At least some of my pepper plants are enjoying the safety of my studio for a couple of days.
We're still in this unseasonable cold spell, which fortunately, will be breaking Tuesday. Tonight it's going down to the low 30's, so I'll be covering a few more tender plants and leaving outdoor lights on to generate a bit of heat to help. I'm grateful that we didn't get the snow that they got in Boone last night!
Since I'm really tired of waiting for this cold/flu thing to totally leave,(mainly, I'm bored!), I'm going to try to get some studio time today. The past two days have been spent going through years of recipe clippings and cards and getting them sorted and filed into various recipe boxes and folders. With that job done, I'm ready to get back to work even if my energy isn't 100%.
Talking to Tom Turner at the party last night, about kilns and glazes, I found myself in firing envy, when he said his new Cone 9 crystalline pots were firing while we were partying. And of course, my husband Jim, who has been bugging me about switching to electric firing in my old age, was giving me that "I've been telling you to do this" look! LOL
I have a base formula for a cone 6 crystalline glaze that a friend in our glaze testing club/group in Oregon, gave me over fifteen years ago; and like Tom's current crystalline glazes, this one doesn't run either. I should play around with those a bit this winter, since I contemplated crystalline firing at that time, and amassed a lot of information on the process. After serious consideration, and after making pots and saucers, I realized that I just didn't want to get into that whole thing of having to make saucers, chiseling them off the pots and grinding those glazed bases, not to mention how often elements would have to be replaced. I know you don't have to make pots you like, you just have to like the pots you make; but I realized, that although I might like those pots; I really wouldn't enjoy the process.
Tom mentioned someone (I think he said in Florida), who's designed an electric reduction kiln that's doesn't destroy the elements after a few firings. I don't know if it has globar elements, or if it's some new technology; but it does sounds intriguing! I'd like to get an electric kiln that's smaller than my large Skutt but larger than my tiny test kilns and one that reduces would be a great studio addition. I don't know if this is a kiln that was just designed for personal use or if there are plans to produce it commercially; but I will definitely try to keep track of it.
Today I need to finish up some pots that have been under plastic a few days. I just hope they're still soft enough to alter and finish. Time to get to work.
