4 April 2008

Lucky Old Me!

Wow! What a week! The panic ... the remedy ... and the relief!

I have to thank my lucky stars this week. It started with the disaster of my kiln dying and trying to fix the situation. I talked endlessly to the people I bought my kiln from and going through what my kiln was doing (or not). Then we worked on the various scenarios, from the worst case: new kiln ~ only a few thousand pounds to spend, to new controller ~ down to about £300 and finally to fixing the problem ~ either by electrician or kiln supplier ... hopefully not more than £150!

But no, none of this in the end happened. My darling husband came to my rescue (he has his uses you know... Cheek! I hear him say). He found the problem AND fixed it! YES! And best of all fixed it for under 5pence ~ in other words a pint down the pub for Peter our car mechanic friend that luckily had the part, and of course, a BIG hug for my clever hubby!

!! WAHOOOO !! YIPPEE !! HOORAY !!


So if anything else that could go wrong, went wrong this week ~ I didn't care, because I saved myself thousands of pounds ~ sort of! Happy days!!

Anyway, since the rescue of my kiln, I have been frantically catching up with firings and finishing my acorns. I'm not terribly happy with the first three acorn cups. So I am now adding some gold lustre around the rim to see if that cures the problem. Give them a bit of bling!
I cannot describe why they didn't work, its something to do with the inside invading onto the outside. Since this decision I have glazed the giant large acorn cup differently and I think that's how I'll do it from now on. But I'm still pondering.

I don't think any of the acorn cups (bowls) are ready for the Kincardine and Deeside Art Exhibition and Competition, which the hand in date is tomorrow. So, I'll see what news the kiln brings me in the morning and make up my mind then. After all I do have back up pieces of ceramics just in case.

I have also finished building my whole acorn sculpture ~ it is the first of many to be made of various sizes and finishes. OH I'm really excited about it! Here are some images for you of work in progress ...


Yes! I'm showing off before I have even finished ~ but just letting myself think about how well it is going so far... and where its going ... it makes me tingle all over! I can't wait to see how it turns out. These pieces will be for my exhibition in September, as part of the North East Open Studios. I am getting ready now as I have SO many ideas to be getting on with.


This image, as you can see, I have played with on the computer ~ I rather like the way it shows off and enhances the architectural quality of the scalloped acorn cup.

Yes I am content (to say the least) with how things have turned out this week. Hope your week was just as good!

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