It has been a while.

by Tom Richards on 12/02/12

It has been a while.

It has been a long time since I lasted posted an entry here. I apologize for that - not that many folks read this, so I am sure that new postings are not missed all that much.......

I have been busy with school - teaching does require a great deal of energy and attention. I hope that I have been able to give those students who have taken my classes their monies worth. The K I A is a great place to teach. I have been busy with family also. The children and grandchildren needing help that I love to give.

I have written several pieces that I have never posted. What started out as an explanation of what I do and how I feel about what I do became a little bit more personal than what I had intended......I am sure that you really don't need to know that much of the inner me - it is rather boring and in the end not all that interesting.......

I will try and write more and talk about clay and how all of this has impacted me.

I just finished teaching a class that used the small gas fired kiln at the K I A to explore high fire oxidation. The class was so much fun - I really enjoyed the class - the students used oribe, oil spot and iron saturate glazes - the work they did was amazing!

I wish I could have gotten one of the students to fire the kiln with me. We talked about the firing process, what happens in the kiln to the pots, chemically and physically as the heat increases. It is another thing to experience that during the firing, It changes your work - it changed mine - I want others to know what that is like.

It really is about risk, failure and growth.........