Chasing the Mountains

I arrived in Abbotsford, British Columbia late last night.  This is my first trip to BC, and when I came out of my hotel the following morning the first thing I did was scan the horizon for mountains.  At first it was still too dark, then it was cloudy, then foggy … By late afternoon I was beginning to suspect that the mountains were just a myth, but then a colleague of mine decided the we should go chasing after them.  Despite the threatening clouds and hail, Joanne wasn’t going to give up … and then, for a moment, the sun appeared and the horizon took shape.

I’m sure that those living in the area won’t think much of the mountain I caught, but the chase was fun and the first glimpse of something is always special.

First fire of the season!

Heat at last!

First fire of the season!

It’s been cold here (getting down to -20°C some nights …) but the work on my permanent studio has continued unabated due to my upcoming move on January 1st, 2011.  Today I put the wood burning stove in place (and lit the first fire of the season).  No more numb fingers for me!

Inspiration: Birds

Walking into the studio today I received inspiration from the birds (a little like St. Francis of Assisi, but the other way around!).  The silhouetted shape of their bodies, and their position at the top of the barren tree, is exactly what I needed to see for some future work …

Royal Alberta Museum: Research

I found myself in Edmonton, Alberta this week.  I spent much of my off-time exploring the city. The highlight of this exploration time was visiting the Royal Alberta Museum (in the hopes that it would provide a variety of, “collections” examples, which it did in spades!)  The collections exhibited spanned historic Victorian layouts, modern museum …

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A Little Collection Shelf

I decided to slap together a shallow shelf in the corner for old jars that I recently received as left-overs from an estate sale.  This small addition to my space will hopefully act as a catalyst for this year’s Transart’s work.  As I am putting odds and ends into the jars, I am also beginning …

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Petroglyphs Provincial Park

Returning home after three weeks in Berlin results in a real need to give my children some “daddy-time”; so, after letting my feet rest for a week, I was off again. We decided to head up to Peterborough to enjoy a week visiting the local attractions: The Zoo, the Canoe Museum, and Petroglyphs Provincial Park …

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Cone 10 Pigment Results

In retrospect, it all makes sense: When creating cast iron, you put iron oxide into an oxygen-less environment and heat it up at around 2400 °F (1300 °C).  And, when I removed my test batches of mostly ochre pigments (all iron oxide based) from the kiln heated to within these specifications, I found that most of it …

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Cone 10 Pigments

When I saw the sign in the window of S & S Pottery Supplies asking for fill in an upcoming cone 10 gas firing I knew that I had to get something ready … The opportunity to subject samples of my collected pigments to almost 1300°C (2400°F) in an oxygen-less environment was pretty exciting. In …

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New Year; new start

With the new, 2010 year upon us I’ve been giving a little thought as to what direction my blog should take.  I’ve noticed that mainly people begin blogging with vigor, and then let the work die a slow death of neglect (I don’t want this to be the case on this site). Part of my …

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