Joyce Lee on fri 24 oct 03
I would drive most anywhere to pick up a
cheapie kiln if that's what I needed to do.
I would then try to work out a deal whereby
the mayor would wing his way to the desert=20
and help me turn it into a
quality product ...... IF that were possible....
........ turning the building session into
a kiln-building workshop, which would defray
expenses. I attended a from scratch
kiln-building workshop early
on..... with Nils Lou..... it was a grand
experience. Learned so much, especially
since I knew nothing .... met great clayarters
(Sharon, Fred, Richard et al) ... everybody
seemed to feel the same.
BUT, given personal life circumstances at the
time, I decided instead to buy a kiln..... went
with the
Geil, based on our local high school's
experience with Geils and the fact that
Tom Coleman
uses one (he does; I watched him fire it)..... ordered the smallest
gas model..... a couple
years later bought a larger one...... should have
bought the larger one in the first place, but
who knew....... mine are
both fiber kilns........ perfect for me! For the past
few years (until last year) I've glaze fired one or both
about twice monthly. I believe that starting
my initial
firings with the safety features of a Geil gave me
more confidence than I would have had
otherwise............ since I had NO confidence at
all when I began.
Tony, Mel, David, Dannon and Vince talked me
out of
buying a great kiln and THEN doing salt
firings in it. Glad I listened. NOW I possess
the confidence (maybe...... ) to build a small
salt kiln myself, if that were my desire, which
it isn't at the moment. I do have the fun however
of firing in an old oil can...... a garbage can.....
and a small pit..... in addition to the Geils.
Meandering back where I began, if I couldn't
fire at all for lack of funds, I'd scrounge any
kiln available in order to fire. My hope
would be to make some pots, sell them, save
a share of the dollars for a later purchase of
a professional kiln. That "professional" kiln,
of course, could certainly be one built by
Mel, Nils, Dannon, Linda, Lori etc.
Joyce
In the Mojave watching the shadows playing on
the walls as the sun sets over the Sierra
Nevadas .... earlier and earlier, of course..... but
there does appear to be a more sudden drop
than in previous years ... drives the westie nuts....
barks at the light&shadows..... barks, woofs
at the big red/orange/yellow ball ........ when=20
the setting is
completed, she jumps down from the back of
the couch, practically claps her paws together...
woofs, growls and goes about her business,
having once again settled the sun's hash, but good.
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