Happy winter! I know that may be an oxymoron for many of my Midwestern friends and family but boy do we LOVE snow in a ski town. We were fortunate to get nearly 6 feet of fresh powder over Christmas. Ya-hoo!
This fall the community college ceramics course that I teach in the evenings was overflowing with an energetic group of students aged 18 to 80. You can see their newest works in the "gallery of work" link on my homepage - click on the folder labeled Community College student work. My beginning high school student artists will soon be finishing their semester introduction to drawing and painting and will be switching to clay and 3-dimensional art media mid-January. Look for updates on the high school students' work in the spring newsletter.
As many of you are aware, I have a growing interest in the process and surface results of wood firing. I have a strong appreciation and deep need for hard work and wood firing fosters a perfect balance of physical labor and intellectual inquiry. The surface produced in wood fire is remininscent of the warm palette found in the desert southwest. I have an eternal admiration for mother-nature as artist!
After a two-week anagama woodfire workshop that I attended last summer (see the fall 2008 newsletter for more information), I came home brainstorming ways I could obtain a woodfired effect in my institutional classroom setting. I have since created a hybrid kiln that fires primarily with propane and I supplement with pine that has been soaked in a soda solution. Because I have no garage or other form of storage for this kiln and we get nearly 50 feet of snow during the winter, I put this kiln on its own 4' x 8' trailer to store at my friend Andrew's house for the winter.
Left: The kiln set up behind my classroom Right: Yes, that's the ski resort in the background
I have fired this kiln twice now and I am confident that I have a lot more learning to do. I love experimenting and documenting the process and results! I won't bore all of you with the details but for the clay-loving pyromaniacs out there, feel free to email with questions or requests for more info on the set-up and firing of my hybrid kiln.
Left: mountain-living and kiln firing in a snow storm! Right: Stokin' the kiln
See my recent work from the "gallery of work" link on the left side of my homepage for results from these hybrid firings. And be sure to look for more updates to come in March.
Until then, do what makes you happy, love deeply and live fully.
Yours truly,
Rena Hamilton
at Elemental Artworks