Ceramics won.

labor day!  monday.. just chillin at my sister's place in Vallejo.  it's not that far from Sonoma..maybe only a 30 minute drive.  it's nice havin family near by.  i can't remember the last time I just sat around and watched Tv or listened to music with my sister.  it's been a long time.

so to update you all on what's been goin on the last month.. a whole lot.  life just gets crazy sometimes you know?  gotta take the good with the bad..hopefully it's more good.  in my case, well lets just say I'm still here. I'm alright.

I finally fired off a full load of pots.  it's about time huh?... jeezus.  the firing was definitely a wake up call for me.  i need to get my ass into gear and just have fun making pots.  having fun making pots though..i need a certain level of control of what's going on i think.  but for this firing, a whole lot was up in the air.  for one, I'd never fired this particular Salt kiln before...I had to drive back and forth from Sonoma to Pleasant Hill.. I was totally sleep deprived.  I was using unfamiliar glazes and I didn't have all my normal gear with me.  I was rushed.  A lot of what went down was just because I wasn't prepared.

Sometimes it feels like a battle, or a game or something..with points.  Ceramics vs. Bobby.  After I had finished loading my kiln, which took soooo much longer then I really thought, I began to brick up the door.  Oh the door!  You bastard brick of a door!  For the love of everything.. I could not figure out how to get the door to fit.  Around 1:40 am I said F*ck this door!  I threw the towel in..and that night the score became Ceramics 1, Bobby 0.  That was the first time I've ever given up like that you know?  I was so pissed.  Next day I drove back to the kiln to start the burner up around 5 pm and come back the next morning to fire.  Over the night the burner blew out.  The next morning I came to an extremely cold and dark kiln.  Ceramics 2, Bobby 0.  I turn it on again...  issues throughout the day.  I didn't fire that kiln off until 4 am.  Ceramics 3, Bobby 0.  Unloading happened in the dark.  Ever unload a kiln with only a flashlight?  Turns out most of the glazes I used needed a hard cone 11 to melt.  Ceramics 4.  Bobby 0.  Yet.. I did get a few gems.

so the final score was Ceramics kicking my ass completely.  It nearly skunked me.

Now I have a load of underfired pots and few nice ones rolling around in the back of my car.  You ever roll like this?  I keep a number of sleeping bags and blankets in my car so I can do this.. ha.

the next firing is MINE.

Leave a comment about a memorable ceramics battle you had with a kiln.  I know this kind of thing is normal..but man it sucks when it happens.