Another Kiln Load Opening Today -- and, Yes, Mixed Again

Today, or possibly tonight (it's still cooled only to around 550 F), I'll be opening another mixed kiln load, but I'm moving in the right direction:  almost all of this load is bisque, and only a handful of glazed pieces.  I think by the next firing, I can have solid one or the other loads.

The kiln yesterday before I started firing.  Only these few pieces on top are glazed.  It's not a very full kiln, but I have a lot of oddly shaped pieces that are going to need their own kiln when I have enough of them.  

Later (next day)  Oops!  I forgot to photograph the kiln when I opened it, but all came out well, and I have a lot of underglaze painting to do now!!

Included in the few glazed pieces are some really cute ones, in my humble opinion.  I've been doing a few smaller pieces as I think I've already mentioned, and among them are some smaller wall-hanging fish that can be hung either vertically or horizontally.  I can imagine how nice a grouping of them on a wall would be.  And, of course, as usual, each piece is unique.  

Remember, if you ever have any questions about any part of my technique or materials (such as clay, underglazes, etc.) that I use, I'll be happy to answer them.  Just drop a comment in the posting.

And if you ever want to see any of my works, they're all at Etsy (except for the two galleries below). 

 https://dottiedracos.etsy.com

My works are also available at Fine Lines Gallery in Sister Bay, WI, and at Nash Gallery in Hilton Head, SC.

And, one final thing:  I no longer do paintings, but prints of my paintings are still available at FineArtAmerica, https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/dottie-dracos/shop.  I get a small commission when one sells.

S_L_O_W SUMMER is upon us here in our small town

 Everything seems slow now:   My gardens, my business, my work (it's hard to continue creating new things during this slow summer period), but I do try to keep working because autumn always comes!  It feels as if we are all just waiting for autumn, my favorite time of the year -- winter is second because I enjoy "holing up."  Even our small town slows to a crawl.  

Farmers' Market

I'm going to the farmers' market today, and I'm sure I'll see a lot of sluggish people wandering aimlessly about.  I have an annual goal, though, to buy enough fresh honey for the entire coming year. I've been buying from the same person for the past ten years.  He raises the bees and harvests the honey himself, and it's worth every penny I pay for it!  Last year, he wasn't doing well at all, and his daughter was managing his booth for him, so I'm hoping he's here and doing well when I go down today.

I also will be buying various veggies from farmers whose garden practices are far superior to my own.  And I'll see what else catches my eye, though I'm not much of a shopper.  And we, my granddaughter and I, will also go for a cup of coffee at our most popular local coffee shop.  That's always fun.

My Gardens

My veggie gardens have had a rough time of it this year, so they've been slow since their planting in June.  Why?  While I think the rest of the US has been roasting in record high temperatures, we here in the Pacific Northwest are having a very, very slow start to summer.  We, my family and I, live just on the edge of the "East Side" of the Cascade Mountains, so our climate in the summer is generally very dry and very hot.  This year is different!  We had rather damp, cool days until very recently, and now we've entered a new, uncharacteristic pattern:  while the temperatures are still comfortable (very variable, but generally in the 80's during the day and the low 60's-high 50's during the nights -- quite comfortable for me because my house stays naturally cool most all day, no need for an air conditioner.  

With the very dry times now, my poor flower gardens, trees, and grass areas are showing signs of stress, even with deep drip-watering nearly every day.  So they, too, have slowed down.  And to top things off, our region is suffering from drought conditions now, so we're being asked to conserve water, which I do, within reason for now.  My grassy areas are beginning to look a bit more like straw -- and I'm even reducing the size of the grass areas, one small shovelful at a time.  I'm just moving it to a dry area behind my house so it can compost.  In exchange for removing the grass, though, I'm planting more and more flowers.  My flower-planting rule of thumb is to throw a lot of seeds on the ground and see which ones are strong enough to survive.  

Also, regarding flowers, I'm trying to root a lot of lavender stems to replace a long front garden of irises, which are just not strong enough or long-flowering enough for me.  I think they'll go to my daughter's house, so I'm not abandoning them.  I've rooted lavender before quite successfully in the past, so I expect it to work out well this time, too.  I'll have to keep them indoors, however, until next spring when they should have a strong root system, and then they can go outside.  In the meantime, I can prepare the bed where they'll go next spring.

My Ceramics Business

It's slow -- but expected.  I wouldn't want to be sitting at home on my computer this time of year (yet here I am this very moment!), so I'm glad people are out and about.  They always come back in the autumn, and then I'll be wishing I had made more pieces so I wouldn't run out before the end of the year.  

I do have a few custom pieces I'm working on, but they're slow, too, because I get too "tight" when I'm working on custom work.  I have to recreate a very difficult clock that I used to make decades ago for someone whose clock was broken.  I really don't want to do it, but I'll give it a try.  It was difficult years ago; and even though they sold well, I swore I would never do them again.  But I do often get requests for them, so I'll once again give it another try.  Another customer wants a small sculpture of her dad playing baseball when he was young.  It's going to be rather abstract but with lots of movement.  If I can keep myself loose, it should be a fun project.  Another project is a group of tiny gnomes for my sister.  And I have one more, but I can't remember it at the moment.  I'll add it later when I think of it.  I have a list somewhere at my work table.

I still haven't gotten word for when the "newbie" clay people want to finish their work, which is annoying, I have to say.  But that may or may not happen.  If it doesn't, it was a waste of my time, clay, and kiln space. We'll see.

My Travel Plans

I've been planning a return trip to France for a while now, and this past spring, I almost made concrete plans -- and then things went south politically in this country, so I became afraid to go.  Now, I'm thinking about maybe a shorter December trip.  But if I do indeed decide to go, I'll be buying refundable flight tickets just in case.  I know they cost a lot more; but if circumstances warrant a cancellation, they're less costly than losing everything.   

Okay.  My studio is calling me, as are my poor thirsty plants, and I have a busy rest of the day to get through.  Hope my honey person is at the market!

Staying Strong in Old Age, both physically and mentally

I think part of being old, and getting older every minute, is taking care of myself.  When we're younger, we don't necessarily think about it -- it's something we'll think about later.  I will admit, though, that since I was a young teenager, I've been a bit obsessed about staying physically fit, and it hasn't changed into my old age.  I don't think there are any secrets to maintaining our bodies as we age.  I think if we exercise, with and without weights, walk/run, and maintain flexibility, keep our minds and bodies active and challenged, we're very likely to have a better life than if we don't.  Whether we live longer, I have no idea.  But I certainly want to enjoy the time I have left, and I think the best way for me to do that is to keep physically fit, stay interested in, well, everything, visit with our family and/or friends, etc., etc.  

Every day:

I do everything I can think of to do just that.  For example, twice a day my granddaughter comes over to my house.  In the morning, we have breakfast together and play our daily Wordle challenge.  (We're good!!!)

Then every afternoon she comes to my house again, and we do exercises together for between 15 and 30 minutes.  It's one of the ways I take care of myself physically and socially at the same time.  And amazingly, my granddaughter enjoys it, too!

Every morning, I take a quite brisk, around 3.5-4.5 mph, 1.5 mile walk with my sweet dog Ruby.  Around two days a week, the walks are longer, between 2 and 3-plus miles. And every early evening, I do some additional strength exercises to hit as many muscle groups as I can.  I do it all because I know from what most all scientific research says, that it is going to help me live better, and possibly longer -- and even possibly reduce my chances of dementia as I age.  As we all know, each year increases our likelihood of getting dementia, or having some kind of cognitive decline; so it's something I want to avoid as much as I possibly can.

Again, I do all of these things not in an attempt to be or appear younger but to be the fittest mentally and physically that I can for my age. And they're actually really fun activities, too.  When I'm alone walking, I often listen usually to France Inter radio or sometimes music on YouTube.  Other times, I just enjoy the beauty of the land and the quietness of the countryside.

Outdoor Fun:

In fact, just a few days ago, I went with my family (daughter, son-in-law, and 16 year old grandchild) for our mostly-annual kayaking adventure in north-central Washington State.  It's still as fun now as it was nearly 10 years ago when we started.  The only problem I have is dragging my kayak up a muddy steep slope at the end of the day.  The river, I must admit, most of the time is rather slow and easy, with a rare bit of rapids here and there -- but it is a lot of work all the same.  I have to brag and say that I was the only one of us who had no upper-body pain the next day, and we all worked equally hard the entire 3-plus hours we spent on the water.  Maybe it's the clay work, but I also like to think it's the workouts I do daily to keep myself strong.  (I must admit I did have some "motion sickness" that night, though, which I attribute to having been on the water for a rather lengthy period of time.)

A rather lazy day but lots of fun, too.

The peaks of the Cascades in the distance are obviously bare of snow but still beautiful.

Body Weight:

Another thing I do is try to keep my weight at a reasonable level.  For me, that's a bit of a problem because I've always been underweight, and it tends to get more and more difficult with age to keep pounds on.  Also, unfortunately, being naturally thin, there's one thing I can't control without extreme measures which I'm unwilling even to consider, I tend to have more facial wrinkles!!  Oh, well, I can't have it all!

Vegetarian Diet Stuff Again:

Getting enough calories, and protein for a vegetarian, which I am, tends to be a bit more difficult, so I have to work at it deliberately every day.  I eat a lot of nuts of every kind every day, including peanut butter that I get from a grinder at the grocery, so it's pure peanut butter.  I love tofu and tempeh, and I use them in a lot of different ways, including in olive and/or sesame oil, with some sesame seeds thrown in, too, and I put them into as many dishes as I can -- and often just eat tofu well-cooked and crispy as a snack -- or even raw as a quick snack.  I eat a lot of rice because it's calorie-dense.  I think I've mentioned a lot of this already.  Sorry if I have.  

Of course, as is recommended, I do as much as possible every day to exercise my brain as well -- not in a weird way but just by staying very engaged in running my business, trying not hard enough to keep my house clean, playing other games such as FreeCell (yes, I like it still, and I have never lost a single game).  And as I've mentioned many times, I read, read, read, and I keep my French language knowledge intact and even growing by listening to French radio as I work, watching French movies (there are sooooo many great choices these days!), talking to my dog and cat in French, etc.  And working in my gardens is a challenge in every way, and I enjoy it immensely, too.

One thing I don't do, and I'm okay with it is socialize with other than family members.  The closest I come to socialization is going through the grocery checkout where there's a clerk.  Most of them seem to want to chat, it seems.  I just don't know anyone except family members that interest me enough to spend time with them.  I never, ever get bored, though.  I enjoy my work and family time, and I think that can replace outside socializing.  And, again, my family live just next door to me, and we are back and forth all day, every day.

 

Another Mixed-Kiln Opening - I've got to stop doing this! Makes me anxious!

This is the kiln after I loaded it.  As you can see, this time I not only mixed bisque and glaze, which generally when I dare do it, I leave all the bisque at the bottom.  This time, I wanted to maximize the density of the load, so I mixed the two.  And fortunately, all came out perfectly! 

                                           Loaded, ready to fire

                                                       Fired!

One of these days I'll get ahead enough that I can properly fire bisque and glaze loads separately.  I just can't work any faster, though -- or won't, I should say!

It was a really dense kilnload this time, where I even stacked the bottom shelf three-high with bone-dry pieces; I did allow for the weight and shape of each piece, of course, and I fire only to cone 05, so I have no problem if the pieces are generally rather lightweight.  

Lately, just for fun again, I've been doing more and more thrown and altered pieces, and it's working out well.  For instance, in this load, I threw several fish-shaped closed cylinders, tail bottom, head top.  Then I hand-shaped the thrown pieces further, elongating here, thinning there, etc., until I got what I was heading for.  Then I drew a like from the top (mouth) down either side to the bottom, then split the piece into two pieces -- two fish for the effort of one!  The rest was easy!  Just add parts, details, hangers, signature, then dry to fire.  I haven't painted the ones I've bisqued yet, but I will in the next few days and will try to remember to show a few of them.  

(By the way, please never, never, ever directly copy my work!  First, it's just wrong, wrong to do so; and second, my style is copyrighted, and I even have strangers who let me know if they see a copied piece somewhere.  Usually, they're so awfully done that I ignore it, but sometimes I go after the malfaiteur ("evildoer") and have them cease and desist -- and tell them to do their own creating and not steal the work and talent of the creator!