Neither rain, hail, nor high winds . . . Loaded and ready for firing

Okay, the salt kiln is loaded despite rain, hail, and high winds on Saturday. Firing delayed until Wednesday due to the winds. This is the fourth "test" firing for the kiln -- we think one more and we'll have the firing schedule down. We rebuilt the bagwall to open up the bottom shelves to more heat/flame work and replaced hard brick with insulted fire brick in the upper left hand corner. Looking for continuous improvement over the last firing.

Salt Kiln Firing, 11-13

We did the third firing of the salt kiln this past weekend -- ironed out a lot of bugs and issues from the previous firings, took a few courses of brick off the chimney to reduce heat loss, rebuilt the top half of the bagwall to distribute the flames and heat better, and hopefully figured out the right ratio of oxygen and fuel pressure at the right time during the firing. If you want simple, get a digital electric kiln; you want adventure, go fuel. Fingers crossed. Unloading will be later this week.

Display at Potomac Library

A variety of pottery is on display through August 31, 2016 at Potomac Library in Potomac, Maryland. If you are in the neighborhood, drop by and take a look. Always nice to be able to show my work in a nice setting.

Salt Kiln Rebuild

Today was day 1 of the rebuild of Marianne's salt kiln -- where I am fortunate to be able to salt fire my pottery. The old kiln went down in a jiffy. We'll see how fast our merry band of four can put the new one together. We plan to start construction of the new kiln in mid-July. The old kiln was having structural and design issues; while we have tried a variety of fixes over the past two years, it was time to bite the bullet and rebuild it. We are consulting with Will Baker who is a master kiln builder. Between now and mid-July, Marianne will be getting new bricks, angle iron, and all the other items we need. This is my first kiln build and I'm looking forward to learning a lot.

Salt Firing Goodies

Unloaded a salt kiln firing today; lots of goodies that will be available at future shows and events. The firing was done at Marianne Cordyack's kiln in Shannondale, WVa. Also firing with us was Clay Walthall. Lots of new ikebana vases . . . I'll be spending the next few days adding kenzan or frogs. Will also be adding bamboo and driftwood handles to the box tops. Later this summer, we plan to rebuild Marianne's kiln; her rebuild two years ago resulted in some design issues that make firings less efficient, fuel-wise, than they should. We've done some interim adjustments, but realize a rebuild is the logical thing to do. More on that later.

Spring Garden Market at American Horticultural Society, River Farm, Mount Vernon, VA

Well, the gardeners did not let a little rain, ice, or snow keep them away from the AHS Spring Garden Market. Anyone can buy plants in 60F and sunny weather; today we found out who the real gardeners were. This was my second year at the Market and I'm looking forward to next year (sans rain, ice and snow). Had a great time talking with gardeners, plant vendors, and customers. Always enjoy the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia and the birds of prey they bring to show and talk about. And despite the snow, River Farm was simply beautiful.

Four Minutes of Fame

They say everyone gets 15 minutes of fame; well, we got four. We were invited to appear on a WTTG Zip Trip segment promoting Visit Loudon and the Lucketts Fair. It was a great opportunity for show some of my recent pottery and Mary's dolls.