nothing is as fun as woodfiring- quiet times out in the country. just you and the crackling fire. just keep throwing the wood in there to keep it hot. all that ash is landing on the pots as it makes its way through the kiln, leaving its mark on each pot. high hopes for the results, but since there’s no predicting the outcome, try not to get your expectations too high!
i spent yesterday loading the last shelves of the wood kiln at geoff pickett’s. it was a beautiful fall day out in the country. steady working, figuring out what to put where, making sure the shelves are clean before we put them in the kiln, and wadding the bottoms of the pots. wadding is a mixture of stuff that you roll into a ball and stick on the bottom of the pot with some glue. it keeps the pot up off the shelf so it (hopefully) doesn’t get stuck from all the salt and drippy glaze. here’s geoff putting wads on a pot and placing it carefully in the kiln. today the doors will be bricked up, then we’ll light the fires!
i’m making a batch of vases for the wood fire. i made some really fancy ones i’m super excited about. lots of birds and flowers. i still have to glaze them. we start loading the kilns today. it’ll take about 9 days to load two wood kilns, then on to the firing! more pics of that soon. it’s so much fun to do a six hour shift of stoking the fire, and listening for the crinkling sound that tells you it’s time to put more wood on the fire.
i know you’re busy, but the leaves are changing, the light is changing, and the very air feels different. do yourself a favor; leave the cell phone in the car and take a hike. go to a park, along a river, through a woods, to a botanical garden – just get out there and immerse yourself in the transcendent and transient glory that is fall. won’t be long till it’s all gone.
i went for a walk at the botanical gardens this week to look for signs of fall. there’s an overgrown part that just has a path mowed through it. it’s my favorite part because of all the wild, overgrown glory. here’s a peek..
all summer i’ve worried about my dahlias. no buds all summe- just droopy foliage. and they were supposed to be the stars of the garden! but now that the weather’s cooled off they’re starting to come to life. so many buds now! here’s just a few that are starting to show their beauty.
being an artist, i love to pay with color contrasts in the garden. whether it’s flower or foliage color i’m working with, i love to pit warm colors against cool, red against green, silver against purple. these days there are so many great foliage plants that come in a rainbow of colors. i love coleus in red and almost black, silver grey salvia and black elephant ears.put warm next to cool and mix it all together for inspiration all summer long.
we all know sunflowers are awesome and inspiring, but here’s some pics to show they’re just as beautiful in every stage as they are in full flower. let’s all be like that.
i love the mexican sunflowers; how they glow in the sunset and attract the butterflies. here’s some sunflower beauty.
Email signup! |
