Usually my Saturdays are spent doing all those mundane things that everyone has to do on the weekends - but today I was semi-caught up.
I spent part of the afternoon 'coaching' a celebrity artist for the Picasso's fundraiser for TRAHC that is held each year by the Women for the Arts. I am actually coaching 2 celebrities - both very different in their approach to doing something so unfamiliar to them. I am not supposed to let anyone see their pieces yet - it is going to be a surprise!!
I decided that the next major equipment purchase that I want to make is to buy a kiln. I really love to play with clay though I don't have a lot of experince with it. I think it is kind of all wrapped up in childhood memories of things I always thought I wanted to do but never really got the chance. When I was young, we lived in Southern California. I can remember that one of our weekend activities was to go down to Laguna Beach. There used to be this old guy that always stood on the corner and waved at all the cars and as a sort of welcome to Laguna. I think he was actually associated with The Pottery Shack that was a place I really liked to go. On the weekends, their potters would be outside throwing on their wheels. I always thought it was so neat. I liked to just stand there and watch.
In college I did take one ceramic class where we did a bit of wheel throwing and slab building. I also took a series of lessons on the wheel with Gale Gill, a local artist. I came to realize that it takes throwing every day in order to develop all the right muscles and to create anything worth much. Just like the piano, I did not have the time to devote to developing that skill.
So, "why do I want a kiln?", you ask. Well I do like slab building. A year or so ago I did some relief tiles that had a nose on each one. Each nose was a different character type. One sold as an individual piece and the others sold as a set - I called it 'The nose have it" So I want to continue doing body parts, etc. So, I started saving my pennies - and I am almost there. But in the middle of the night I had a reality check - I don't really know how to use a kiln nor do I have time to make anything big. Now I am thinking of getting a small tabletop kiln that I can learn to use and use always for small items. I have realized that if I get a small kiln I should get one to use in multiple ways. After two weeks of surfing the web and looking at books. I think I have decided to get the Paragon Xpress-E-10A.
I will be able to make small ceramic items as well as some glass fusing and copper enameling. It also is used for making glass beads but I don't think I will be doing that. The other side of it is that i will be able to learn more about kilns before I actually buy the big one.
While I was looking at what seemed like a million different sites trying to decide what to do, I came across a bead artist whose work is really different. It actually involves vitreous painting - which I would like to try - just not anything quite this small. Her name is Brownwen Heilman. Thought you might like it too!
Well, a little bit more reading and I will be ready to plunge in!
Create a little somthing this week - have a little fun while you do it
mj
Yes, I do think your opinion is righteous. (So do lots of people). Luckily majority of people are intelligent :).