Here’s the 50th fired piece from my kiln opening.  Thanks again to everyone who came and to my helpers!

The 50th Firing Kiln Opening was a big success and the 50th fired piece turned out to be a beauty!  The winner in the drawing was Beth Lamm of Florence, SC.  Congratulations to Beth.  I’ll post an image of this piece tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone who helped in preparation and execution of this event, and to all those who attended.

The firings have been going great and I’ve been so busy in the studio, I’ve failed to keep up with this blog.  Only 5 days left before the show and I have 5 more firings to do.  This doesn’t sound like much, but don’t worry, there are plenty of things to do.  Tonight’s photo is from my “Rain in the Valley” series.  I’m showing it with the watertight flower insert, which can be used with natural or silk flowers.  It makes a perfect cremation urn when used with the insert (which can be siliconed in place).  The globes in the previous blog from the Red Sky series also have inserts.  Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Here are three new pieces from my Red Sky series.

I had a couple of good firings today, but the big news is the cost of replacing the elements in my electric kiln: $1100.  Ouch!  Certainly an unexpected cost that I wasn’t planning on.  Hopefully I’ll have pictures to post tomorrow.

Steve

It’s a beautiful evening here on the mountain!  This is about my upcoming 50th firing kiln opening, July 18.  Everyone had such a great time last August, I’ve decided to do it again.  Below is the post from last year explaining the event.  I’ll be writing more as pieces are fired.  I started the countdown a few days ago, and have some spectacular new pieces fired already.  It’s a good thing I started early, because today one of the elements broke in my electric kiln during the bisque firing and the kiln is still on.  Normally, it takes about 9 hours for this firing–today it’s been on 15 1/2 hours, with about another 2 hours to go.  This kiln has been a workhorse and was purchased in 1989 when I still lived in Atlanta.  I’m amazed the elements lasted so long.  So, here’s an additional task ahead–replacing the elements in the electric kiln.  What fun!  It looks like the firings are going to be terrific this month, so I hope you’re looking forward to visiting my studio on July 18.  

Here’s more about it, updated from last August:

The focus of this blog over the next few weeks is to talk about preparations for my upcoming 50th Firing Kiln Opening on July 18 from 11AM to 5PM.

For a number of years, I’ve wanted to do a kiln opening, but since raku involves firing one or a small number of pieces each time, it was impossible to do this in the traditional manner.  So what I’ve come up with is to fire 49 pieces in the days leading up to the opening and then firing the 50th piece on opening day.  The twist I’ve added to this event is to give the 50th piece away to one of the day’s attendees by drawing a lucky person’s name out of a “hat.”  This piece’s retail value will be approximately $700(up from $500 last time–it’s really a GREAT feeling to give something of value away).  Of course, the other 49 pieces will be available for purchase and as an incentive,  I’ve decided that anyone purchasing work valued up to $500 will get an additional chance to win and anyone buying over $500 will get three chances to win.  It’s important to state that you do not have to be present to win, as I will notify everyone the name of the winner on this blog.

The 50th piece will be fired between 2 and 4PM with an hour to cool down.  If you’re from out of town and not here for the drawing, I’ll ship the piece to you at no charge.

For those of you who’ve visited my studio before, you know I have limited parking.  I’m also located about 3/4 of a mile off of the blacktop.  I’ve hopefully solved these problems by having helpers who will control the one way flow of traffic with portable radios and assist you in parking.  One of my neighbors, Dr. Bob Abernathy has also graciously loaned me the use of his van to shuttle attendees if parking near my home/studio becomes a problem.  There’s plenty of parking space along the road in our lower pasture for any overflow.

In future blogs leading up to this event, I’ll talk about my progress and include images of some of the pieces I’ve fired.

It should be fun!  I hope you can come.

Steven Forbes-deSoule

Due to scheduling conflicts, I’ve decided to move my kiln opening back to July 18 this year.  Of course, the event will offer firing demonstrations along with a chance for attendees to win a beautiful vessel worth $700!  This is the same weekend as the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, so hopefully folks in town to visit the fair will also come to my event.  This will be the first Craft Fair I ‘ll miss since joining the Guild in 1993.  My daily blog will resume on June 15 as I document the firings leading up to the Kiln Opening.

Yesterday’s first annual 50th Firing Kiln Opening was a great success!  We had a nice crowd the whole day and everyone seemed to enjoy the 3 firing demos that I did.   I’ve attached images of the 50th fired piece, along with one of the last piece I fired to accomodate those who missed the 50th firing demo.  This was a re-fire of one of the pieces from the event and I think it turned out even better than before.

My sales were tops and thanks to all who purchased one of my pieces during the 6 hour event!  Also thanks to my wonderful wife, Lynn for all of her assistance.  In addition many thanks to Lynn’s Ikebana mentor, Terri Todd and her students for their gorgeous flower arrangements.  And special thanks to Katie Graham, my studio assistant for helping with the sales and wrapping.  Also, Carl Kojis and Sister J/Janet Coats, my neighbors and friends made an invaluable contribution helping with traffic control and parking.  Finally, special thanks to Joe Vogler for designing and printing the art print/poster commemorating the event.

The 50th fired piece was won by David and Ellen McDonald of Biltmore Lakes, NC.  Congratulations to them! The green piece is the 50th fired one, the red one is the re-fired piece.

So, now I have a week to catch up on paperwork, etc. and then we’re off to a beach near Charleston for some R&R.  For those of you in the Raleigh area, I have a show at ArtSource Gallery, North Hills opening September 18.  I’ll also be exhibiting new work at the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, October 16-18 in Asheville; the Weaverville Art Safari, November 1 & 2 at my studio; and the Carolina Designer Craftsmen exhibition in Raleigh, Thanksgiving weekend.

Aint life great!

Hope to see you soon, Steve

It’s hard to believe, but I’m down to the last 4 firings before the 50th Firing Kiln Opening on Saturday. I’ll get done a little early, but that’s OK because there’s plenty to do to get ready: buy bags and bubble wrap, take photos, label everything, outfit my studio to show the work, grade the road (thank God for this rain to settle the dust and make grading possible), buy odds ‘n ends, etc. I’ll be doing 2 firings on Saturday: one starting 11-noon and the second starting about 2. Please come early–you don’t have to be present to win the 50th fired piece. I really have some nice work–some new forms and glazes! It should be great fun. I’ll try to post photos tomorrow or Thursday. See you Saturday! Steve

Wow! What a weekend–not only did I fire 4 pieces, I also dried apples and helped with canning tomato soup! Plus, I washed all of the main level windows, inside and out and their screens. And, my wonderful neighbor, Joe Voger helped design a poster that commemorates this event. I’m taking orders for the poster, which is shown below. They will be printed with archival ink on archival paper–one at a time. They’re 13×19 inches and will cost $15.  If you want one, please let me know ASAP by making your desires known in the “comment” box below.

I’m also going to let my readers vote on which style pot that I auction. More on that tomorrow.

I want to reiterate that you don’t have to be present to win the drawing. I strongly encourage you to come early (closer to 11), because I live on a hill and room becomes an issue. If everyone comes nearer 5, it will create a space problem. I’ll probably fire the 49th piece starting at 11 on Saturday, which means it ‘ll be coming out at about noon. Early arrivals will also be able to see the 50th piece glazed and ready to go. Please COME EARLY!