We unloaded the first 53 pieces from the new 16. We had a small problem during the firing as this was the first glaze load we had fired in this kiln. Had to stop it, reprogram it, and restart it so we were a little nervous cracking the lid open today, however everything looks good. Unloaded it and reloaded it with the final 27 pieces plus a bowl for an internet order, and started it up again. The temperature was still at 180 when we started this firing! OK, maybe we are pushing a little bit, but these pots have to come out first thing Friday morning so they can be picked up by the client. The other 16 is cooling and at 1200 when we left for the day so we can unload it tomorrow afternoon. We are feeling better. Has been a hectic couple of weeks though.
I’m still trying to get started photographing for the web site. I have visited a few photo stores looking for a graduated backdrop, however after visiting with a lighting specialist today at Light Tools I got some good pointers on how to light pottery for photography and should be able to get at it soon.
Cindy has been throwing orders from the show and is making good progress. I have some slabs to build tomorrow plus I want to get all the pots from the big Friday order that are out of the kiln ready to go tomorrow, so looks like another busy day.
nite
John’s birthday was last Tuesday but he decided to celebrate this past weekend with a few of the guys. They all came over for Saturday afternoon and night. We took them to West Edmonton Mall to the Waterpark and turned them loose for a few hours then back to the house for food and cake. Three of his friends got together and paid for a “Discovery Flight” at the City Centre Airport at a Centennial Flight School there. He met a flight instructor there who took him through an introduction and inspection of the aircraft , a Cessna 172, then the instructor, and John, Cindy and Kaileigh took a half hour flight out to the west of the city. John got to fly most of the way and put his hundreds of hours at Microsoft Flight Simulator into practice. I’m not sure his feet have touched the ground yet, althought the aircraft landed at 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon.
Back at the studio we got hard at it Monday morning. We had loaded both kilns for a bisque and fired them Friday then I went to shoot some video with Chris Craig (in a graveyard!) but that is another story. Sunday the kilns were still at over 300 degrees so we were unable to unload them until Monday morning. As we unloaded them I started taping and waxing to get them ready for glaxing while Cindy worked on mixing a glaze we were short of. Turned out we were also short of Feldspar so we had to call Larry from Plainsman at home and arrange to meet him on his day off. Very good of him to do this as we would have been unable to get the 110 piece order done in time otherwise. We glazed all the pieces that would fit in the two kilns and reloaded both kilns and got the new one firing and the old one on timer by a little after 7 pm. Very long day.
Tuesday we finished glazing the rest of the pieces and will be unloading and reloading the new kiln today.
Chris got back from Calgary after meeting with the oil guys and we definitely have a video to shoot in the next couple of weeks so I’ll add that to my schedule.
The large order for Friday is almost on schedule. We should make it with seconds to spare. Cindy started throwing some more orders yesterday afternoon as I am going to be unreliable around the studio for the next week or so as I work with Chris.
More Later.
Jim
Thursday morning and the kids are getting ready for school. John’s birthday was Tuesday and he is having a few of the guys over Saturday. Always something to look forward to. A bunch of teenagers hanging around the house. Oh well, keeps them off the streets.
Our kiln issues look to have been handled. After the test firing we had some questions and concerns about the new kiln. My theory is it had been sitting around for awhile before it was shipped and had absorbed more moisture than usual. The first test firing done in the way Shimpo recommended resulted in several cracks in the lid, floor, and most importantly in some of the side wall bricks. Not supposed to happen. We looked at our older kilns and while cracks do develop over time in the tops and floors, none of them have ever had a side brick crack. We contacted Ernest at Shimpo and Tim at Plainsman with photos and Ernest is going to replace the kiln.
I’m going to fire this next one , once we receive it,much more slowly than they recommend for the first firing to make sure we allow the bricks to lose any moisture they might contain. We may have to use the bad one once or twice as we have a very large order we have to push through. We have an order for 110 pieces due for pick up next Friday, the 16th. Just finished making them yesterday so we have bisquing and glaze firing to do in a week. Kiln capacity is at a premium.
Of course once the replacement gets here we have the fun task of exchanging the two kilns . Not sure how we are going to do that yet. Should be interesting.
That said we are very grateful to Ernest and Tim for standing behind the Shimpo Cone Art products. Helps us realize we made the right decision to stick with Cone Art.
Now Thursday evening. Today we worked on getting the 110 pieces to dry. Lots of humidity in the air for some reason. Transferred things to drying racks , moved the fans around a bit and waited. Not really, the waiting took place but we made use of the time by going across town to Plainsman and buying 20 boxes of clay and $500 worth of kiln shelves and posts. Back at the studio we unloaded the van and then I started kilnwashing the new shelves while Cindy built teapots and started trimming and sponging the platters.
Finally called it a day after 5. Tomorrow we hope to get a bisque load going. It is supposed to be rainy for the next few days so we’ll have to push things along as best we can to make next Friday’s deadline. The client is to pick up 110 pieces of pottery then. No pressure!
I’m also working with Chris Craig on some video for his project. We hope to shoot some promotional stuff tomorrow……
so I need my beauty sleep if I’m putting this face in front of the camera!….
nite
Saturday was a day off so yesterday we went in to work and today as well. Started yesterday by checking out our new kiln after its first firing. No comment for now. Some issues we’ll talk to Plainsman and Shimpo about then we’ll tell all. Suffice it to say we are not totally happy.
I pugged "mug pugs" for Cindy yesterday and she threw three dozen mugs then went on to other items. I started on slabs. We are getting back into the routine.
Today was a continuation. Cindy trimmed some items she had thrown , I pugged, did some more slabs, took pictures of the new kiln to send to Plainsman and Shimpo, then I went and did some "voice over" work for our DVD producer Chris Craig for a project he is working on. Cindy and I both finished up about the same time so called it an evening.
Tomorrow we are to meet the mayor in the afternoon for him to sign his pots. Still several unsigned ones from the "Empty Bowls " group to get done soon as we have to bisque and glaze fire them before the big luncheon on the 26th.
I haven’t forgotten about my promise to post some pictures of our tour of Plainsman Clays. Just have to find the time and get the pictures edited and sized. I also have to get to photographing the product for the web site.
The local radio station, K Rock which had the Pay for Play weekend to raise money for hurricane relief raised over $50000! Lots of people wanting to help. Good to see.
Tomorrow promises to be busy as we get the kids back to school and we hit our schedule in earnest, so…
nite.
First the pottery news.We got power to the new kiln today and did a test firing. Worked as advertised. Here’s a couple of pictures of our new baby.
Since we took out the 7 cubic foot to install this 16 cubic foot our total kiln space now is 42 cubic feet, up from 33, but the 16 cu ft in this one is so much more useable than the 7 in the old one that their really is no comparison. Just in time too. We got a rush order from the Legislature Gift Shop for 100 pieces in two weeks. We’ll need all the room we can get.ALl rather small items, half slab and half thrown so we can both work at the same time on production. Should not be too scary.
I got published in the Edmonton Journal this morning. A letter I wrote a couple of days ago concerning the apparent lack of action on Canadians and Albertans to offer aid to the storm refugees made the paper. Several others voiced similar comments, and one suggested $500,000 be sent from the province. My $1 Billion still beats it! Obviously it pays to complain because the Federal Government today announced they are sending four ships to the Gulf to assist, and here in Edmonton one of the radio stations is having a fund raising weekend "Pay to Play" with money going to the relief efforts of the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. K-Rock is running the event and receiving great response. $97 to get a song played, $197 to block a song. I’ve never been a fan of the station because so much of the announcing is based on Sophmoric and bathroom humour, but their hearts are in the right place this weekend.
Other fund raising events are underway this weekend as well. Edmonton is a great city with terrific people who want to help, when given a way to do it. Now if the Provincial government dips into the money bag a little and sends that $1 billion we can really all hold our heads up.
Friday night, kids had first couple of schooldays, John is doing community service work at CKUA radio, his school requires junior high students complete a number of community service hours during the year. In years past he has almost not got them done. This year he got a jump on it and is working as a volunteer at Listener Supported CKUA.
So…tonight we’re having nachos, and watching a movie….nite
Alberta’s 100th Birthday today. With all the kids starting back to school most of the celebration parties were adults only until this evening but there is a lot of community partying going on tonight all across the province. There is a huge fireworks display scheduled for 10 oclock to bring it all to a big bang finish.
We celebrated today by picking up our new kiln. We stopped in at Plainsman Pottery Supply right after lunch with the trailer and Larry loaded us up. Once at the studio we removed the packing and then took the kiln apart to move it into the studio. As we mentioned it is another 16 cubic foot ConeArt Shimpo kiln. It weighs between 6 and 7 hundred pounds so we tookit in in five pieces. A little disappointed because we thought the new ones would have gas struts to help with the weight of the lid. That is the way they are illustrated on the web site and in the catalog, however ours came with the "Rube Goldberg" counter weight system we have on our other 16 cu ft. It works but it sure isn’t an elegant design. We were happy to see the new controller location though. It is moved up to the top of the console and angled so you no longer have to bend over or get a chair to program the unit. Also the electrical connections have been tidied up. All in all it is a very nice looking kiln. We got it all reassembled and ready for the power to be installed. Photos tomorrow.
The situation along the Gulf Coast continues to weigh on our minds. At times like these you wish there was more you could do….but other than contributing to the Red Cross, from this distance there doesn’t seem to be any thing we can do, so we sit, and watch, and wonder with the rest of the world why it is taking so long to rescue those poor displaced Americans from New Orleans and the rest of the coast states.
Last night we wrote a few emails to provincial politicians suggesting in all seriousness the province donate a Billion dollars from the many billions in surplus funds we will have this year (the last guesstimate before the hurricane was 9 to 13 Billion) to the hurricane relief efforts. After all, the misfortune of those in the south will only make our provincial coffers swell as fuel prices go ever higher. The surplus could top 20 Billion dollars!…So far…no comment from any one….happy birthday Alberta….how much money was spent on fireworks tonight?…how many meals and clean water rations would that have bought?….just curious….
nite