Let the Drawings Begin!

I finally got all the old green ware that has been sitting around the studio slipped and ready for decorating. My wife came in and snapped a couple pictures while I was working.

Rob hard at work.

The sprayer I am using is a Critter brand syphon style paint sprayer. It works with regular 1 pint canning jars, which makes it very easy to switch colors. It gets clogged occasionally, but not so much as to make it un-usable. It would be nice if I had a little more control over the spray pattern, but oh well. It works for what I need it to do.

That is one kick ass spray booth set up!

This is my very sophisticated spray booth...half a plastic drum on concrete blocks. There are plans to build a new booth that contains the over spray more and makes it easier to reclaim it. I also want to get it hooked up to a ventilation system. Many thing to do.

Shelves of greenware with colored slip, ready for sgraffito.

Now comes the drawing cycle. Once I get all this stuff decorated I will get back on the wheel. I am also running short of clay so tomorrow I will be heading up to St. Louis to pick up 1000 pounds of B-mix. Not really looking forward to the two hour drive, but it is better than paying to have it shipped.

Done-ish

As I said in my last post, my batteries arrived and I went back to work. Of course, they were not the exact batteries I needed, but with a slight modification they fit my tools. And thus the completion of the cabinets.

Preparing to instal wall cabinets.

Wall cabinets up.

Doors on.

The not quite finished studio.

Fully loaded cabinets. Pretty freakin' sweet.

Granted everything is not quite there yet. I still plan to re-do the top of my work table, get a second set of shelves, get a sink, tile the counter top, make a proper spray booth, permanently instal the kiln vent...ok, maybe "not quite there yet" was understating things a bit. Regardless of what is left to do, though, the space is functional so I can finally get back to work making stuff.

Hopefully I will have some better content next time. Until then.

-Rob

Get back to work!

The new charger and batteries have arrived. Construction may resume. AND I am looking at a window a/c unit tomorrow, so I may not have to sweat to death in the studio any more. Good deal.

No one puts Rob in a corner! Ok, a circle saw puts Rob in a corner.

Well the wall cabinets are ready to go up...almost. I have sort of worked myself into a corner. Everything is put together except for one piece of panelling. I cut everything else with a hand saw, but this piece is too big to do that. And I would be able to use my circular saw...if it had any power. I have been putting off getting a new battery and charger and now when I need it, I don't have it. Foolish, foolish Rob! So now I get to spend entirely too much money on a new battery charger and a couple new batteries and wait for them to arrive before work can continue.

In the mean time I have been painting everything. Two layers of some cream-ish color on the bases; two layer of brown-ish on the panels.


I have a little bit of touch-up work to do and I still need to paint the wall cabinets. Otherwise they are done, well, apart from putting everything back together. I am going to hold off on putting the knobs and pulls back on. I think I am going to try making some custom pulls, just for fun.

And finally, here is a better picture of Daisy for you Gary.

Next time perhaps I will have some clay related news to report. Until then...

-Rob

Construction again (RE-construction, if you will)

In case anyone was wondering, no, the continuing ed class did not make. We actually had fewer people show up for the second class than we did for the first. They are, however, going to offer it again this fall. The program director said fall enrollment is usually a good deal higher than summer, so there is still a chance.

As far as what has been going on for the past few weeks, I have been doing a lot of moving stuff around, a lot of building and a lot of spending a week in Branson. Ok, only a week of spending a week in Branson, but you get the idea. That was a big family vacation thing (15 people!). Hectic, but enjoyable.

Most of my time has been spent renovating the studio. I decided to claim more of the garage and get things set up proper. Not a lot to say about it, but here are a few pictures of how things have been going.

Old Studio Set-up

Creating more space

Creating more mess

Still a mess

And here is the latest thing I have been working on.

Truck full of junk

To the untrained eye this is a truck full of junk. But to the discerning individual this is...well it is still a truck full of junk, but junk with potential. Actually this is an old set of cabinets, sink and counter top that I got hold of. Storage space was a problem with the old set up. I ended up having tools and what-not stacked everywhere, taking up space I needed to work. Hopefully this will remedy that situation.

Beginning of the end of disorganization...maybe

The cabinets were not in the greatest of condition, so I have spent a lot of time and a lot of scrap lumber getting them reinforced and such. As of now I have all the base cabinets in and the wall cabinets should be ready to go up today. I plan on repainting them since they are currently a dirty 70's brown. It is an extra step, but I know they will bug me every day if I don't repaint them.

I have also been working on a new chicken coop that I will be able to move around the yard. More on that later though. Right now I have to pick up some lumber and such to finish said coop before getting after those cabinets again.

I just saw an owl riding in the back of a pick-up truck.

-Rob