Well it looks like winter is just about here. A couple small skiffs of snow and a drop in temperature tell me it's time to get some work done in the studio.

Where did we last leave off? Oh yes, I was working on the kiln. Still. A long process I know but it looks more like a real kiln all the time. The metal frame needed a little welding before being assembled.

The arch was cast, the fire box was started, the stoking door was hung. I was able to reuse the cast arch over the door. I got far enough along that I was able to place the old castable roof on top of the firebox. It came apart in a few pieces, but with a little help I think I can get them to fit a little tighter and probably do a light skim coat of new castable on the top in the spring.

But it's too cold to lay brick now. I'm not a wimp, the mortar freezes up. Really. So it's off to the studio. Just in time because the third annual Wintertide show and sale is coming. We have lots of pots but it is a good excuse to get working on some new stuff. I was a little rusty on the wheel since I hadn't thrown anything for a few months but it's coming back to me. I think.

November 25th and 26th the place to be is the Elks Hall in Ponoka. Come on down and see the show. We should have at least one kiln load of brand new work and our good friend Shelagh Blatz of Design by Shelagh / will be joining us this year so it should be very exciting. Check out her website at http://designsbyshelagh.com 

See you there,
Joe

 Yippee, big news, Joe and I entered work into a show this spring...and what do you know we each had a piece accepted! SMILES! The show is a juried travelling exhibiton put together by the Alberta Potters Association. The piece I have in the show (pictured left) is called "Myth and Magic sipping cup"... a groovy little number featuring layered stamping, text, and a graphic carved section with an amphora flowing before a sea of alchemic symbols...you know that old chestnut. Joe's piece is a lidded vessel titled... "lidded jar", the man is inspired, right? Let me expand on that, it is a small, amber colored lidded jar, textured to be subtly reminiscant of the texture repeated in the cultivated fields of the farm. This show will start June 25th to Sept, 15, in Lethbridge, Alberata, at the Sir Alexander Galt Museum, then it will travel to Comox B.C. to the Comox Valley Art Gallery, Oct.1st to 31st, next the pieces land in The B.C. Gallery of Ceramics, Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C. from Nov.1st to Nov.30th. There may be more possible dates for the show in 2012.  Wow, my pottery will do more travelling than I will!