Well pottery is done for the year and as a wind up we went out to Gail and John's to do some Raku.. since this is the first time for me to do pottery it is also the first experiance I had with the art of Raku... well first you had to make something out of Raku clay , which is not like regular clay . It is more gritty and poris so you cannot make thing that you wish to have hold water... I decided to sttend at the last minute so was rushed to think of things to make , but I was glad to be able to go and experiance the event
This is my inukshuk before he was glazed and fired I made him with hollowed legs to be lighter and also to try to make sure he would not explode in the kiln
I made a welcome sign and this little snail shown here in side gails picture frame .. the peces are then glazed with a special Raku glaze which is suppose to be a color but when it comes out of the fire it is any color it wants to be... this is a fun thing as you do not know what it will really turn out like
The kiln.... sometimes it is done in a oit which a fire of wood is made and burned most of the day to make red hot coals and then the pieces are put in and covers to bake under intence heat here we used a old electric kiln with a propane torch in the side heating the pieces to red hot .
They were then taken out of the kiln and put into burning barrels where we threw wood shavings on to blaked them then every 30 seconds or so the lid is lifted to get oxygen in to reignite the flame they are in here for maybe five minutes......in this picture she lifted the lid causing a backdraft effect and whoosh a flame ignites
John then carefully takes the burning pieces out of the barrel and puts them in cold water to cool them.
this would crack them for sure you would think but no.... most of the pieces make it thru the whole process and come out whole.... then you have to brush them clean..
here are some of my finished pieces the colors I put on were called copper penny and green copper so as you can see it turns out how it turnes out it does not pay attentin to the color you chose most of the time but I liked them anyway
my inukshuk.... unfortunately got broke when it was taked out of the burning barrel and hit the side ... but I was told white glue ... will work so I am, trying that
little snail and inukshuk they will go in my flower garden
Ed (papa) with Kale and Kyra
Ed and Baby Kyra
First Kiss
Holding Papa's hand this shows how small she is
Precious little one
Kyra holding onto my thumb with her tiny little hand
I think she is trying to sing La la la la la....
O.K. everyone that is enough with the camera already..
Heather and Kyra in the hospital
Heathr and Baby Kyra are already home today
We had to first dig all the rocks and dirt away that hd been in our side .. this was a very back breaking task as it was mostly rocks and it is hard to dig into rocks .. Chad was a big help with this part...
The tractor came in real handy for the post holes and Ed was so happy to have been able to use his little tractor ... he was missing it....
First we had to put in 2x10 pressure treated boards to hold back there yard
I dug and dug and dug some more to make a 2 foot wide flower bed on the side of the fence .. I found all kinds of treasures ... from buried platic..rocks ceader chips to cement blocks that had been buried under the dirt and stone....
I had to dig the whole length as I wanted the bottom row of wood to be level
as the yard has a slope I teared the flower beds up to the back
Progress the vision is in reach
Wolah the finished flower bed and fence
Now we are going to take out this cement driveway as it just makes water run towards the house
Flowers planted and growing.......now on to the back fence......yeah.....!
This is my inukshuk before he was glazed and fired I made him with hollowed legs to be lighter and also to try to make sure he would not explode in the kiln
I made a welcome sign and this little snail shown here in side gails picture frame .. the peces are then glazed with a special Raku glaze which is suppose to be a color but when it comes out of the fire it is any color it wants to be... this is a fun thing as you do not know what it will really turn out like
The kiln.... sometimes it is done in a oit which a fire of wood is made and burned most of the day to make red hot coals and then the pieces are put in and covers to bake under intence heat here we used a old electric kiln with a propane torch in the side heating the pieces to red hot .
They were then taken out of the kiln and put into burning barrels where we threw wood shavings on to blaked them then every 30 seconds or so the lid is lifted to get oxygen in to reignite the flame they are in here for maybe five minutes......in this picture she lifted the lid causing a backdraft effect and whoosh a flame ignites
John then carefully takes the burning pieces out of the barrel and puts them in cold water to cool them.
this would crack them for sure you would think but no.... most of the pieces make it thru the whole process and come out whole.... then you have to brush them clean..
my inukshuk.... unfortunately got broke when it was taked out of the burning barrel and hit the side ... but I was told white glue ... will work so I am, trying that
little snail and inukshuk they will go in my flower garden
