Gonna give stuff away

I'd like to see a few more fans on my facebook page so I'm gonna do a giveaway!

When I get to 50 fans, one will be picked at random for a free incense burner.  And when I get to 100, another one!

So if you're interested, become a fan of mine on facebook.  I promise not to overload your newsfeed.  I post once or twice a week.

Uga Buga Bowls Fan Page

Pics of my feet 01

Without further ado, I hereby bring you the first in a series called "Pics of my feet".

And those were some pics of my feet.

Been teachin!

I'm feeling the need to blog but don't have a whole lot to blog about right now.  My studio is somewhat shut down until I can get an electrician in to look at the wiring and come up with a way to heat it.  Fortunately, I got a larger check than I expected from one of my video clients so I should be able to spring for a decent heating system once I figure out what the wiring can handle.

One thing I have done though is a little teaching.  A friend of mine wanted to make some gifts for her family and thought that pottery might be the answer.  So she came over for a 6 hour lesson.  I warned her that what she wanted to make was rather challenging and probably wouldn't happen on the first day.

However, we were able to collaborate and she she was quite successful!  For the larger items, I made the bodies of the pieces while she added handles, did the trimming, and decorating.

Now, either I'm a really good teacher, or she had some skills that she didn't tell me about.  We did a general lesson of wheel throwing and after about 2 hours of instruction, I gave her some clay and told her I was going to take a break while she played around a bit.

I had to walk away at that point.  I wasn't allowing her to fail with anything and as a result, I had had my hands in each piece she had created so far.  So I wanted to give her the opportunity to learn what works and what doesn't without me constantly there to rescue.

She did really well!  Every so often I would pop my head in and offer some advice but I didn't touch the stuff anymore.  She made a cute bowl with a nice rim. Then she made a bowl that's a little wonky, but that's ok.  When it started to fold on itself, I advised her to stop and just let it be.  So it has just a little bit of ruffle through the bottom but since she stopped at that point, it looks like a design rather than what it really means which is that the bowl was about to implode.  And she made a cute little cup when I wasn't looking!

I was really impressed.  Then she came back the next day and we did all of the trimming and finishing work.  I can't wait to see if everything survives the first kiln firing!

In other news, I seem to be getting a really big response to my chicken roaster, and I don't even have one done yet.  It's going to be about 6 weeks before the prototype is even ready for testing but I'll be sure to keep you updated on the results.  I'm assuming it's going to have some kinks to work out and it will probably take a year or so before I'm confidant that I can make them for sale.

Wish me heat!

Facebook fan page

I never thought I'd set up a fan page for myself.  It seems so egotistical!  But I'd like to talk to anyone who might be interested in my pottery and I'm told that's the way to do it.

So you see that big empty box to your right?  Yeah, it's kind of sad being all empty.  Feel free to fan me on facebook and help make that look like I'm not a pathetic loser!

Ugh, work stoppage

It looks like I'm not going to be working in the studio for a while. 

I went out there the other day and the space heater wasn't working.  Tried it in a few different outlets and nothing.  My guess is that some electrical thing shorted on the inside and as a safety measure, it shut the whole thing down.  Certainly preferable to a fire, but, ugh.

I know what you're thinking - I should just get another space heater.  Well, it's not that easy.  I only have 2 outlets in the studio.  A normal one in the wall that an electrician has tested as safe and another one in the air that the light plugs into.  Both of these are right by the door to the studio which makes it difficult to fit in all the things I want to plug in where I want them to be.

Yeah, not exactly the picture of safety there is it?  Plugging the last space heater into this was an experiment.  When I turn the light off, the power to this entire outlet turns off so it was easy to make sure that the heater wasn't pulling power when it was unattended.  Thus, reduced fire hazard.

Clearly something about this plan didn't work.  Maybe it was a crappy space heater that just bit the dust, maybe it was an electrical spike of some sort, I don't know.  I do know that I'm not going to use an extension cord to put a heater in a better location.  And this is the second space heater to go kaput on me out there so I'm REALLY not trusting the wiring I've got going on.

I've left a message with the electrician to find out what it would cost to put in another outlet on the other side of the studio.  We can't really afford to spend much but if the cost of an outlet (maybe they can install some sort of safety mechanism so if it gets too hot it will cut the power?) means I can keep the studio warm and work year round, it might be worth it.

In the past, I've generally stopped work in early October and don't really start up again until April or May.  This year, I'm really wanting to keep working and have been able to work into Mid November.

And of course, there's the Buster question.  He's spent plenty of winters outside so he's fine, but that doesn't mean I want him to be cold.  My job is to spoil him rotten (I'm very good at my job) so I'd really like to provide a heated room for him to live in.

But I just can't put a third space heater out there without making sure that the wiring can handle it. 

I have a lot of stuff made and drying, probably enough for a full kiln load.  So at least I can fire that and get it finished.  But I'd really rather be working on the wheel.