I am sitting in my workshop watching the kiln, it is not doing anything but I am still here. It is cool, enough to open it but I can’t do it. I feel like I felt when Maisy my dog had an operation, or when my good friend was in labour, sick in my stomach […]
Today was a fabulous autumnal day and the garden was full of visitors which kept me occupied nicely whilst I wait for the kiln to cool down. Hopefully I can open it tomorrow. Liberation Through by Claire Lee.
Whilst I’m waiting for the kiln to cool down I have to keep busy to stop me from wondering what I will find when I open the door! This is a piece that I made for this years exhibition and it can be seen in the garden until the end of October. I am interested […]
The kiln is now at 1200 degrees centigrade and still climbing, white hot! I fire so high that the clay starts to melt (vitrify) and this is what makes it so durable when outside in all seasons. It is also completely terrifying! It will soon be too hot in the workshop for the newly made […]
I put the kiln on this morning, I like to get it on early so that I can watch it all day in case their is a problem and their was!The controller flashed a warning light telling me that it was running too slow so I took out a few dodgy looking elements and wired […]
When I’m loading the kiln i carefully walk the piece in. Lifting and twisting from side to side, being careful not to scrape the sides which almost touch. It is a lot easier with the lifting table out of the way. Checking to see if it is as far in as it can be. One […]
Today I finished sketching the detail through the surface of the piece. This piece will be darker with a red/brown circle and two pale blue/green lines Then I dragged it onto the second lifting table, it is very heavy! It is now ready to go into the kiln tomorrow morning.
Here’s one I made earlier! This is the second piece of the group of three and I made it a few of months ago. it has been sitting, behind he camera, drying until now. I thought it would be good to carry this story to its conclusion and this piece is now ready to have […]
Yesterday I tried three times to turn this piece over and failed three times. Each time I try I risk it cracking or becoming miss-shaped and so,much to my annoyance I had to find someone to help, thanks lots Dave. That will teach me to use an extra bag of clay! It is important to […]
Today was absolutely beautiful. I worked on the base of the piece, drawing the linear detail. The clay is very soft for this job and every mark shows and can not be undone. I am trying to make the lines have the sketchy quality of my drawings! Relaxed fluid lines, -hard when I am aware […]