It's Been Way Too Long

When a few of you recently checked on me to ask if I was okay, it made me realize how long it had been since I last posted.  And it also made me feel fortunate to know I was missed.  Thank you guys for that!  So in between all the rain we've been having here lately, here are a few shots of the happenings right outside my window.

It's getting awfully green around here. 

Everyone is so hungry! 

Henri found a new use for our raku pottery. 



And from where I sit at my laptop, thanks to Henri I now have some pretty pink flowers planted inside my flower boxes. 

The view as the fog rolled in this morning just before we left for our trip to Bar Harbor. 

So I've been having a food craving ever since I bought these adorable little whoopie pie earrings from Lisa over at Pink Porches.  She hand crafts all sorts of items to look exactly like the real deal over at her Etsy shop, and she does custom orders too!  

The one and only place that has my most favorite edible version of them is Epi's in Bar Harbor.  They are so fresh, individually wrapped in saran wrap.  See it right there on the top of our takeout lunch? 

Objects may appear larger than life when you get to eat the entire whoppie pie all by yourself.  Mmmmm. 

Foggy and misty, it's still a nice day to visit Bar Harbor. 

Gearing up for tourist season there's that certain excitement in the air again around here. 

I just love seeing the old familiar sights and sounds again. 

And belly full we head home, content that all is well in Bar Harbor land.  Let the season begin!  Thanks so much for stopping by to see what's up in our neck of the woods, you really do know how to make a gal feel special, you know! 

Raku Firing

This is our raku kiln during a evening firing. We use propane gas for the fuel. The square thing on the front is a pyrometer that is used to measure at very high temperatures. There is an attached cable running to the right side of the kiln that is attached to a probe inserted into the kiln though a small hole. When the temperature reaches 2000 degrees F., Henri removes the entire top of the kiln using heavy duty asbestos gloves.

With the top of the kiln removed, Henri uses a pair of long handled tongs to remove the pot.

It will go into this prepared garbage can filled with sawdust and ripped up newspaper.

When the glowing hot pot hits the newspaper, it immediately ignites with a quick swoosh of flames.





He lets it burn for about 20 seconds, adding a little more combustible materials, before slamming down the lid to the can to begin the process known as reduction. This process will completely take out all the oxygen from inside the can, and when the chemicals in the raku glaze react to this starvation of oxygen, that's when the metallic flashes occur.







After about 20 minutes in the trash can, the pots are taken out with tongs and plunged into cold water, which is a tremendous thermal shock, considering the temperature of the pots which are still way too hot to handle.

These are some of my pots that we fired today.

They are hard to photograph because of all the reflections in them.

And here are 10 little fish all plucked from the fire today as well.

And some upclose shots

Translated from Japanese, the word raku means "enjoyment". Traditional Japanese raku was used as part of ancient tea ceremonies, but has been adapted by Western potters into a more contemporary art form, which is the process we use.

BEGINNINGS

The first day of 2009 finds me enjoying the beginning
of tiny green buds on the paperwhites
I am forcing in an old raku bowl.

Today also finds me beginning work on several new pieces of raku art that I will post when complete. Here is a close up to help make you curious. Any guesses?

Today was also a perfect day for the beginning of another moose tile.

Let the 2009 journey begin. A Happy New Year wish to all!

Feather Your Nest!

During the summer months, we have a converted space in our home where we sell our raku and art. This space serves double duty as 1 bay of our garage where our car resides in the winter.

This winter we are excited to add another venue from which we will attempt to sell our raku pottery. We invite you to visit our Etsy.com store by simply clicking on the Feather link near the top right-hand portion of this blog.

I enjoy working with wool and experimenting with novelty yarns as well.

Alas! A shop that is open 24/7 from which to Feather Your Nest!