• Welcome
  • About
    • Emergency Info
    • Membership
    • Organization & Board
    • Hours & Availability
    • RULES of CAC
    • Contact Us
    • More Information >
      • OUTDOOR STUDIO
      • CLAY Info
      • Glazes, etc.
      • Firing Info >
        • High Fire
        • Raku, Saggar Fire & Pit-Fire
      • Resources
  • Events
    • RECENT CAC NEWS
    • Special Events
    • Classes & Workshops
    • Meetings & Demos
    • Calendar
  • The Scoop
the Rossmoor Ceramic arts club

PIT FIRE 2022 – our first since 2019 - worth the wait!

9/20/2022

0 Comments

 
​We loaded & fired the pit on Wednesday, September 14. This was after months of preparation, including two classes on Pit Fire Techniques and several teams of CAC members going out to collect seaweed and dried cow pies (among other things). Shown below is the preparation of the pit and subsequent loading of our pieces (many of them wrapped in newspaper) into the pit.
Here are more shots of the Pit Fire Team (led by Patty Taylor and assisted by Anne Shulenberger) preparing the pit: sprinkling all around the carefully placed pieces with a mixture of salt and copper carbonate, putting on cow patties and seaweed, adding crumpled newspaper & kindling wood, then stacking firewood logs on top of everything - plus more paper & kindling!
With everything loaded inside, some long metal pipes were placed over the pit. Then we had our ceremonial blessing of the pit, led by Darryla Green and accompanied by Doc King and Damon Shulenberger (Anne’s son), on native drum and flute. Almost ready for the firing!
Next came the lighting of the pit, using charcoal lighter fluid and long torches of rolled up newspaper. The fire blazed up and eventually subsided into smoldering embers. Very dramatic & beautiful! Everyone left the area and relaxed, as the pit crew shared some pizza. Finally - once the flames had died down - the whole pit was covered with metal sheets that were placed on top of the metal pipes, to concentrate the smoke within. And finally. it was left that way for 2 days. 
Below is the pit when it was cold and we uncovered & unloaded it, on September 16. Lots of beautiful pottery and sculpture came out of the fire! We got some beautiful colors & colors this time – a really wide variety. 
After unloading, sorting & cleaning the ceramic pieces of ash & debris, we had a wonderful potluck lunch right there in the studio, as we celebrated among our new treasures. It was an amazing Pit Fire, well worth the wait!
0 Comments

PIT FIRE 2019 - it was a great one!

5/27/2019

0 Comments

 

The scheduled day was changed due to rain in the forecast - we loaded & fired a day early, on May 14. See the preparation of the pit and the loading of our pieces (many of them wrapped in newspaper) into it  in the slideshow below.

Here's another slideshow of the Pit Fire Team (led by Patty and her assistants, John T. & Judy R.) as they are sprinkling it all with salt and copper carbonate, putting on cow patties and seaweed,  adding crumpled newspaper & kindling wood, then stacking firewood logs on top of everything.

With everything loaded & ready, here they are placing metal pipes over the pit - and then we had our ceremonial blessing of the pit (led by Darryla).

Now comes the lighting of the pit, the fire blazing up & then subsiding into smoldering embers, and finally the whole pit is covered with metal sheets. Everything is left that way for 2 days. (See our next post for results of the Pit Fire.)

0 Comments

Featured artist for May/June 2018 - more Pit Fire photos

5/31/2018

0 Comments

 
John Terlip is currently the CAC member with a Featured Artist display in one of our studio's windows. The pots are beautiful and unique and have sparked a lot of interest. They will be there through June 10, when all of the window displays are to be changed. Hope you have the chance to see them!
Picture
Shown here - the pit on Friday May 11, when it was about to be unloaded. [Thanks are due to Ralph Atkins, a friend of CAC, who took all of the pictures below.]
And here are some photos of what came out of that pit - interesting things, beautiful colors! (See our previous post for more photos from this year's Pit Fire.)
0 Comments

Pit Fire 2018 - a really good one!

5/16/2018

0 Comments

 
It was great! Wednesday May 9 was a beautiful day and the loading of the pit went very well.. see below. (Note: the photos are NOT in chronological order.)

Be sure to keep on scrolling down for pictures of the firing. then the unloading, plus some of the results of the Pit Fire. Also, more of the pieces will be shown in a future post, so stay tuned!
Okay - the firing of the pit was next. This is always dramatic! It happened around noon to 1:30 pm.
Unloading of the pit was done two days later, on Friday May 11 (first picture below). It was like an excellent archeological dig! And here are some of the results, right after everything was unloaded. Lots of nice color, and most people were quite happy!
0 Comments

lots happening - & we had a Great FALL Bazaar

11/10/2017

0 Comments

 
We had a very busy September & October, gearing up for the Fall Bazaar that happened on November 4, 2017. It was a very good one, with lots of enthusiastic helpers working hard while having fun, and tons of wonderful ceramic pottery & sculpture to sell. And in the process we had record sales to benefit the club - a win-win! There are still a number of wonderful ceramic pieces for sale, so if you are in the area stop into our studio and check them out.

Below are some photos from the last few months (before the Bazaar). Included are: folks at our Show & Tell sessions, artwork that was sold at the Bazaar, unloading the Pit Fired pieces, and CAC artists looking at the pit fired work. Never a dull moment! (See previous entry below for more on the September Pit Fire.)
0 Comments

PIT FIRE 2017 - it's a good one!

6/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Our annual PIT FIRE was loaded and fired on May 10, then unloaded on May 12. It was a wonderful experience, led by Patty Taylor and Barb English, with help from Darryla Green and many other CAC members. Here are a few of the photos taken by various folks - most are from May 10; the last two are from the 12th, featuring the unloading and some of the results. To see more, check out the current display of beautiful Pit-Fired peices in the Ceramic Studio's windows (through June 18).
0 Comments

Brownies visit our studio - getting ready for Pit Fire

4/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Last Wednesday (April 26) the Ceramic Arts Studio was alive with joyous sights and sounds as it hosted Brownie Troop # 32662 from Danville - all third graders.They were accompanied by their leaders. The girls were inquisitive, excited and curious, filling the room with chatter.  After a tour of the studio facilities, they settled in to work on making clay tiles.  They were intensely engaged in the process, each one decorating her tile using stamps, textures and flora and whatever else sparked her imagination.  Afterwards the leftover clay was quickly turned into vases, cubes, a beard, rings, faces and other expressions of their joyous creativity. Finally they picked out the colors they wanted their tiles to be glazed.  Volunteers from the Ceramic Arts Club will fire and glaze them, and the tiles will be returned to the Brownies at a later date.
            This experience at the Ceramic Arts Studio will help the Brownies to earn a merit badge. It was a fun time enjoyed by the entire troop and the CAC club members as well.
The Pit Fire is looming - May 10 is the date. Then we'll unload two days later, on May 12, and have a potluck lunch afterwards, to celebrate. We had our second & final class on Pit Fire preparations with Jane Burton last Thursday (see below). Now the (post-bisque) Pit Fire materials are set out on one of the tables in the main room of our studio, for all CAC members to use. Gotta get everything ready!
Picture
0 Comments

first ever "Mini" Pit Fire at CAC - lots of drama

10/14/2016

0 Comments

 
We had our first "mini Pit Fire" last week, loading and firing on Oct 5 and unloading Oct 7. It went very well, thanks to the efforts of our wonderfully dedicated Pit Fire leaders, Patty & Barb, as well as numerous other volunteers (notably Darryla, Helen & Judy J.) Below are some pictures of the first day's process, i.e., the loading and firing of the pit.

Please scroll down for more photos of the unloading and the results. (Note: Patty & Darryla are the masked women in the pit, on both days.)
OK, here's the next part of the process - unloading the fire pit very carefully 2 days after the firing.
We had some beautiful results - CAC folks were very happy for the most part! (Of course there were some disappointments, including a few broken pieces - but that's the nature of this type of firing.) NOTE: some of the best pieces are being featured in the October display windows, so come by and check them out if you can!
0 Comments

Pit Fire 2016

5/22/2016

0 Comments

 
Our Pit Fire this year was quite successful. Almost everyone who fired pieces in it was very happy - mainly because we got lots of color! Below are a few pictures, and you can see more by checking out the club's display windows which are featuring pit fired pieces through June 11, 2016.
And here is a slideshow of the actual pit firing, complete with flames! It's in chronological order; all photos were taken on May 11, except for the last one, which is from May 13, when it was completely cold and about to be unloaded.
0 Comments

the Pit Fire of 2015

5/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Our annual Pit Fire took place last week. Photos of the process and some of our result below! Very exciting and fun.
Loading the Pit
All loaded, almost ready to fire
the fire has just started going
now it's really roaring
fire's beginning to die down
the fire is,out - time to unload the pit
Anne's pit-fire wall relief
more pit-fired pieces
still more pit-fired pieces
Lucia's sculptures of her grandchildren and a wise woman
Patty & our Pit Fire Master Maria at the Pit Fire potluck party afterwards
our Pit Fire Master Maria with Anne & Patty
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Activities of CAC

    Artists at work and play in our studio!

    Archives

    March 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    Air Conditioning
    Artist Soiree
    Artwork
    Bazaar
    Brownie Troop Visit
    By Laws Change
    Carolyn Guerra
    Ceramic Art
    Ceramic Cars
    Ceramic Jewelry
    Ceramic Planters
    Ceramic Sculpture
    Ceramic Vans
    Children And Clay
    Chinese Dumplimg Party
    Clay Play Dates
    Creativity Fair
    Demonstration
    Demonstrations
    Empty Bowls Fundraiser
    Event Center Display
    Fall Bazaar
    Featured Artist
    Flea Market
    Fred Chen
    Fundraiser
    Glazing Class
    Grandkids Days
    Hand Bound Books
    Hand-bound Books
    Hand Building Ceramics
    Holiday Party
    Kurinuki
    Meeting
    Membership Renewal
    Mixed Media Art
    Naked Raku
    Obituary
    Open Studio
    Orientation Class
    Outdoor Studio
    Party
    Patio Party
    Pit Fire
    Raku
    Raku Firing
    Raku Glazing
    Recipe
    Rossmoor 50th Anniversary
    Rossmoor News Article
    Sad News
    Sandy Frank
    Sculpture
    Show And Tell
    Show & Tell
    Shutdown
    Soiree
    Studio Renovation
    Teapots
    Underglaze
    Wedging Table
    Wheel Class
    Wheel Throwing
    Window Display
    YouTube Video

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly