It's on...

The cabinet doors and drawers came off this morning. The old finish is being stripped right now. Seems like it may take two attempts to remove all the old finish. Let it dry and apply the new finish. Then, when that dries, the doors and drawers will go back on the cabinet. Painting will take place this week as well. The accent wall is a Suntan Bronze color and the rest will be in a Heirloom Gold -- all from Benjamin Moore. Will post pictures when it is done.

Pottery Week 2 and 3

Pottery Week 2 wasn't very productive. I had a lot of trouble centering and building the wall. I only made 2 pieces that week. They have been glazed and are being fired right now. I will post pictures when they are done glazing.

Week 3 was more productive. We started learning the bowl shape and I seems to take to the bowl shape better than the cyclinder shape. The difference between a bowl shape and a cyclinder shape is that the bowl shape has a curved bottom while the cyclinder shape has a hard edge at the bottom. I made 7 pieces that week. The picture on the right shows the pieces in the bisk state. I took the picture before I glazed them. Wonder how they will look after it is done. Again will post picture when they come out of the kiln.

I've also started taking notes on the pieces I make -- taking measurements of the pieces before they are fired and afterwards to keep track of shrinkage. Also keeping notes of the glazes used and the combination to find the one I like. I've been told that clay shrinks a total of about 12% between from start to finish. Right now, the measurements are showing me that from the leather-hard stage to the bisk stage, the pieces shrinks about 0.5 cm. I haven't measured how much it shrinsk from glazing to final. As for glazes, I really like the Whites, Aviva Blue and Red Iron. I saw a really interesting green color the other day but it is out right now and they are mixing another batch. Will try that when it is available.

Pottery Week 1

Week one of First Time Potter is about clay preparation, Hand Building and the basics on Wheel Throwing. The clay has to go through a process called Wedging before they can be used. This, essentially, means you knead the lump of clay to remove air bubbles trapped inside the clay. There is a special way to do this so that you don't end up introducing air into the clay instead. Air expand when heated and any air bubble trapped inside your piece will explode during the firing process and might ruin you piece and all your hard work would go to waste.

Hand Building is taking a piece of wedged clay and making pieces without the wheel. You can use moulds, pinching, coils, etc. etc. So, all the pieces in the picture above is from Hand Bulding. The piece at the 12 o'clock position is a coil pot. What you do with a coil pot is to roll out your piece of clay into a long piece of "snake" and coil it around and around. You can choose to smooth out the sides or leave the lines so you see the coil. These pieces are left to harden to a leather state, the bisk fired, glazed and then fired again. The coil pot was fired in Celadon, (clockwise) the next piece is in a color called Temoku, then Red Iron and the last rectangular one has Aviva Blue on the outside.

Week 1 also saw me trying to center a lump of clay on the wheel. Centering is perhaps the foundation move of any wheel throwing projects. If you can't center your lump of clay, your piece will end up having uneven walls. If the clay wobbles bad enough, you might end up wearing your work. LOL. None of my wheel throwing pieces were presentable from Week One. Ekkk!

There is no light at the end of the tunnel . . .

when it comes to lighting. If you are not getting a standard track lighting kit, the "science" of track lighting would require a PhD in and of itself. Single circuit, 2 circuit, head, canopy, pendant, monorail, transformer, low voltage, line voltage -- the terminology just goes on and on. Thanks to my friend Roger, I have gone to his lighting guy and ask for a consultation. I hope his going to show me the "light" and let me know what my options are. Again, it will probably be a phased approach. The money pit is not a bottomless pit you know!!!! I know I would be interested in some task lighting, a couple of pendants over the island, undercabinet lighting, maybe replace the existing track in the dining room. We'll see. Put on the poker face. Bwahahahaha!

Ahhh . . . run for the hills

So, yeah, it's a done deal. The contract is signed -- I am legally bonded to pay for the work done. I even gave the general contractor a project plan so she will know my expectation explicitly -- should have done a Statement of Work too! LOL.

On the one hand, I am excited about getting a nice new kitchen (no appliances yet but maybe next year) but on the other hand, I am worried about spending so much money in this economy. And yet, I am considering getting new lights for the kitchen as well. And you know how one thing leads to another and now I am thinking perhaps a new rug and a new dining table???? Yes, I am a VERY complicated man and I sometimes don't know how I process/justify stuff. Any how, one thing I am certain is that all these other "stuff" can be purchased piece-meal and does not need to all come at the same time -- space out the spending a little bit. So . . . work starts Monday. I am in the process of moving things out of the way AND decluttering. Wish me luck!

Kitchen Remodel

I am ready to sign a contract. Got three bids, went through numerous permutation about what to do and what not to do, seen a gazillion granite samples, backsplash tiles, faucets, sinks, etc. etc. So, now, I will sign the contract with the selected company and then pick out the granite and take it from there.

Countertop -- Granite -- Tan Brown (I want to select the exact slab)
Backsplash -- Glass tile -- combination of Tan, Red, White and Bronze.
Faucet -- Moen -- with the pull out sprayer
Sink -- Black Composite Granite from Home Depot
Garbage Disposal -- Insinkerator

I am also having new cabinets put in for extra storage. It's like buying a new place all over again. I am excited. Still have to select light fixtures, wall colors, etc. etc.

Sorry -- haven't posted anything in a LONG time. I guess I really did not have that much to talk about. In any case, this summer in Chicago is quite different. It's been really cool and the weather in July has not broken 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyway, 2 new things going on in my life -- I am remodeling the kitchen in my condo and I am taking a pottery class at a Art Studio. I will update the blog with updates on the kitchen remodel and also progress with the pottery class (maybe pictures too?)