I like to make large pots. I have been known to lop the top
off pots to get them to fit in my kilns. On the other hand, I don’t like firing
those kilns with gaps on the shelves—and big pots leave large unused spaces
between them.
Consequently, I began making small cookie-cutter shapes and inch-round
beads to fill the spaces. Putting those glazed beads in one at a time is not my
greatest joy, but living near the Chesapeake Bay for a long time, I had
driftwood to play with. Who could resist the combination?
Along came those
Kahoka mobiles and windchimes because stoneware resonates so beautifully. I
experimented on my neighbors and found that the wind often untied the knots, so
drops of epoxy were introduced. I conferred with someone from the Division of
Natural Resources about moving wood around, and we concluded that a few coats
of polyurethane spray would do in any wood-borne critter that survived the
brackish bay water. Now, hundreds of mobiles later, they still do not do well
in gale force winds, but they are not merely an artifact
of filling up the shelves. I have fun making
them.
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