Etsy site is up!

So 4 months later and my kiln situation is at a stand still! I was told that it would be hooked up before Thanksgiving break and alas, we head back tomorrow and still no power to the kiln. Lame. I have to say I'm pretty annoyed at it all. I understand school districts take a while but this is pushing ridiculous. Our "last day of wet clay" is rapidly approaching (ie. Thursday) and I'm still behind on bisque firings. I even went in several times over break and I doubt we'll be caught up by the end of the term.

With all the issues with our new kiln I decided to stop making my own work for the semester. It feels like a pretty crappy idea considering I really want to work. But with only having a tiny test kiln for 4 ceramics courses, it makes sense. Plus I can't make big pieces in a tiny kiln and I don't want my work collecting dust in the classroom or being a temptation for students to touch.

Of course I couldn't completely stop working! Instead, I decided to design a Christmas ornament and knit my butt off! I also started up an etsy site & recently posted my ornaments there for purchase! A portion of each ornament sale will be going to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans.

Please feel free to check out my etsy site!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CourtneyLyn7?ref=pr_shop_more

I hope to have baby blankets posted this week as well! With lots of pregnant friends I've become pretty speedy and figured why not try to put my hard work to use!

Blankeys & Uneven Kilns...

This week I said goodbye to 2 well-loved blankeys I made for a few expecting friends. (I tried to hold off on posting until I knew they were received, as not to spoil the surprise!) Green was for Phil & Nicole, teal for Mark & Jenn. General consensus at work is that the green one was the new favorite of all I have made. Personally I enjoyed making both & though they are the same pattern, they are slightly different. My students think I'm nuts for having that much patience but then again some of their attention spans are like a small puppy. The green blanket turned out larger than expected but not a problem! I love knitting... but I've got 2 more blankets to go before March and I need to figure out another pattern.

I also had to deal with one bitch of a kiln this past week. It made me feel frustrated, stupid, and incapable. I took many pictures and sent them to a college friend, Jared Ward who is trying to take a look at it for me. I did try a few things after talking to another friend whom formerly fired this kiln many times. I vacuumed out the whole thing and stacked the load more open in the bottom. Today I took another go at a cone 10 firing only to be disappointed. The kiln fired uneven again, surprise, with 10 flat on bottom & 9 bending on top. Yep. Fantastical. I refuse to attempt to fire my own work in this beast until it's even! Anytime I close the damper even a little there's SO MUCH reduction, like flames shooting out the kiln. Same thing happens with increasing the air. It hates me. Period.

Pictured above is my crappy ass pyrometer that doesn't work even a bit. Guess I'll have to call in the professionals to check out this thing.