Burning Stuff Up

This was definitely a week on fire for us. Jeff helped David Stuempfle with his wood firing on Monday, we fired two bisque kilns, the gas kiln, and squeezed in a raku firing yesterday.

Lori Buff, posted on her blog about the raku kiln she recently built. Hers looks so shiny and new compared to our rehabbed electric kiln, turned raku kiln.

The kiln is say "Ohhhh, I am getting hot!

My friend Bonnie came over to fire beads and pendants. She had a lot of beauties and was very happy. I had mostly vases and of course I committed to one matte luster glaze. I hadn't used this glaze in a long time. It seemed thick, so I thinned it down... but alas it was still too thick. There are some nice colors but lots of bubbling. I think I can sand some of these down and save them. On a good note, the area around the kiln is clear of "stuff", the leaves are raked, and we are going to fire again very soon.

I mentioned in my last post that this was a week of changes for us. Jeff was supposed to be headed for South Korea tomorrow morning, The festival in Mungyeong was postponed indefinitely due to the horrific ferry tragedy. The whole country is in a state of mourning and all festivals, concerts, and political events have been cancelled. This will be a bit of a set back for us financially, but we have gotten over the shock of it and are moving on. It's out of our control. It's a different culture and they deal with national tragedies differently than we do in the states.

We also got the news that my mother will not be coming home. She is still in the re-hab facility and will be moved to assisted living in the near future. I have to force myself to call her because I can't stand to hear her sounding so weak. Dad says she sleeps for a good part of the day when he is there. I am thankful that she isn't in pain.

Enough gloom and doom...

Tomorrow is the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour in Seagrove. The weather is going to be great and I am sure there will be lots of people going home with new pots. We'll be here in our studio giving demonstration. The lawn will be mowed and the flowers are blooming!