4 firings today with mixed results.  Actually, two are still cooling down in the reduction can.  It was a long day, as I had unexpected visitors in the morning, then joined good friends and collectors of my work–Charlie Ward and Bill Watson for lunch.  We celebrated Lynn’s recent birthday, which took place when Charlie and Bill were vacationing in Canada.  I plan on 4 firings tomorrow and more over the weekend.  I’m looking forward to a scheduled massage late Saturday afternoon.  Boy will that feel good.  No pixs today, as all of my effort went into firing.

Completed 4 firings yesterday, with excellent success.  Also, had visitors–the Giardinos from the Raleigh area and 5 of their friends.  I tried to discourage them from buying anything (ha), but one of their guest, Elaine Spanier purchased a beautiful piece that I had fired on Monday.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to do 4 or 5 firings today, but have to make it to Spinning class at 5:30, as my body needs some exercise.  The attached photo is from the first firing yesterday.

I’m back from my workshop, which was great fun for me.  The students were eager beavers, just what a teacher always dreams of.  They laughed a lot on Saturday during my lecture–it’s always terrific being around happy folks!  I even sold 3 pieces, which is ultimate compliment that your work is appreciated. Bill Capshaw has developed a great raku program at the Oak Ridge Art Center.  They have 3 permanent kilns at the center and many of the students have their own at home.  Five more kilns were brought to the workshop, so we had 8 going all day Sunday! I only was able to fire 2 pieces. Actually, this was pretty good considering how much was going on in such a short period of time. I’m back to work in my studio–got 3 firings done yesterday–one of which was a re-fire.  Hopefully, I’ll get at least 4 firings in today.  More later, possibly with some pictures.

Today was a 6, maybe 7 out of 10, firing day–that’s the way it goes sometimes.  The new landscape bowl form was pretty outstanding, however.  I guess I’ve been watching the Olympics too much.  BTW, aren’t they great!  Once every 4 years we get to see this spectacle.  I love it!

The pieces attached are from yesterday.  I love both pieces.  The ovoid is the one I fired 3 times.

Katie  Graham, my assistant comes tomorrow–Yea!  She does a lot of prep work on the pieces, which makes the whole process go much more smoothly, especially when the August 30 deadline is rapidly approaching!  I’d originally planned to fire one piece before leaving tomorrow to teach, but see now that was a bit ambitious.  Katie and I need to work on mixing some glazes for the workshop and I still need to pack up.  I’m taking some of this new work for the students to see.  I’ll let you know there feedback (unless it sucks, then I’ll just skip it).

No blog this weekend—I’ll be back on Monday.

I’m firing the 5th firing right now, so will make this brief.  This is the second re-fire of a halo opal pot and I’m hoping the third time is the charm.  First firing was a platter with stained glass and glass rods and it is spectacular!  Also fired another landscape globe.  I was able to get some nighttime photos of the one in the kiln right now.  Here’s one for your enjoyment.  I missed my pilates class today, but made it to the cycling/spinning class–lots of energy!  More tomorrow.

Another gorgeous day for firing–cool and clear!  The first firing was an experiment with the halo opal glaze:  I applied the glaze thinner than usual, hoping for good reds.  Results were a beautiful red and gold pot.  The 2nd and 3rd firings were both exploring the new landscape look, also with very positive results.  The day was somewhat interrupted by a necessary trip into Asheville.  First stop was FedEx to drop off a piece for an invitational show at Augusta State University in Augusta, GA.  Then on to Staples to drop off copies of my booklet for printing:  I’m traveling to Oak Ridge, TN this Friday to teach a weekend workshop at the Art Center there.

I usually try to get a piece glazed and ready to go for first thing the next day, but didn’t have time today. I’m still aiming for 3 firings tomorrow, but I also plan to make my 4:30 pilates class, followed by an hour of Spinning/Cycling.  The question is, when am I going to have time to get some photographs taken?

A big thank you to Lambeth Marshall, Ada Dudenhoeffer and Diane O’Malley for their positive encouragement. Diane and Claudette Holt were the students who gave me inspiration to use stained glass and glass rods with my pottery.  It all happened several years ago at a week long workshop at John C. Campbell, when these two brought a bag of marbles and crystals and wanted to melt them in their pots.  It was a great learning experience for them and me too!  I always aim to learn something from my students:  I wonder what it will be this weekend?

Great raku firing day today here in the western North Carolina mountains:  Bright blue skies, very slight breeze and temps in the high 70s.  I did 4 firings, one of which was a re-fire of a halo opal piece.  Both halo opal glazed pieces were spectacular with reds and golds.  The second of these was pretty good after the first firing, but I thought I try it again.  Thank goodness I followed my hunch, as the second firing turned out much better.  The third one was further exploration of a new look for me and I’m encouraged by the results.  The color theme of the day was red as it turned out.  For those of you who are not familiar with how this firing process works, serendipity is the key word, for one never knows for sure how the pieces will look.  Hopefully, I’ll have images of these on this site and at Obaloo sometime this week.  Ain’t life great!

ps.  If you have time, I’d love to here comments.  Thanks.

The focus of this blog over the next few weeks is to talk about preparations for my upcoming 50th Firing Kiln Opening on August 30 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 $500.  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.

This blog will also appear on Obaloo.com.  It’s a terrific site featuring work of area artists and craftsmen.

Welcome to the blog of raku pottery artist Steven Forbes-deSoule.

Lidded Vessel by Steven Forbes-deSoule