Joyce Lee on sat 20 apr 02
A claybud (Roger?) mentioned firing raku in a kiln he'd recreated from =
an old fiber one (of Michael's?) .... for the purpose of firing raku. =
Just as a point of interest, I use my small Geil gas fiber kiln (the =
"hobby" one .. maybe 8 cu ft but practically all stacking space) for =
firing raku. A friend and I fire together and only place pots in the =
front part of the kiln. It opens from the front, has a pyrometer, and we =
work efficiently together getting the pots into our reduction materials. =
I have long, hinged raku tongs made for me, for my length of arm, by a =
Texas blacksmith bud of Randy Broadnax's. They help keep the operation =
smooth. We don't allow anyone else to be present since both spouses are =
very concerned about the safety of this procedure.
We use the recommendations and glazes from Steve Branfman's =
comprehensive book on raku firing. I hope the gods aren't going to get =
me for saying so, but we've never had a failure using this method. =
Beautiful pots!! Randy Broadnax fired raku in a great, simple, =
reasonably priced, multi-use fiber kiln that he builds .. his class =
fired in it at a workshop in British Columbia. Worked for him there. =
Why not for me? AND I have a tape by Gordon Hutchins from Thetis =
Island? Salt Spring? in that area of B.C., anyhow. He didn't =
demonstrate using a special raku kiln .... just used his regular kiln, =
as I recall... haven't watched it in awhile.
Joyce
In the Mojave where it's warming again, and the wind has died down for =
the moment ... about 8 days running with wind ... some days around 65 =
knots per hour .... more consecutive days than I recall ....... creepy =
noises abound throughout the desert..... and the house...
thinking, too, about Liz's earthquake. We have so many and I always =
blame Something or Somebody for Doing Something Wrong to cause the =
shaking before realizing that it IS an earthquake, after all....... nice =
thing about having big ol' boys in the house..... they were easy targets =
for blame ......
Michele Williams on sat 20 apr 02
I remember the earthquake Kansas had in 1969. I was on the 8th floor of a
dormitory building in Lawrence, Kansas at University of Kansas--and we were
diving for the things that were shooting and sliding off the top of the
dresser and desk. We KNEW it wasn't us!
Ain't no big-ol' boys big enough for that!
Funny thing, though. Got down to dinner an hour later and asked a friend
what she thought of the earthquake, and she said, "What earthquake?
HERE?!!!?" Ground level never felt a thing.
Michele Williams
thinking, too, about Liz's earthquake. We have so many and I always blame
Something or Somebody for Doing Something Wrong to cause the shaking before
realizing that it IS an earthquake, after all....... nice thing about having
big ol' boys in the house..... they were easy targets for blame ......
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