Test from new phone

I finally got some of the work from the first firing posted to the online store.

Link to store is here:
http://www.karatsupots.com/store/index.php?main_page=

My apologies to those of you who have been waiting. Below are some preview pics of some things posted.

There are larger pictures and multiple views of each piece at the online store… hint, hint…

Well, the holiday season has passed and it is back to the usual routine. Or rather, the routine on steroids. There are so many things to do that yesterday I spent 15 minutes just writing them all out on a desktop to do list.

Every time I go outside, I have to make a mental note to add another item to the list. There are so many, in fact, that I find myself in danger of being frozen with inaction. Just no place for my brain to stop and focus. So, the list. Tried just walking around and doing what needed to be done as I saw it, but ended up running in circles, as I became sidetracked again and again. This way seems to work too, but is definitely more frustrating, because the feeling of having accomplished something is delayed until the end. Sort of like a crystallization happening after a long, slow cool in which nothing appears to be occurring.

The list allows for small increments of accomplishment that I find far more satisfying. Guess it just depends on personality type. I’m definitely not a multi tasker.

 The lake at Vallecito dam.

 XCountry skiing around Vallecito Lake.

 Views from Purgatory ski area.

Had a VERY nice stay with my Mom and Stepfather with the kids over the new year. Got some snow skiing in, and a new experience, gutting and skinning an Elk. Stepfather had been wanting one for this year’s meat, and they kept walking right by the back door, so we sighted in a friend’s rifle and he shot one a few days later. Big fat female Elk, probably about 400lbs. I’d never dressed game before so it was a new experience, but one I was glad to have participated in. Gives a new appreciation for where meat comes from.  After the skinning and all was finished, I saved the tongue and heart, the best two parts, and we took the rest to a processor that makes sausages and other cuts of meat, and packs them up neatly for you.

That evening, with some resistance from my stepfather, we made Fajitas from the heart, and they were excellent. Even the kids loved them (I lied to them and told them it was regular tenderloin). Told them the truth a couple of days later and they looked rather peaked. My mom told me that in her childhood, her mother had a book of game recipes which included one for Moose nose. I would imagine Elk nose to be equally delicious, and we’ll have to try that next time. Here is a picture of the Elk, after we used the Bobcat to pull it down into the driveway from the hill in the background.

I’ll spare you the rest of the pictures as they get a bit gruesome. It really was a great anatomy lesson for the kids.

Here is the view we are treated to this morning as we wake up. Quite white. I’d be thrilled except that I’m supposed to get to the airport this morning to fly to the US. Not too deep yet, but by 10am it may be pretty rough.

Pictures of yakishime sake cups. Lots of luster, not much ash.

 This one went in the kiln with a few mm of wood ash/water in the bottom.

Here are more of the refired pieces, some of which turned out nice. Those of course are the only ones I’ll be showing here. The others are already resting peacefully on the shard pile, and we mustn’t mention them here on the blog….

This katakuchi was my favorite of the bunch, just because of that interior. I don’t think the photo does justice to the colors there. This coloration is really hard to get in gas, and it came through in varying degrees on most everything close to the flame in the wood kiln. I think it is just that extra sprinkling of wood ash that gets deposited on the surface. I don’t know what it was that created the gold speckles.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the rice straw ash glaze can go on thicker in the wood kiln, and you don’t need to worry about a boring expanse of white on the ware, because of all the fluxes flying around in the kiln.

Here are some larger bowls that came through ok. One has some green Oribe on the lip that slid down pretty far, and has some nice color. The others are the same glaze as the katakuchi above, which is wood ash, rice straw ash, and amakusa porcelain stone.