Good Morning...Afternoon too!

Hi All. As you can see by my profile pic - on the road again. But now I'm back and will continue with my pitfire experience. As you can see - fire! This was cool because it was actually more smoke than fire - smoke and heat being the 2 main ingredients necessary for amazing afteraffects on the pots. We learned ALOT! For example: due to the wind direction that day and the depth of some of the work as compared to others - different sections of the pit achieved different degrees of heat and therefore different results. The sawdust worked like a champ - Sam had high hopes for it but as is always in an unknown like this, we couldn't be certain. And it was free - always a plus for an artist (cause our time is free too - right? :( )

Next you see a few of us fanning the flames with our 'high-tech' equipment - shovels! I later 'donated' those glasses on my hat to the pit - first casualty to the process. Not too smart on my part - another lesson (sorry Patrick - hope you weren't too attached to them!)

You can see here also how we needed to move in these kiln shelves once we got it going - to keep the heat and smoke in. Sam really developed this cool system by using steel sign stakes that she laid over the pit - and the was able to slide then shelves into place in the grooves of the stakes - really smart! That was one of those tricks that, as an artist, you are so happy that you were able to see it in action - no book or website can compare to practical application!

Tick, tock - now we wait....

Actually - now we roasted hot dogs! Probably not the most healthy thing to do (I speak of the toxins, not only in the fire, but also in the hot dogs) - but hey, once you've been a ceramic artist for a while you understand that it doesn't come without its share of toxin exposure....no beauty with out sacrifice! (did I read that in Ceramics Weekly, or see it on a poster at Bally's Gym?) Both, for me, are work in progress.

The next morning (approx. 24 hours later) we 'unearthed' our pit of treasures - very cool results! These are Chris's tiles - very nice results! You can see his use of the iron oxide in the red - and of course the smoky residue.

This was one of Diana's works of art! Nice.

By the way - I thought I'd have more pics available to show but apparently, and as I scan through my photos, my kids (who were supposed to be taking pictures of the work) were taking an amazing amount of pics of the dog! And then - the batteries died - so sorry for the lack of variety. I am hopeful that Diana got allot of those and will share. What I'd like to do in the next day or so is put a post up that is pictures only - that will be nice for documentation purposes, as well as easier to deal with without having to write too. Thanks Diana. If, however, any of you are interested in more pics of the dog.......

K - back to the studio. Oh - one update - I got my pieces back from the show and both were broken. So sad - but the risk we take, right? Another learning experience. Next time I enter a show out of state (mail) I will rethink the pieces I submit. As much as I am bummed, surprisingly I am still happy for the experience. And - I did get some prize $$ and a resume' line item. Hopefully UPS insurance covers me here. They actually wanted proof of the value!

How DOES one document blood, sweat and tears anyway?

TA TA