Iron Pour

I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks now and never seemed to get it done (just part of a long list. Well now I am...

Back in July, the Lanesboro Art Center sponsored an Iron Pour thanks to a Legacy grant and the expertise of Karl Unnasch. I was fortunate to be able to participate in the Iron Pour and here are some photos of the event and the piece I made. Originally, I'd hoped to make something to be the counter weight for my kiln door, but to simplify the event, they had pre-made mold blanks to a standard 6" round size. Not big enough for the kiln door but I still wanted to participate.

First we carved our design in molds made from sand and resin.

A couple days later, everyone's molds were placed in Sylvan Park around the furnace that would melt the scrap iron to become our plaques.


When the iron was melted, it was drained from the furnace into a bucket like thing with handles on both sides. Two people carried the molten iron to a line of mold and poured the iron from the bucket into the hole in the top of the molds. The entire process is super hot, they have to wear heavy protective equipment to prevent burns and to top it off it was in the mid-90s that day.



A day later the pieces had cooled enough to be opened up. They look a little rough with sand stuck to them and sharp edges. That is quickly fixed with a wire brush to remove the sand and a grinder to smooth the edges.

Last, they are polished with stove oil so they don't rust.



Here's my finished piece. Clearly, I'm not very talent when it comes to carving, but the event was so much fun. I sure hope they have this event again next year.

Favorites

In the first firing of my kiln in April, I had a few oblong vases I'd made that needed a little bead or pendant as a decoration. I decided to make a few pendants to go in the second firing to use for this purpose. On a whole they turned out very nice. Since I only need three for the oblong vases, I think I'll make a couple necklaces out of the others. This one is my favorite - I like the speckled look.



They make great fillers in the kiln so I'm thinking I may make several more and some buttons for my next firing. The ones above are just bare B-Clay, but I think a nice Oribe would look great too.

Farewell to a Favorite

This past weekend at the Owatonna Festival of the Arts, I said farewell to this beautiful bottle. It was one of my favorite pieces from the first firing of the wood kiln. But it found a great new home and an owner that really loved it. She saw it on while shopping on Saturday and then came back for it on Sunday. She said the piece spoke to her and I know what she means. It spoke to me the minute I took it out of the kiln back in April.

Has anything spoken to you like that? What was it?

Feeling caught up

This past month, I've had a couple shows which usually leave me feeling very behind in just about every aspect of my life. They reduce my pottery inventory and take several days of time attending the events, which then contributes to the collection of messes, laundry and those types of things at home.

Lately, however, sales at shows have been a little slower so my inventory hasn't dropped as quickly as it has in the past. Sad from a profit standpoint, but it also reduces my sense of always being behind.

So... while I patiently wait for the economy to turn around and sales to pick up again, I'll be here enjoying feeling a little more caught up. Probably won't jump into cleaning up messes or laundry though. Don't want to go over board. :-)

Be well.