Update on Kiln

I had an electrician come out to access the damage to the kiln and determine what actually happened the night the main 200amp breaker was tripped. As you can see by the picture of the burnt wiring inside the wall socket, we had an arc of electricity. Apparently, the screws that hold the wiring in place will over time be vibrated loose by the electricity running through. As you can see in the picture, the screw that is attached to the burnt area of wiring is out much farther that the other two screws, this caused the arc and power surge. I now have to have the wall socket , the power supply cord to my kiln, the wiring running from the socket to the breaker box, and the 60 amp breaker inside the breaker box replaced. I am waiting on the shipment of the power supply cord to arrive before having the electrician come back out. Once the replacements have been made, I hope to have a working kiln again. I am however unsure if the elements were damage. A resistance test can determine if any are bad or will need replacing sooner than later.

Fall Show Schedule

Since my kiln tripped out a couple of weeks ago with some important pieces in it, I have successfully gotten them refired by other fellow potters. I needed all those pieces to make into jewelry for my fall show schedule and a wholesale account.

On Sept. 26th, I will be in Winston Salem NC at the Historic West End 4th biennial juried ArtsFest 2009 from 10am til 5pm. This years event promises to be an artistic experience like none other. Come enjoy an afternoon of the highest quality art, food, music and fun available in the state.

On Oct. 4th, I will be in Greensboro NC at the 7th annual Art in the Arboretum in Lindley park from 1pm-6pm. Fifty regional artists have been gathered in an outdoor art gallery selling jewelry, pottery, metal sculpture, glass, paintings, and mixed media just to name a few. Come by and say Hi.

Tripping Kiln

This past weekend my Duncan kiln was running a cone 6 glaze firing. About 5 1/2 hours into it the main breaker of my house was tripped. Now by this time it was dark outside..real fun trying to find the battery lanterns in the house using the light from our cell phone. After we got the power back on, I went to the kiln and noticed that the kiln sitter had not shut off the kiln. After unplugging the kiln, I noticed that the wall socket and the plug was melted. I decided it would be a good idea to have the fire dept come and test for any hot wiring in the house after my daughter said her TV was going out everytime I shut the breaker off for the kiln..which by the way is wired to it's own breaker. Everything was safe in the main breaker box so we could go to bed. It was a restless night for me because all I could think about was the 200 pieces I had in the kiln. Many were to be made into jewelry for a wholesale customer appt. later this week. Daybreak finally came..time to see the damage in the kiln. Those items closest to the top of the kiln were almost done. They have shinyness to them but most are the wrong color the items on the floor of the kiln were ornaments for christmas and had a clear glaze on them..the glaze was not even melted.. I am now left with a few salvageable pieces and a kiln that will not come on..I don't have to tell you how important a kiln is to our art and livelihood.

Missing in Action

Whew..what a summer. I have not posted for a long time now. No excuses will be given here except Life happens. Since my last post we have gotten a new puppy, our other dog had surgery for bladder stones, took the kids to Seaworld in Florida, learned about the sport of paintball, prepared our home and put it up for sale, celebrated our 20Th wedding anniversary, lost my uncle to Post Supra nuclear palsy, celebrated our son's birthday and created some new designs in jewelry and porcelain snowflake ornaments. In fact, I will be running the kiln later today with approx. 200 pieces in a cone 6 glaze firing.

Our family's new puppy is a black and silver miniature schnauzer. His name is Phantom. He is thirteen weeks old. Housebreaking is going good. I have to watch him 24/7. Its like having a two year old in the house again. He has learned to do his business with a command phrase but has not figured out how to let us know that he needs to go outside. Our other schnauzer is adjusting well to having a little one around. Samson is nine years old, so just picture a two year old constantly nipping you, smelling you, and pulling your beard every waking moment. It is exhausting. Samson will play and rough house with Phantom sometimes. I know that they will eventually be great pals.

Houses in our neighborhood started selling quickly, so my husband and I decided to revisit the issue of selling our house. We had attempted to sell from Dec. '07 to Oct, '08 with not the slightest interest from buyers. We had alot of showings, no negative feedback but no offers. So far, we have had more views on the MLS, a few showings and at least one buyer who has put our house on their short list. Hey..if that is progress..I will take it for now.

My husband and I celebrated our 20Th wedding anniversary this summer. I finally will be getting the diamond ring I have been wanting. My wedding ring is three oval saphires surrounded by diamonds. My husband purchased it six years before he met me at an estate auction. So I have been wanting a big diamond ring for my right hand. I had told him on our thirteenth anniversary that I wanted it on our fifteenth, well life happens..finally after seven years I only have to wait alittle while for it to be sized. God certainly blessed me with this ring. My husband had saved only a small amount of money for the ring and didn't know how he was going to give me this gift. We tried to get a diamond from a family member that had one sitting in a drawer collecting dust. I thought this was a perfect way to help keep cost down. Well, they said no when they found out I was wanting to take the diamond out of the mounting and design my own ring with some smaller diamonds that I have. I was heartbroken. Shame on me to give up so quickly. God had other plans. Two days before our anniversary, I went to a wholesale show where I buy semi-precious stones for my jewelry designs. I stopped by one of the wholesale fine jewelry booths. I asked them how much it would be to put a .2 diamond back into a ring that I had missing a stone. $10.00 for the diamond. What? I couldn't believe it. I bought the diamond. I figured if I wasn't going to get the larger diamond ring I wanted I would at least have the missing diamond replaced in another ring I own. I went home and told my husband what had happened. We rushed back to the show, 2hours before closing time and spoke with this jeweler again. We set up an appointment with him on our actual anniversary to discuss a ring he had with rubies in it. Our plan was to switch the rubies for diamonds. We also planned on taking him our broken and unused gold jewelry to sale. To make a long story short, we arrived, sold him our gold and paid him a little of the money my husband had saved up. I will be the proud owner of a 20Th anniversary ring. 20 diamonds for 20 years along with a large center diamond for as my husband said "eternity". He will love me for eternity.

Now, enough about me, back to the real business. I am excited to see the new test glazes and designs when I open the kiln tomorrow. I will then be able to take pictures and post the new limited edition snowflake ornament designs. I will also be busy getting an order together for a new wholesale customer and preparing for my upcoming fall shows.

The puppy is out of food now, so off to Petsmart..

Happy Independence Day

Don't overlook the deep meaning of our nation's Independence Day. It's a day to remember our forefather's belief in God and a belief in freedom for every citizen. It's a day to remember those who paved the way for all of us to have freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's a day to remember the sacrifices made by heroes for this awesome gift of the United States of America.

Happy 4th of July from all of us at TGL Designs.

Photo taken on a recent trip to Florida at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.

This week I am trying to get organized before the kids are home for the summer and we go on vacation. I have sent off an application for a juried show in November, entered all the sales and emails from this past weekend, updated the wholesale catalog with new glaze colors and pendant shapes and worked on ordering more supplies to make more jewerly.

I had a great show this past weekend at the 7 th annual Piedmont Pottery Festival. I do believe that everyone that stopped by my booth was definitely impressed. Most had never seen clay transformed into elegant, classy, modern and sophisticated jewelry designs. I received many compliments and comments on my designs. One of the comments I heard the most was how light the jewelry was. I also believe that I achieved one of my goals and that was to promote ceramic beads and pendants as an art form. I may even pick up a few stores from this show.

The above pictured necklace is one of the new designs that I created for the pottery festival. I made the oval bead to be hollow, greatly reducing the weight of the stoneware clay. I have so many new ideas that I can't wait to get back to making more pottery pieces. I will also be working on new limited edition snowflake designs for the holiday season. I have some already bisque fired and awaiting sanding and glazing. Hopefully, I can get them glazed and fired before vacation.

Ta Ta for now
Tracy

A Rainbow of Animals

It has been a long time since my last post. That day I was firing the kiln with these gorgeous pieces in it. Didn't they come out fantastic? I have been getting ready for the Piedmont Pottery festival which is this Saturday in Eden NC. Everything displayed must be pottery, so I had a lot of finished jewelry to make. This will be my first appearance at this show. It will allow me to introduce porcelain jewelry and promote ceramic beads as an art form.

I have also had my first international sale thru my etsy store. I have been very excited about that. I guess this now makes me an internationally known artist.

Well just a quick post tonight...until we meet again

Tracy