Monday, February 8, 2010

First Pots



Here are the first few pieces from the new studio.




















And of course Miss Casey has her spot.
 You are welcome to purchase work from me online at my Etsy store. http://www.etsy.com/shop/apaulek and at the jfergeson gallery  http://www.jfergesongallery.com/LeahCOlivier.cfm?ArtistsID=177
More to come soon.













Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Container Kiln-shop part 2



Happy New Year!

Let's begin where we left off. Cutting, and cutting... I rented a plasma torch for this job, and suggest everyone rent one even if you don't have anything in particular to cut, great fun.

My friend Joe had some old casement windows, cleaning them up, and re-glazing them seemed like a good idea. Two long weeks later I was hating ever even looking into recycling windows, but in the end, they look like they belong.

The electric proved to be one of the easiest parts of the project to date, because I actually broke down and hired my neighbor, who is an electrician, and he did a fine job.


Now the kilns have a proper home and I am in the process of filling them. The next step for the Container workshop is to fill in some gaps, paint the sides, and when it warms up a bit, place a metal roof over the entire structure.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Container Kiln-shop Project Part 1

Recently we have moved to the peaceful village of Farmville Virginia. Moving is great fun. Part of the fun comes from the fascinating world of house renovation and ceramic studio building. This post is dedicated to a part of these processes that I will call the Container Workshop Project. This will be a building for my pottery kilns as well as additional workspace separate from my basement clay studio (also being remodeled). The building is made from two 20' steel shipping containers sometimes referred to as ISBU's or Intermodal Steel Building Units, which are becoming a popular way to create a building that is structurally sound, economical, and environmentally friendly (made from recycled materials). Lets start at the beginning...

First, our new home came with a deceptively crappy storage building complete with dirt floor, leaky roof, and a mostly rotten, ant-infested interior. Good times!


















The shed and its evil entrails fit neatly into a garbage bin.Next came the tedious tasks of leveling out the grounds, and digging and forming up a cement pad behind the house.














Casey proved that she is more than a pretty face with great hunting skills, but that she can work circles around anyone on the work site (which is usually just me, that's pretty good for a dog).Cement day was tackled by my wife Rachel and I and it went really smoothly. It's a shame that we didn't manage to get any pictures of her raking cement, since she really enjoyed it.



















Next we made cement piers to serve as a foundation for the steel containers. Digging these deep holes wasn't nearly as fun or as exciting as these pictures make it look.



















Eventually the holes got dug, I poured the piers using cardboard tubes for forms, and spread gravel for a driveway and under the building.















Now I didn't manage to get pictures taken on container delivery day, but be assured that it was an epic event that included a 2 semi trucks, one telescopic forklift, many chains, and one head injury (nothing too serious but exciting nonetheless). None of this could have gotten done with out the help of Jeff from King Equipment Rental out of Pamplin VA. He and I worked really well together to get the containers set in place.
















Now I am in the process of connecting the containers, cutting out windows and doors, and so on. More to come soon!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Disturbingly Good Dr Houser


This post goes out to the original Dr Houser. The Dr Houser, in fact, that the popular TV series (Dougie Houser MD) staring none other than Neil Patrick Harris was based on. Very few people know that after the series wrapped, the true Dougie Houser changed his name to "Kyle" and became the artist responsible for homefry sketch book blog (http://kylehouser.blogspot.com/). All true. Here is a collaborative piece that Dr Houser and I created. We give you "Disturbingly Good"






Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A Devils Courthouse Christmas




Madeline (my niece) drew a wonderful picture of a robot for me this Christmas. We also took a family hike at the Devils Courthouse, made a stick and leaf raft, looked at a waterfall, and found Rachel and Vicky who had gotten lost. All in all, it was a very eventful Christmas.






Thursday, January 29, 2009

Hymee The Friendly Hippo’s Great Adventure

Saved from the fangs of a small terrier Hymee The Friendly Hippo donned his disguise and fled to the Commonwealth of Virginia to find a new home.






Wednesday, October 8, 2008

A Very Good Day

It was a beautiful day in April. The 30th of April to be exact. The sun was shining, birds were singing and a lovely couple was spending the day celebrating a certain someone's 32nd birthday playing skee ball, putt putt, and throwing out the birthday boy's back at the batting cages... At least we earned enough tickets to buy 8 tootsie rolls, 2 fake tattoos and a rubber alien. I give you- "A Very Good Day". By the way, always remember to stretch before exercising.