There
are both advantages and drawbacks to working in a studio, underground in a
house built in to the side of a hill that generally is at a constant
temperatures more or less. During the summer the studio rarely gets above 65
unless there is a prolonged period of temperatures in the 90s and during the
winter it rarely drops below 56. Here though is the real conundrum, 60 in
August is so comfortable to work at but the very same temperature in Jan is
just cold, not cold enough to freeze the water in the throwing buckets but cold
enough that you need to heat the water, wear and extra layer of clothing and be
careful what you throw and how it is covered at night. Now maybe there is some
keen scientist who can explain to me how 60 degrees is different in August and
Janurary and perhaps has some solution to making my brain think they are
exactly the same. Illustrated is a
picture of the gang of four bottles that I made a few weeks back occupying a
shelf like area on our furnace to keep them warm(ish) and help them dry a bit
evenly. The furnace is an all important part of ceramic equiptment during
December thru March to help dry pots and create a space where the radiant heat
hits between 65 and 68 degrees based on the day and at times every available
space has pots loitering about. In fact I have actually put pots in the pre-filter
area of the furnace to get air flowing around pieces and it is highly effective
for just that task and even keeping our house toasty warm.
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