Two Down, Five To Go!

      The pace has really picked up around the studio over the past few weeks, and although it has negatively affected my "blogging", I have been getting a lot of good work made. My plate count is well passed the century mark and I have finally reopened my Etsy.com site! For those of you who don't know what Etsy is, just follow the link! (http://www.etsy.com/shop
/RademakerPottery)
      Having avoided any major stalls of procrastination, I have even found the time to have some fun over the past few weeks. The pinnacle was attending the Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game with Ali and some of my family. We stood screaming the whole time, and since Notre Dame was able to pull out a win, I think the bucket hat is here to stay as a good luck charm (sorry Ali)!
       The most recent wood kiln (fired September 30th) is sitting painfully at 382 F, making it too hot to unload. However, those of you who know my patience know I have already snuck a peek into the front. The outlook is good, and I hope the results can compare to the incredible first kiln. I do not have images of plates from the first kiln because I'm still in the process of cleaning and sanding, but have no fear, I have plenty of images of other pots. Just as easily as making really beautiful pots, the wood kiln at UofL has no problem making really ugly pots. That being said, I think this is the first firing I didn't pull any dumpster chunkers out of.

   

      They say "if it's not broken, don't fix it" (or at Paoli, 'if it aint broke dont fix it'); however, I made the decision to alter my clay body slightly. Although I loved the results it was giving, I wanted to substitute some lighter materials for darker ones and see if it would increase the flashing. Needless to say, I have my fingers crossed, hoping I didn't break something that wasn't broken to begin with. We will know at the unload tomorrow...
      Check back soon with more consistent blog posts and hopefully some beautiful new plates from this most recent kiln!

Random helicopter dropping things on the soccer field

Ether is on fire!