Container Workshop 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!

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"

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.

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.

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.

A Single Cicada Made us Sad

Once while running in the woods with my dog "Ms. Tricky Woo", there was a strange noise... A single cicada was singing its heart out and there were no other cicadas to answer the call. This was particularity sad because only a week or so before the woods were a constant hum of cicada madness, in fact the sound of cicadas getting it on was overwhelming. Eventually though, there was a last call and the partying little critters went their separate ways. But on this particular evening, along this particular trail, there only one cicada making one lonely, sad, and yes horny cry. So this piece, yet another in the series "Ohh 8", goes out to all the cicadas who missed the booty call and emerged just a little late, I call it, "A Single Cicada Made us Sad".

Fixing a Broken Promise to the Madster

Well lets see here- pretty crazy Friday night I got going on. Doing some wild blogging I tell ya... Almost like a party- this blog... Yep... Pretty insane...Super crazy party time... Yeah... So anyway, today's offering is actually a collaborative piece. It is collaborative in the sense that I used some really great imagery from my wonderful niece Madeline. This piece also incorporates a cell phone that once belonged to her until she lent it to me for an art project that I never completed, hence the broken promise. So with out further ado... I give you "Fixing a Broken Promise to the Madster".