to heat the garage up so that we could work out there.  

We cleaned the garage and then built shelves for the new kitchen pantry.  I love how much it holds and it really helps in decluttering the kitchen.  

So after we finished working in the garage I loaded the kiln and started it about 5 p.m. and it was done firing by about 11:30.  I think the pieces came pretty nice, mostly.

Left is brown clay with true celadon and underglazes; center is porcelain with true celadon;
and right is also true celadon on porcelain.

Tumblers with oil spot glaze.

Two tumblers on the right are seaweed glaze.  They look rather
metallic - much like a raku firing, but more controlled. The tumbler on the left is Vert Lustre outside, shino inside with shino dripped on outside.  I really like that combo and think I'll use it for the teapot I made Charlie. 

Royal blue with chun plum and true celadon. Really nice combo.

These all have true celadon.  Much darker on the dark clay.  I'm not
sure why the two porcelain pieces look so differently.

Various underglazes with blue rutile glaze inside.

Teddy bear brown underglaze with colored underglazes on top.  I ended up giving this and some other pieces to a
colleague who was collecting things for her friend who was moving into a new apartment after having been in a
homeless shelter for a  year.  

Te

Royal blue and root beer glaze. Definitely not my favorite.  This royal blue is so much lighter than the royal blue on the small mug above.  I usually do a full 3 coats but I may have dipped the mug. . . hmmm... I really liked the way that came out better.

Teapot I finished building today.  The Chinese
letters are supposed to say Life

I made it for Charlie and got the Chinese letters from his book which in full
is called Life Lines but I decided to just use Life.

These are 4, 5, and 6 cones.  There was a Cone 8 in the kiln sitter and it clearly
got up to Cone 4, and just touched on Cone 5 I'd say.  

Perigee Moon

Last weekend was a "super moon."  The moon orbits around the earth in a slightly eccentric circle, resulting in it being a little closer sometimes than at other times.  When it's closest, it's called perigee. So anyway, I heard from friends at pottery on Saturday that Reid State Park would be staying open late in order for people to have a good site from which to view it.  So Rick and I decided to take a trip down to get some photos.  We went to JT Maxwell's in Bath for dinner beforehand, and then arrived at Reid about 8:00.  I wish we'd gotten there earlier, as the moon was rising, because that's when it was at it's most impressive.  It didn't look much different than usual by the time it was high in the sky.  However, I wanted to get some photos so that's what we did.

I wanted to get some classic moon photos - where it appears someone is holding it or whatever.  Rick was very cooperative - move a little to the right, back to the left, up a little bit, hold it right there!  click.  It was much more difficult than I'd imagined to get the angle and the spacing of the fingers, etc. just right.  But I was fairly happy with the results.

Step one - lining it up.

A little closer . . .

Ooops - too far to the left . . .

A little frustration creeps in . . .

Voila!  Close as we could get.

Pottery Notes: Sunday, March 13, 2011

I've been having fun with underglazes and carvings this weekend.

Here's a piece that's ready to go into a glaze firing.  The outside is done in various color underglazes and the inside is a glaze called Blue Rutile, even though it looks red unfired.

I had planned to go to The Liberal Cup with Rick for a performance of the NitPickers but I decided at the last minute to stay home and play with clay.  Three hours of bluegrass would have been great, but the three hours it takes for set up and breakdown gets a bit tedious.  I made a cover for a bowl I'd made a few days ago.

Tuesday at home

I decided to take a personal day after all the overtime I'd been putting in getting ready for legislative hearings on the budget yesterday.  We had a good turnout - maybe 200 people at the rally and at least 8 clients testified at the hearings.

Betty w/Maine Can Do Better sign, and Tammy in red.  

So today I rearranged the studio, moving the bed over into the corner and bringing the weight bench out where it can be more easily used, swept and washed the floor, glazed three pots, and then made lasagna for dinner.

A lot more room to get around.  

I moved the bed from behind the sofa to the corner.  

I also put in an order to Big Ceramic Store online: several glazes and underglazes, kiln posts and stilts, a pair of tinted glasses to look into the kiln holes, etc.  Oh yes, and a box of Cone 8 to use in my next glaze firing. I'm hoping if I want to get to Cone 5, if I used a Cone 8 in the kiln sitter, it will get to temperature.

First Glaze Firing

This is the sum total of my first glaze firing.  I wanted to do a test run, rather than fill it to the brim.  The first bisque firing went fine but didn't get as hot as it should have which is much more forgiving on a bisque firing than a glaze firing.  To accommodate for that I'm using a 7 cone in the kiln sitter though my goal is to fire to cone 5 or 6.  

Kiln wash on the shelf

Bottom shelf

Second and third shelves.  You can see the witness cones sitting there in front of the peep hole.  

Loading in the last piece.

Ok, next day . . .  emptied the kiln this morning.  Again, it appears from the witness cones that it didn't get as hot as it should have but the pieces seem to have cured fine.  

first glaze run

These two tumblers were a bit disappointing.  I really dislike the colors (rose and medium blue underglazes with a clear glaze overall) - or maybe it's just my brushing technique (or lack thereof) but I also must have gotten some wax on the rim where the glazes didn't take.

These two tumblers are done in true celadon over porcelain.  I like them; the carvings show through well and the color is nice.

I used all my new underglazes on this so I could see what colors they fired.  It will come in very handy.

You can see the cones didn't bend like you would expect.  They are 5, 6, and 7 cone packs and the bent cone is a 7 which was in the kiln sitter.  I had hoped to fire to cone 5 but from the look of the witness cones, it appears I didn't get there.

Latest Pottery

An udu drum done in underglazes and stains.

A couple of tumblers, carved, stained with Spanish iron oxide and 3 coats of clear glaze. 

Mug.  I think the bottom is very thin celadon froth but not sure what's on the top.  I like the shape of this.

"Quilted" tumbler with painted underglazes, stained and then covered with clear glaze.

The kit 'n kaboodle.   The front bowl is chun over cappucino.

Working on pieces for my first glaze firing.  The white is a clear glaze and underneath are varioius underglazes and stains.  These pieces and the ones below are from my first bisque firing.

Pieces waiting for glazing.

waiting for glazing.