clennell on thu 21 sep 06
This summer I went to visit Bruce Cochrane in the studio and help fire the
wood kiln. He was working on a series large jars for his current show at
Prime Gallery. Bruce had power washed some of the jars at the leather hard
stage. the power washer washed away alot of the fine particle clays and
left the bigger grained grog and fireclays sitting on the surface like goose
pimples on your arm when it's cold in the room. While others are coating the
pots with a terra sig to cover the grain, Bruce is exposing it.. He really
is one of the top vessel makers in North America.
My favourite gallery owner Jonathon Bancoroft Snell phoned yesterday and
asked "What's new and exciting coming out of the kiln???. I found myself
answering "Nothing really!' It's that time of year when my mind is with the
students at Sheridan and all the events that go along with that, it's
Christmas gift giving time and that means making work that people give and
not buy for themselves (there is a HUGE difference). We make more than 50%
of our annual income in the next 3 months. I stare at the train from the
window. Best to leave it be. I have a carbon trap shino firing going as I
type. I will make pots while it fires. This is a smarter thing to do at this
time of the year.
The technology of the gas kiln is saving my Canadian bacon. My little
digital scale of a brain tells me what measure of wood and gas fired pots to
make. At this time of year gas is tipping the scale.
Best,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
How To Make Handmade Cane Handles, Taking the Macho Outta Bigware
and Get a Handle On It DVD's available at
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
Lee Love on thu 21 sep 06
On 9/21/06, clennell wrote:
> The technology of the gas kiln is saving my Canadian bacon. My little
> digital scale of a brain tells me what measure of wood and gas fired pots to
> make. At this time of year gas is tipping the scale.
Depends on the design of woodkiln you choose. Some are more
efficent than others.
Many potters and Onsen operators here in Japan are being
put out of business because of the high costs of lpg and fuel oil.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
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