Spring open house

I got the clay delivered today.  Moved around almost 3000 lb of clay and materials.  I am so tired.



Studio open house conjunction with the building wide HUA Spring Studio Tour:
Friday, May 7th, from 6-9
Saturday, May 8th, from 10 - 3

Down to one box & New York

I never get to this low in clay.  One box left.  I am getting the delivery on Wednesday.  I have tested the batch I am getting.



Recently we went New York City by car, and stayed Meadowland, NJ and commuted to the Manhattan by bus. I heard about it, but never done before.  We drove to NJ, 6 hours, and stayed the hotel in Meadowland, and take the bus to the Port Authority in New York City.  We do not necessary to drive inside the New York City, avoid the expensive parking fee as well as the hotel fee. Hotel in New York city is expensive and its tax is very high. Cost of the bus is 3.20$ one way, and takes 20-30 minutes.  The bus depot is in front of the hotel, and bus departs every 20 to 6o minutes until 1 am.  Going back to NJ at the Port Authority was a bit tricky, as there were no clear sign where to ride.  Arriving at the Port Authority after 10pm did not help as the information booth was already closed.  We saved over $100 a day this way.  Get the information at the hotel before you leave the hotel. That is very important.  We went the Mitsuwa (Japanese grocery store), just before leaving and bought fresh fish (we brought a cooler) and other stuffs, made me smile.

Two sectional piece 2

Unloaded the kiln today. Three large pieces came out very good.  Two tall pieces were glaze by dipping, and the round one was sprayed.  I bought the High Volume Low Pressure Gravity Feed Spray Gun for $6 (on-sale) at the harbor Freight Tool. It worked  very well. I set up a temporary spray booth with a fan and a furnece filter and lots of newspaper.  I rarely spray glazes.

The height of the vase and the pitcher are 21".

Unloaded kiln

The wind stopped over the weekend, and fired the kiln on Sunday. I opened the kiln today.  Here are some new attempt.

One is the stamped directly over the green-ware, and glazed a bit differently. I like the flow of the things, but I am not sure.



This is combination of the tenmoku, the tomato red and the rutile blue.

I like it.



I really like the rutile blue and the amber combination, but I cannot find the recipe for the amber glaze I came up last year. I checked the Hyperglaze, but the software acting wired and did not save the data.  My blog entry said the chun blue.  I mixed and tested the similar glaze, but turned out the celadon.  Looking at the old batch, I remember I used the different iron oxides, the iron silicate; calcined iron and silica mixture I made.  This is not feasible for a large batch, so I need find the alternative.



I  glaze the large pieces today, and fire on Thursday.

Wait game again

I have been throwing lots of pots, actually clay is down to 4 boxes (200lbs). Yes, I used 2200lb in less than one year! I can finish them next week. Tons of bisque-wares are ready to be glazed.



We had 80 degree record breaking days last week, and really enjoy the very warm - unseasonable weather. The spring is here, with winds and unstable weather. I have been holding the glaze firing for at least two week now. I probably can fire the kiln without problem, though. This is great way to build up inventory before the show. First two shows are at the first two weeks of June. I will have firing every week in May.

Please check my schedule !