Finished Studio

I have been meaning to take pictures of the studio since we finished it and never remember to take the camera out there.  But today I remembered.  So here it is!  I just love being out here.  It has the most wonderful, zen color on the walls, epoxy on the floor, a sink, lots of shelves, a stereo.  I love, love, love it!Here are all the molds.  There is such a huge selection.  But I'd say there is mostly Christmas molds.This the the slip basin we got with the small kiln and a huge lot of molds.  It is so nice to have.  I don't have to worry about the slip, it just falls into the basin and the mess goes in there.  Very nice.Here is the wheel that I haven't even gotten a chance to use yet.  Here are the kilns in the big garage.  The bigger one was hard wired to the wall and the small one has a plug in case we ever want to sell it.  We are still not sure we are keeping it or not.

First Bisque Fire

See the middle shelf in the picture?  Well those are all the pieces that were fired last night.  It worked!!  It took 3-31/2 hours for the bisque fire.  We started the kiln at 7:30 last night and when I went to check on it at 11pm, it had already turned off.  Then this morning, it was cool enough to open up.  We waited until this afternoon to take the pieces out of the kiln because we went the our homeschool end-of-year party. 

I DID learn something from this firing.  I learned that I need to be a LOT more meticulous when cleaning the greenware.  You can see EVERY scratch that you put on it and every line that you forget to take off.

I can see that I will be sitting and cleaning for HOURS.  But that's OK.  I love the whole process from cleaning the molds, to pouring the slip to cleaning the greenware.

First Firing

My dad came over this morning and helped Dave wire the kiln.  It took all morning.  But they did it!!!  Now it is 7:30pm and we have it loaded and are trying it out for the first time.  I am so nervous...

Create your masterpiece

Imagine That! Pottery Werks is having it's first two-part series handbuilding class on Tuesday, June 8th from 10am - noon at my home studio in Verrado.  If you are interested in joining the fun, please email me to reserve your spot in the class.  All ages and skill levels are welcome.  I will be available to help with handbuilding projects.  The cost for this two-part class is $20 and includes all materials, instruction and firings.  Payment is due at the first class.  The second part is Tuesday, June 22nd from 10am - noon.  In the second class, you will paint your masterpiece that you handcrafted in the first class.

Some of my first

These are some more of my first casts.  Tiny little things.

Acorn

This is an acorn, one of the first things I cast. It is not perfect. But I think it looks pretty good for one of m first things. I ended up throwing it away because it was so heavy. This was before I knew I should dump out the slip and not make it solid. Lol live and learn.
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Studio Creation

I took a pottery class one day in March with my two youngest children and fell. in. love. with clay.  I just KNEW I HAD to have a kiln!  I called my mom to ask her about one person I knew had one at one time.  And she told me of another person who owned TWO kilns!  So I called her up and she sold me one.  It is beautiful!It is in perfect shape inside and out.  I haven't gotten to use it yet.  But my dad looked it over and said everything works perfectly.  Yippee!!  So Dave decides we need to make a business out of this adventure.  Anyone who knows my husband, KNOWS he doesn't do anything half-a**ed.  As you can see in the following pictures, we cleaned out the single car garage ~

Put wind chimes right outside the door...painted the walls...painted the floor...all this happened in two weekends.  We were on a roll!