Morning thoughts

It is the morning, before the mind gets bombarded with the doings that make up days. The morning coffee is made.  Lynn is still sleeping. The pendulum on the clock is the only sound as it measures off time in a relaxed and gentle way. The clock was my great grand parents and has been in the family for over 100 years.  It has been  a constant and reliable companion every morning since childhood.  The dialog that it has with time, opens me up, to the endless possibilities of the day, a sure cure for the poverty of the imagination.
The work for the fall firing is starting. Now that the spring firing has been properly dealt with all thoughts are looking ahead to the fall.
Beginning at the beginning is always good ... mixing clay is what is in store for the day.
Here are some pics of tea bowls from the last firing.

Make good pots,
~Craig

Heron

In the morning as I type, a great blue heron quietly glides in and gently lands on the dock. The dock can be seen from the window, next to the computer, and is a place where ducks rest and herons fish. 

The heron takes his time to arrive.  There is a transition period  between, gliding in, to actually "being" on the dock.  Upon landing, he steps a bit to position himself properly, slightly flaps his wings, and preens his feathers to make sure that none of his feathers are ruffled. Then bobs his head several times with a rhythm that makes you want to swallow. Head bobbing on that long heron neck, is something that defines the essence of what a heron is.  Next he surveys the surroundings, and slightly repositions himself.  Finally he straightens his neck, and stands full. At this moment, he has arrived, and starts patiently staring into the pond for the next meal. All these movements look slightly awkward, but the heron does them in such an elegant way.  It takes time to be majestic. 

Cheers,

Make Good Pots,

~Craig

Cleaning up pots, kiln and all the rest

Another day is spent doing the final cleaning of pots from the spring firing.   The very good ones are all lined up waiting to be photographed. There is a surprisingly  quite a few excellent ones and some stunners in the group. Cleaning and sorting takes a moderate amount of time. Unlike pots from electric or gas kilns, a lot of after fire finish work is required on some of the pots. This is a still time, a time to spend with the results of the making and firing. This is a time to get reacquainted with the pots, after there long journey in the kiln firing. They tell stories of living in a river of flame, of being buried completely in coals, to reemerge and perhaps be buried again. These are stories that echo of a life lived and stories of survival. Some tell stories of being in the right place at the right time, while others tell of being destroyed by a piece of poorly stoked wood, some are bland and underfired. A tale of a life not lived.

 The kiln is all cleaned of ash, a room waiting for some new arrivals.     The shelves are cleaned and washed with a fresh coat  of kiln wash, they remind me of new sheets on a bed, so clean and pristine.  Time to quit writing and get some rest.

Cheers,
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Copper Reds who knew!

I put some copper red glaze on some porcelain teabowls, and put them into the spring firing. Who knew that they would thrive in that environment. I'm sure that it is one of those things that if you come to depend on it, it will abandon you immediately.    Here is to hoping that it doesn't!
Cheers,
Make good pots,
~Craig

A long time a coming

Winter and spring have finally left and summer is here.  The spring firing was a great success. Here are two bowls from the firing.  The winter was an honest winter, with the promise of snow and cold properly fulfilled. Spring however turned out to be the ugly stepsister of Winter. Enough said about Spring.  Summer is here with it's warmth and sunshine.   Cheers.

Day in the life

A bit of fun with the bottles

Some small bowls all in a row.

Teapots and Winter

It's been quite awhile since the last post. The winter in Minnesota turned into the icy forge that sometimes happens. The cold of sub zero temperatures pound daily, and a siege mentality starts to set in. The bitter cold has finally let up. We are in a blizzard right now with another foot of snow expected. So the sking will be on again.
Here are a couple of slabbuilt teapots that just came out of the gas kiln. They pour a nice cup of tea. That's really all that a person could want in life.
Cheers,
Make good pots.



I

Another January Day

 Here are a few pictures that showed up on the camera. Every week we get more snow, and the base just keeps getting better and better. 

 This is the beginning of the ski trail as it heads west. It is the beginning of what has become a 90 minute daily ski in the woods. Very refreshing, and good for the soul.

The ski tracks have been holding together really well. The temp has been from 20F-10F. which is ideal to keep the snow firm. 

Minnesota Ice

It's hard to post something new and interesting that happens in Minnesota in January. There is a certain sameness that takes over. I ski and make pots. It is too cold to wood fire, so there is a "Seasonal Affected Firing Disorder" that you must deal with.
This fall I was able to get my hands on a nice used Alpine gas kiln. This turned out to be the cure for SAFD. Here are some results from the last firing.
I can definitely see that the snow and winter has influenced the pots.
I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.
Make Good Pots,
~Craig

Northern Ice

I just got some porcelain out of the gas kiln. Here is a celadon, guinomi (sake cup). It references the Minnesota winter. I guess all that time spent in the woods cross country skiing is starting to show up in the pots. 

I'm excited enough that I'm glazing up some more. How great is that to still be excited after forty plus years!

Make good pots!
Cheers,
~Craig