Productive Weekend

I had a fairly productive weekend in a none pottery sort of way. That is not to say that I did not get any work done in the studio; but I was feeling about as good as a bottle and a half of wine can make you feel when I did. Suprisingly, I came out with a couple things I was pretty happy with.

But my main accomplishment this weekend would have to be "winterizing" the chicken coop. After the involuntary reduction in our flock (6 out of ten turned out to be roosters, which my wife's morning schedule could not abide, another was claimed by probably a racoon) the coop was a bit large for their needs. Therefore the old coop (which unfortunately I do not have a picture of) was torn down and replaced with this.

Granted it is no master work or anything. There is obviously still much to do. I need to add a door, shutters and some roofing material, but they should be much warmer and happier here than in their previous dwelling. At least I hope so.

And here is shot of the girls adapting to their new abode. They can no longer roost in the rafters of the coop, so they claimed the tomato cages that are still in their run.

Show Report

O.K. So a couple of weeks ago I had a couple of shows in which I was involved. The first of which was not great, but not as bad as I thought it would have been. The set up was not out standing, but when you are setting up in a commercial business, what can you expect? The second venue was more of a craft fair than an art show, but I had a pretty good day, especially compared to previous years.

The Friday night setup...

No sales this night. It was kind of cool and rainy so there was not a whole lot of traffic coming through. Seemed to be a generally good response none-the-less.

The Saturday setup...
Fall Festival at the Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna, MO. A really nice day aside from the mud. Hectic what with nieces & nephews running around everywhere (my parents run the place the festival was held at, so lots of family there), but a pretty good time.

You call THIS and art show?!

It is now 5:35 central Standard Time, and technically the "show" I am participating in has already started. And yet I am here at home. Does this bother me? Not really. I am trying to take advantage of every opportunity I can to help build the rather paltry art scene around here, but I am finding it very difficult to be very enthusiastic about tonight. It is an art walk of sorts put on by Heartland Arts (a good group to be sure). Since there is a severe lack of art galleries not associated with the university in Carbondale, however, a number of businesses down town display art work in their shops for the night. This is all well and good, unless you have a less than stellar business in which to show. I am trying to be positive, but the business (which shall remain nameless) in which my work is displayed has a... oh let's say a very "lived in" feel. I stopped in there earlier this week to check things out and the floors were not swept, counters were cluttered, etc. I says to myself I says, "Maybe they are busy and are planning to clean up a bit before Friday."
No such luck.
Floors are still not swept, counters are still cluttered...just not a very appealing place to show work. Or even to go look at art work for that matter. But enough of my belly aching. My sweet wife just got home and she is in a very good mood. Maybe she can lend me some of it for the night. Now it is off to get some grub and check out some art. I'll take the camera and try to get some pictures posted later this weekend.

Kiln-tastrophy; or, I really am quite foolish

Next weekend I am supposed to be participating in a couple of shows around my neck of the woods (southeast MO, southern IL). So like any well prepared individual I was scrambling this past week to get work made, decorated and dried to get a load through the kiln so I would have enough work for both shows. Friday night I got everything decorated with slips & whatnot and loaded the kiln for a bisque fire. Saturday morning the kiln is still firing...Saturday at lunch the kiln is still firing...Saturday after lunch the kiln is still firing. Now this is not a large kiln, mind you; and even though I set it on a slower program, should not have taken anywhere near this long to fire. I do not have any witness cones in there, though, so I cannot really check on its progress. I think to myself, "maybe the elements are just starting to go. It is a pretty old kiln, and I've never had any problems with bisque firing before." I finally decide that even though the kiln sitter has not tripped I will shut it off. Let's take a look at the results, shall we?

Before...

Oh doesn't it look great! Full shelves; so much potential!

After...

While it makes for an interesting piece of sculpture, it's not really something I can sell at a craft fair.

The problem? I relied on the kiln sitter to do its job. Much like tigers and tuna fish sandwiches, I am kind of stupid that way.