What the hell?

Got some new clay a few weeks ago, and threw with it for the first time today. 10X better than the super soft shit i was working with, it can be moved much higher, but it's the same color as the junk i've used. My next big challenge is making a large plant pot for my Mother in law. I'm thinking 15-25 pounds.

On the job front, it looks like there's a good chance i'm going back to my old job. I'll find our tomorrow if it's really going to happen, and i'll give more info on my non-seen blog then.

Also, i saw "no country for old men" today on cable. Now i know alot of people thought it was good, but boy did it suck! It's like directors and writers try to write in so much subtlety, it kills the watchability (not sure if that's a word), but anyhoo, i really did not like it, i think it's right there with "Glitter" and "Jersey Girl", with the worst movies i have ever seen. As a matter of fact, it probably goes in that order, No country for Old Men would probably place 3rd in the all total crap movies of all time. Waste of 2.5 hours, i'll tell ya!

Hopefully tomorrow i'll wake up from the stupor i've been in, and i need to, one way or another. It's like i'm walking in a dream...

Till tomorrow.

-LB

Week 1 ends at the new job.

It was the Longest week ever, i have no idea how i survived starting a new job, and being dog sick all week. I'm not 100% sure where i fit in there yet, or what i'm doing, but i think it will be fine.

I have to throw some new stuff tonight or tomorrow, it's been like a month now, and i feel i'm losing my mind. I also can't shake the sick feeling, arg.

On top of that, i sold my Asus eee PC, and i'm going to sell the macbook i'm typing on now. I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525, which i will install my custom cover on (got it off ebay, it was one of thoes one-off Mike Ming custom covers).

Word.

-lb

Ban the Bomb

Well, today was it, i ended my 5.5 year run at the Bank. There were good times, there were bad times, but it was time for me to move on.

Tomorrow i start my new job, it's going to be different, different kinds of people, and a different environment.. Banking > Construction, but i think the latter will suit me better.

Now i just need to get over this cold, and fucking throw something! My wheel is fixed, and i have thrown one very small squatty Vase, get with it man!

Until tomorrow...

-LB

weak snow...

so weak, it was cold, but the snow was weak... happy Sunday!

1/17/08 Firing

It came out alright. Some of the stuff on the top shelf bubbled a bit, but overall not too bad for my second complete firing. here's the pics: (just a sample)






-LB

Hump Day!

Well, it's been a busy and odd week already. I found out how much I'm worth to my employer, absolutely nothing! I put in my 2 week notice on Monday, and nobody cared. I also had to write my own job description, and in the end, they decided to attempt to hire a "lower level" position. Good times. Only 8 days left!

I finished apply glaze to my next batch last night, and i'm still waiting for my replacement wheel head from Creative Industries, hopefully it will show today, and in the next day or 2 i can get back to work on some stuff, and not lopsided this time!

Word.

-LB

Change, she's good...

Well, after 5.5 years, i have a new job. I'm going to get out of the banking business, and into Infrastructure construction (in the IT department), the job itself is actually a step back, but the pay is a wash, and there's alot of new opportunity for me.

We will see how it goes, i have to give 2 weeks where i am so that should be interesting, lot's of explaining to do, and lots of pain, i have been integral to the bank for all this time, and i don't think they are prepared for me to leave.

On the potter side, i'm going to glaze on sunday i think. The stuff looks good, and i have a couple of extra glaze colors now.

Jobs, pots... I think i need to do more on the pottery side.

-lb

The 5th, of the new year.

Here i is. Over the weekend, i completed the Bisque, i guess that's my 2nd successful Bisque firing ,and it went perfectly. The Scraffito pices came out perfect, and the plain ones did as well, no explosions...

By the end of the week i plan on doing the Glaze firing for this. I'm going to Clear Glaze the outside of the Sgraffito work, and put a color on the inside. The others will be pretty normal. I'm somewhat satisfied with the firing thus far, but we will see how the finished product comes out. I have pics, but i'm at work now, and don't have them WITH me.

Flame on...

-lb

where do i start?

Well, the Vacation was less than successful.

Here's where we start. Headed to Vegas on the 14th, arrived, good times, everything was smooth (except the cold weather and Rain + Losses). Then, on Tuesday evening we head to Paso Robles to Suprise Gen's Mother, and suprised she was. Fast forward to our departure about 24 hours later, we head down I-5 in California toward the Grapevine, and it's closed because of snow! So we need to cross over to Hwy 101, all crossing paths are closed, except the one we came across 2 hours before. We backtrack 2.5 hours past Mom-in-Law's house, head down the 101 toward LA (out of our way), in hopes that I-15 back thru to Vegas will be open by the, why not? We hit Rancho Cucomonga at about 4am, and i-15 was still Indefinitly closed! We wait, and listen to the radio until about 6am, and they are still not open, our flight is at 10am, they finally opened it (limited), at about 8:30am, but it was too late. So we reschedule our flight, extend the rental car, and close out our room at Balleys. We decided to suprise my mom in the "OC", and once again, suprised she was. At 12pm on Friday, we finally head out to Vegas, and it takes a bit longer than the normal 3-3.5 hours to get there, it takes 5! So it's 5pm, and we are trying to return the rental car in vegas, we didn't have time to get our stuff from the hotel (on the way via UPS right now), we forgot to fill up the rental car (another $40 cost), and we get to the Airport with about 45mins to spare, at wich point the automated machine tells us we have to wait in the long ass line! Dramatic to say the least. Well, we made the flight, which ended up being 40 mins late, and got home at like 11:30 on
Friday night.



Gonna throw some stuff tonight, and do a Bisque this weekend, probably late sat, or early Sunday.

Xmas was good and Quiet.

-LB

Slow

So i have not thrown anything in about 1 week. I plan to do something tonight hopefully, i guess it's just as well, since i don't really have much money right now to replenish my propane, to fire. I'll try to build up some stuff in the next few days before we leave for Vegas, so when i come back i can get a good set going for the new year.

-LB

Friday for the Ices

Well, it snowed like crazy all day yesterday, and cleared today, but now it's under 10 degrees, it's Frigid!

I'm starting to realize that there are some really impressive individuals doing the pot out there. This guy Pottery at Jingdezhen, China has done some really impressive stuff, and is only 20! I'm 33.5 and i could not throw one half-assed centered pot in the time he could fill a room with quality pieces! Speaking of, i think my Wheel head is a bit warped, and it's frustrating me, i'm not sure what to do. Maybe i can replace the Head only, or maybe i can make one? All i know is it's pissing me off.

I started doing Scraffito style with my pots, i did one that's pretty cool, and have 2 more waiting for the slip treatment. There's one on the wheel now that i forgot to trim this morning, so i suppose it will be a loss, MEH, it's a lopsided mofo anyways...

-LB

nanna

Junk

Sooo, did a firing over thanksgiving, it was successful, but not super awesome. Some ok stuff, and something that didn't really fire. Here they be:

A victim of my own work

I attempted to start my Bisque last night, and it blew up 3 pieces, at which point i pulled the plug until Sunday.

It was a combination of Wet pieces, and 1 with an air bubble, but boy did they explode. The wet ones shattered everywhere, and the one with the Air bubble blew out the side and bottom.

I know better, but i didn't listen to myself. The reality is, i need to take great care when prepping, and i need to wait at lest 3 days from the time i create, to the bisque to allow from sufficient dry time.

Meh

Almost there

I'm a few days away from Bisque #2 in my hodgepodge kiln. I think i have everything i need for success now, i've got the right Glaze, i know how to get the kiln to the proper cone temp, and i even have a more suitible clay (FOR THE NEXT BATCH). I think after this round, i'm going to attempt a PIT firing at my dad's place, i may actually save 4-5 pieces just for that purpose. So maybe if i create 4-5 more in the next few days, i can get them in the bisque. Word...



On another note, i have "special ordered" a Vinyl flooring called Allure from Home Depot, it's a light Bamboo, and I'm going to do the whole 500sq feet of our kitchen/living space in the house, it's a really cool product, it looks and feels just like wood, but it's totally waterproof, and durable, and 1/3rd the cost of wood. If it works out well, I'll do the entire upstairs of the house, and trash the dog-pee carpet!

couple more pieces

I'll throw a couple more pieces for my next firing here this weekend, and see how it goes, i have a couple of shapes that i really like, and some other stuff that i don't. I'm still trying to find my stuff again, but i don't think I'm too far off. I will probably put a little more effort into the last couple of pieces i do this time, and see where it goes.

-LB

Lull

I'm in a bit of a ceramic lull at the moment. I need to produce about 10 items (8-10), to fill the kiln for the next Bisque, i suppose i could do more, and just not finish in one firing. Probably something like 3 larger pieces, and 7 small, if i were to get some new, larger stilts, i could fit one more shelf in the kiln, and place some smaller stuff also.

Now that i have the issues with Cone's, Glaze, and temp figured out, it should be ok. The kiln can reach CONE 06 (not 6), without any issue, and i can probably Bisque at 04-06, and then low fire Glaze at 06.

My next task is to call, or drive by this propane place. They re-fill tanks instead of exchanging them, so I'm hoping that it will be cheaper. It's costing me $18-21 dollars to exchange a tank, and it's taking 75% of 1 tank to do either firing. So what happens is i take in a 3/4 empty tank to get exchanged, and waste the excess fuel, plus pay a bit more.

I need to find my Style again. Right now i'm throwing various objects, but i find i don't really have a "voice". I want to throw more "robust" style bowls and such, i have found some inspiration from the website of Legendary potter Otto Heino, although i don't want to spend too much time there, for fear my stuff will end up looking just like his (his are great, but i want to be unique).

Meh.

What a dumb ass

So there i wuz, firing away with my custom kiln, thinking that it JUST WASN'T GETTING HOT ENOUGH. I was wrong, 4 of the 5 bottles of Glaze i purchased were Cone 5/6, not cone 05! Major difference! Cone 5= 2300 degrees. Cone 05 is about 1800 degrees. Shit bricks man! I could not figure out why my 06 cone would bend, but the Glaze would not flux.....

It's because I'm a retard.

But at least i voted Blue.

-LB

Mother *&%$#er

Well, i re-ran my Firing for 2 hours, with the FLU 70% closed, and it got hotter, so i had to go this morning and pickup another propane take, and try this again. I'm hoping that restricting the FLU will cause more of the heat to stay in the kiln, and out of the air.

Here's the one Piece that actually Fluxed in the 2 firings, it looks kinda funny, not enough Glaze on it, etc...



-LB

The day after

Well, candy-day in America is over, now all we have left is Election night. I have a re-Firing to look forward to. So the kiln fired last night, 5 hours, but i did something wrong, only 1 of any of the 6 pieces in the kiln Fluxed at all, and it was a larger Vase at the top.

I think, THINK, that i need to dampen the flu on the kiln, to get it to hold on to some of the heat it's pushing out of the lid hole. I hope that's the issue, because it's just not getting a high enough temp to fuse the Glaze on the pottery, not even close (probably 1-200 degrees off), what trips me out is that the 1 piece fluxed a little bit, looks kinda funny. It must have trapped heat in the position it was at in the kiln, and when i blocked the flu last night, it trapped enough in that pocket to reach CLOSE, to Cone 06.

Meh, i'll try again today with the remainder of my Propane, see how hot i can get it, and then get the tank refilled.

I was way silly thinking it would work on the first shot! Hell, it might take 10 shots!

Happy Nov 1st.

-lb