Moving…
It looks like we will be moving out of our current home August 14th thanks to a newly signed rental application and that’s almost exactly 2 weeks from now in case you’re wondering whether I’ve done the math correctly or not. I’m not really too worried about moving our household contents since we’ve been purging on and off for the past few months and have even started packing and bringing stuff over to the new house.
Side one of garagio with wheel and "stuff" everywhere
I am worried about my “garagio” though…. One quick look at the photos and I can only exclaim in French (because it’s so much more dramatique), “Quelle horreur! Mon Dieu – q’est quon peut faire avec cette spectacle?”
Side 2 where I normally hand build
I had visions of cranking out a bit more work before the move, but alas, it is not to be so. Most likely I won’t return to the clay studio until September at the earliest. It’s a relief to have the house rented, but now comes the unglamorous part of serious packing, moving, cleaning etc. We are moving to a larger space which includes a oversized 2 car garagio – which translates to a more spacious area for me. I am also going to be selling an old make that ancient Paragon electric kiln (the same as this ebay listing) that still fires to cone 6 before the move – better write that Craigslist ad. My firings will be less frequent since it will take more time for me to fill the Skutt 1027, but it makes sense to downsize since I am no longer teaching and anticipate less studio time since I’m going back to school. First day of school for me is the 17th of August. Sometimes when it rains, it pours….
I have canceled my commitment to participate in the Farmer’s Market this coming weekend – I think my husband has visions of cleaning out the garage instead.
Meanwhile, we’ve picked out tile, bath fixtures for the bathroom and carpeting for the basement in the last couple of days. This was fairly easy since I already knew exactly what I envisioned for the house. It’s a 1911 vintage home and I’m going all white with subway tile for the shower surround and a octagon mosaic like style for the floor. Pretty traditional and a neutral backdrop for a vintage home.
I’m so trying not to stress right now,
Cynthia
First ^6 Glaze Fire in New Kiln & Vow
In an ideal world, I am super organized and plan for all possible outcomes. My make up is always perfect and I am the the epitome of calm and cool. In reality, I seem to be flying by the seat of my pants these days and it ain’t pretty. I have been meaning to change my ways, I just don’t know how to do it since I’ve been operating like this for so long now. I look more and more like Bill everyday:
Meanwhile, I’ve been a pottery making, glazing, firing fool all whilst working against deadlines and being a mom and wife. My porcelain boxes came out of the bisque kiln on Saturday morning (among other things), and by yesterday afternoon, I had the ware glazed and the kiln locked and loaded. The kiln has cooled down to 750 degrees F, as I write this and I’m hoping by noon, I’ll be able to unload her. I’m trying to speed things along for those of you rolling your eyes at me right now in disbelief since work needs to be delivered to Evergreen today for the show that opens on Friday.
Included in the glaze fire is my first wholesale order. I did a little dance and prayer to the Kiln Goddess before firing. If ever I needed a good outcome, today is it!
Things will relax a bit in May – and when the adrenaline calms down to a normal state, I vow to change my ways. It’s not good for my sanity or health. I was just reading an article in the paper yesterday about super centenarians – those who live past 110 years of age – and the consensus seems to be that the common underlying factor of their longevity is low stress levels. Even though I love pottery – I don’t like having clay stress. That can’t be healthy.
I hope to share a few photos of the pieces fresh out of the kiln before the show opens. Everything will be for sale – so I might not even get some nice photographs for posterity.
Have a great week,
~Cynthia
New Kiln – Finally!
I experienced a few delays after ordering my new kiln from Mile Hi Ceramics last December – but am happy to report that my new Skutt 1027 with Envirovent was delivered Friday afternoon. Thank you Mike! The Skutt 1027 has a 7 cu. ft. interior – which is almost triple the size of my old Paragon kiln you see pictured next to my new kiln. For the time, I’m keeping my Paragon – it will come in handy firing student work. Plus, I need to have an electrician over to add a new plug receptacle and to up the breaker size from 50 to 60. My husband also needs to drill a large hole for the vent somewhere near the kiln. I could do it, but there might be more than one hole to the outside. Best to leave the power tools to him. So, for now, I just have to content myself by admiring its gleaming newness when I’m in the studio.Speaking of the studio, It’s getting warmer with an average high in the 40′s – 50′s here in Denver which means I need to make some work because of a couple of upcoming shows and some news I just received last week.
I was accepted into wholesalecrafts.com! What does that mean? I need to build my page on wholesalecrafts.com so that buyers can start ordering my work to be carried in shops and galleries. So, I definitely need to wean myself off my addiction to the computer. I’m going to institute a new policy of no computer for me between the hours of 8am – 5pm (prime studio hours for me). I will still have time in the am to login – I get up around 5:30am whether I like it or not and then again after dinner. Should be enough time, don’t you think?
I’m also going to take Lisa Call’s advice and start an account with Bloglines and start subscribing to my favorite blogs. That should save time seeing who has fresh posts.
Well, I’m heading out for some Dim Sum,
~Cynthia
