Here’s my top cone pack. You can see that cone 10 is more than flat as I was trying to give the bottom of the kiln a little more time to catch up. It didn’t work… I still had a pretty good temperature difference from top to bottom. More than I would like. But not enough to affect the pottery in any way.

Tonight I opened up my soda kiln. It was still a little toasty… but who can wait?!
So I unbricked the door and gave it a few more minutes to cool before I dove in to start unloading. The front stack of the kiln looked a little “blasted” with soda. But that’s to be expects. I know that I pack my kiln tighter than most. And if I hope to get soda “pushed” all the way into the middle of the kiln, sometimes I need to “sacrifice” a few pieces in the front. And while I’m not a huge fan of “overly-blasted”… some people prefer them. And I must admit, overly-blasted is always better than dry!

And a little bit closer… showing some test tiles of different slips.

After I had unloaded the stack of the front two shelves, the third shelf (back stack) is still standing and waiting to be unloaded. A further reach into the kiln… but a lot cooler by the time I got back there.

And a little closer view of the back stack… and some more colorful mugs!

So at this point, everything is unpacked and loaded into crates. I’ve got to shlepp everything out to my car. Plus, all of the “fun” part of firing the soda kiln. Not only do you work hard to unload everything – but you still need to scrape all the shelves, re-kiln wash everything, sweep out the firebox, throw away the garbage and sweep the floor. A LOT of work for one person – especially after doing several long days of getting ready for the firing!!! Worth the work. Worth the effort. Especially when you get all of these treasures in the end.

For several years it was so hard to find a good apron to keep the clay off my clothes while I was throwing. So my Mom and I sat down and designed a new apron that would do what I wanted it to do. First off, the lower section splits into two panels to cover each leg as you sit down at the wheel. There are patch pockets on the back of each hip to keep your phone safe & clean. The straps actually go over the shoulders, instead of around the neck, to avoid neck strain & fatigue. There are three different buttoned height adjustments, as well as three buttoned width adjustments. So the aprons are “one size fits all”… for the most part. My Mom started making them for me, and then we sold a few to my friends. Over the years, she has made quite a small little “business” for herself making these pottery aprons!

Here is my friend & potter Greg Schultz throwing a large pot on the wheel…
and keeping his clothing clean all at the same time!

So there are a few currently in the apron inventory. I have them for sale in my studio at Lillstreet, and they will be making an appearance at my Holiday Home Show next weekend.

APRON A – From the “Eclectic Collection”, a patchwork mix of earthtone patterns & textures.

APRON B – From the “Eclectic Collection”, a striped patchwork with assorted pattern accents.

APRON C – Navy blue with a small pattern of green, red & light blue across the apron.

APRON D – A blue “denim” background with some printed patterns in yellows, reds & greens.

APRON E – A cool mint green apron with whimsical butterflies flying across the apron.

APRON F – A clean, geometric stripe with red, oranges & yellows.
SOLD : to one of my former students & now Lillstreet Monitor Chuck!

APRON G – A mind-bending pattern of black & white.

APRON H – A retro-vibe with a musical flair!

APRON I – I’m seeing spots before my eyes… bright pops of color on a blue background.
SOLD : to my friend & potter Emily Murphy up in Minneapolis!

One week from today (and tomorrow)… “My Home For The Holidays ” Home Show.
Yep, you got it – at my home! Pottery in every room, food & drink in the kitchen and my
annual”Tired Of Shlepping Sale” on the back porch. Start your holiday shopping a bit early…
like next weekend!!!

Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday November 24th, 2013
10:00am-6:00pm both days.

If you’d like actual address details, send me an e-mail or Facebook Message.
I’d love to have you stop by… but I’m just a little leery of posting my home address
online for the world to see.

Sure, probably three seconds on Google and you’d have my home address and ALL
of my personal information. But I sleep better not thinking about that.

Well, the soda kiln is packed tight & bricked up for the night.

Now it’s home for a quick “nap,” followed by a quick shower,
then it’s back to the studio in a couple hours to fire it up!!!

So it’s been a very busy couple of days. Glazing. Wadding… Glazing. Wadding…
And then I took my studio cart down to the first floor kiln room. Huge thanks to whoever fixed the freight elevator. When I checked Tuesday evening, the freight elevator was “out of order.” And I was NOT looking forward to carrying everything downstairs by hand. Luckily… the elevator got me (and my cart) downstairs in one piece.

And so I started loading the kiln.
Kind of exciting as this is my first firing in the new Lillstreet soda kiln. Not that it’s any different really

Once the back stack was loaded, I started on the front. It always fills up faster than I think it should. I start out thinking there is SO much space to fill. Hoping that I have enough work to fill it. But then all of a sudden, it fills up fast. Luckily, this time I got EVERYTHING that I had glazed & wadded into the kiln.

It was dark again this morning as I head out on my bike. Yet it felt surprisingly warm after the cold spell we had earlier this week. Beautiful morning. Beautiful sky show.

Night two of glazing was quite productive. Things were literally stacking up.

After I added the wadding these pieces went onto my rolling studio cart to make room on the table to glaze even more! Especially since I’m glazing to fill my own soda kiln AND share a cone 10 glaze kiln with two other studio members. Glazing for two different kilns at the same time is a little daunting.