Moving to my website

I have moved my blog activities to my website I will keep this one up for future fun and ideas I have. here is a link to my website.   

Tim See

Thanks everyone~

Workshop at Turk Hill Craft School

The wonderful Carol Bell has invited me to do a surface decoration workshop at the Turk Hill Crafts School in Fairport NY which is just outside of Rochester. If you have seen my videos on youtube you know by now my surface work has been excluded from the free content arena. The information that will be contained in the one day workshop will be a collection of techniques that I have acquired and refined for over ten years. Heres the blurber.

Spend a day with a Very Prolific Potter from Syracuse..Tim tells all! 
Get Hands On with Techniques including Sgraffito, Slip Trailing, Resists, Washing, Patinas, Staining, Lusters, Painting, Sponging, 
Stamping, Carving and Brushwork. 
Then after lunch: 
Get on the wheel with Tim for: Vessel Surface Manipulation 
including Scoring, Faceting, 
Face facets, Denting, Depressions, Drying, Slipping, Crackles and 
Scraping, your pots won’t know what hit them. 
Sign-up Early...Space is Limited! 
October 24th (Sat) 
Time: 9am-5pm (Fee:$125) 
Carol’s Making Lunch! 

Here a few links for more information.

Turk Hill Craft School

Tim See

and you can always email me timseeclay@yahoo.com

Art Trail was last weekend, and was the first show of the season that I had done prior to this season. Well I should recap the two shows before.

Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC

The show overall was fantastic. Setup was grueling and tear-down was even harder. The hours and duration of the show also made it difficult being the first show of the year. The people through the door knew their stuff and needed little if any education regarding ceramic processes.

Sales were brisk and eye opening. The average price per piece sold was nearly triple that of any show previously. The last couple days there were less sales and visitors which gave a short opportunity to visit other artists. I should make a list of them soon. It was a great experience and has me eager to do other prestigious shows.

100 American Craftsmen, Lockport, NY (outside of Buffalo)

I was pretty spoiled coming out of the Smithsonian and my expectation for an indoor show where far greater than they have been. Set up was fairly easy except for the few inconsiderate few who park in front of the entrances... DUH. My booth space was 10x9.5 so I had to take some property from the isle way. The sales were dismal Saturday and nonexistent Sunday. I did win an award that put me just over expenses if I don't count having to sit in a booth for three days. I will not return to this show unless it makes a big turn around.

Westcott Community Art Trail, Syracuse, NY

This was the first show I had done as a artist. I had done its very first year in a garage with Brenda and Ron Kalinoski. It was a horrible weekend but I learned a great lesson. Only have the work out that is perfect, any flaw will reflect upon every other piece in your booth. This years Art Trail was fantastic! My sales were well over triple any Art Trail before. I had many repeat buyers and a great overall response from the people stopping by. Not to mention the students at Clayscapes had a super show as well. They set up a booth across the street, for some this was their first, others are veterans now. They were all pleased with sales and having the chance to get the public reactions on their work. Don and I were both pleased to see such great work coming out of our students.

The wood kiln that could.

A mid morning text that read "Not lookin good @all" could only mean shawn was pulling pieces out of the wood kiln already. Shawn is a bit of a pessimist (about wood fired results) but keeps it to himself, so this bit of sharing raised alarms of my own. We prepared for a half hour of getting our stuff from the kiln like the coolers and lights and to check the work for ourselves.  I saw the piece that shawn had pulled out and the glaze was not melted. Crap monkies! Flash-lighted the rest of the kiln and the story read the same throughout. A quick gut check and we through some wood in.

The previous few days had seemed too easy. The kiln never was let loose. I had written on facebook that it seemed undramatic. I had no pyro high. This firing we were planning on holding the temp back  a couple of cones to spare more wear and tear on the kiln. Cone 11 doesn't cut it for out tastes in color and texture.

From no color in the kiln to cone 13 ish (we only had 12's in and they were gone by the end) in under 6 hours we felt pretty good. we started a crash cool cycle to keep the schedule of unloading on wed.

This is how it should look at the end of the firing... oh sweet flame.

Dragon Wells Steam Works

Evapralux

Air Conditioning Systems

1922-1923

Dragon Wells Steam Works

      Created originally as a prototype to demonstrate the possible cooling effects of simple water evaporation “The Ladder” as it was called in the factory, had production issues.  After one year the idea was scrapped. 

     A few still exist today and have been used for the cooling of tea storage units.

Tea Storage Jars

      Found with the Teacup Preservation System and the PLANT-A-TION, these jars were made for long-term tea storage.

     Like the Specimen Jars, there are no records of their being manufactured by Dragon Wells Steam Works.  Many believe these jars may have been made in small numbers for F. Emeril Carter.

Specimen Jars 

     Though never officially made at the NYC factory these jars carry the Dragon Wells nameplate and details.

     The use for these cans is only speculative. F. Emerill Carter was known to explore cave systems and small Islands. He may have used these Specimen Jars to keep animals or plants safe during shipment back to his home in Arkham MA.

Production Oil Cans

1923-1944

Dragon Wells Steam Works 

     The Rise in automobile sales and the first world war gave Americans a new need for lubrication equipment. The first oil cans off the assembly line at Dragon Wells Steam Works were gravity fed systems which were reliable and simple. As lubrication became a more important part of the mechanical world the oil delivering vessels required greater precision. The gauge became the downfall of the pressurized oilers. Company after company was contracted to produce the gauge but none at the time were consistent enough for accurate oil distribution. 

Pressurized Machine Oiler and Bearing Cleaner

1939

     Prototypes were first developed for show at the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York City. The rival engineering firm L M ERICSSON & CO disputed the original patent for the device. This delayed the unveiling at the Worlds Fair. The System kept machines online and increased efficiency of the assembly lines at Dragon Wells Steam Works. Similar systems were adopted at manufacturing facilities at Ford Motor Co. and Kessler Motor Co. The longevity of the few that were made is a testament to the craftsmanship of Dragon Wells Steam Works at the end of the 1930’s.

Photos

Set Up

Those who have done shows before know how difficult setup can be. The Smithsonian show is a whole different animal. showing up on time wasn't important we waited in a line of other vehicles that were waiting for a spot on the loading dock. We were number 14. It took 2 hours to get our spot at the dock. they all seemed pretty impressed with my trailer driving skills. we borrowed a cart from one of the other artists that I helped unload. The booth was on the opposite end of the building from the loading dock so we spent a an hour and a half pushing carts full of stuff to the booth. It set up quickly we painted the repaired section of the booth and had lunch. After lunch we put the lights up and the work and everything looks great. satisfied after a 12 hour day we headed back to the hotel, after a few wrong turns we found a grocery store and got food. while trying to follow the directions and failing again a wrong turn put us right in the parking lot to our hotel. I am sleeping with my dinner on my pillow hoping some of it gets in my mouth. Brenda is already sawing zzzzs. I will upload some pictures when i can remember the card reader.