mel jacobson on mon 30 jun 08
had a great hay creek camp this year. in fact, the
best ever. it was 75F and clear every day for two weeks,
the air was like polished silver. the pots and art were
just terrific.
our wood kiln under the supervision of donovan palmquist
and his wife colleen riley, with a tad of help from cindy hoskinsson
from oregon was A+. 36 hours and some real racers. we really
like that kiln. about 350 pots. it is a perfect size for our needs.
big, but not huge. manageable. the amish have taken off from
our parts so we had to scramble a bit for wood, but we found
an old source, and even earmarked some bundles for next year.
(we have two bundles stored at the farm, with two in reserve
at the mill.) the bundles are huge...slab wood...pine.
we have a huge pile of sticks, cherry and walnut for slow/hold
firing.
the salt kiln fired perfectly. we glaze a great many pots, so
we only use about two pounds of salt/soda mix. more of a heather
than drippy.
joe koons came to camp with 300 teabowls for the `iron saga
two project`. some really great pieces.
all in all, the entire camp came away with great art. great learning,
that is essential to `adult shared learning philosophy`.
i contributed a new shino idea. it was a big hit. the five gallons
seemed to disappear over night. many good pots.
i got four gray `chawan` style teabowls that are total racers.
( i will photo them later today, put them on my website.)
we ran out of shino, so i had to scramble to create another one.
(not a techno glaze guru's dream, but the way i do things.)
i did not have any soda felds, or spodamine at camp, so
did this.
custer spar 2 lbs
ball 1.6 lbs (for those from big cities..a bit more than 1 1/2 lbs.)
nehp sy 5 lbs
talc 3 lbs
soda ash 2 lbs.
i made this up in my head, sort of seat of the pants.
man, was it a nice glaze. in wood firing it was bright white
with gray patterns, in salt, white with big gray/black trapping.
and it crackled like a dream.
it is also a testimony that we fire to cone 11 and things really
melt well.
so, glad to be home, but it is always an inspiration to be with fine
adult artists and crafts people that know how to get the job done.
i cooked for 35 for almost two weeks. i did it all.
and, it was terrific. we ran into problems with our deli/small town
grocer that put his son in charge...you know...ribs cooked in 40 minutes.
so.
we did our own. i big burden on this 73 year old boy, but man, it
turned out great. sam's club meat in huge lumps, cooked slow
with a roaster. big pots of pots. huge salads. we never ate better.
there are times when you just `do it` and it works like a dream.
(esp when the group kicks in and helps.)
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Joseph Herbert on mon 30 jun 08
Mel Wrote: had a great hay creek camp this year. the amish have taken off
from our parts so we had to scramble a bit for wood, but we found an old
source, and even earmarked some bundles for next year. (we have two bundles
stored at the farm, with two in reserve at the mill.) the bundles are
huge...slab wood...pine. we have a huge pile of sticks, cherry and walnut
for slow/hold firing.
Well, the Amish go where farmable land is affordable. Lack of Amish may be
a sign of farmish gentrification. A sect that has shown consistent
population growth over 150 years will continue looking for land they can
afford to farm.
As far as the fuel source goes, have you considered grass? Roll bales of
mixed vegetation from pastures or the sides of the road can be had at a
reasonable (I think) price. Actual hay is more. 1500 pounds of organic
matter, at less than $30 per bale, seems reasonable. The bales are made by
rolling up a long strip of grass, and they will unroll in the same manner.
A bearing supported turntable that can hold about a ton with an upright in
the center might be an easy (figure of speech) way to get carbon to the fire
box.
People may whine about burning trees, they will never complain about
torching roadside weeds, even if the weeds have been moved to a kiln site.
Joe
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