Pat Hutti is up to something!

UPDATED!!!-
pat wrote,
"My friend Vicky (Teacher at Uncw) built this kiln with her grad instructor Seo (Teacher at ECU). Seo designed the kiln and altered it from ideas from John Neely train kiln or coffin kiln design. It has two chambers and two burry boxes which is a little different from John's design of only one burry box and one chamber. In my experience coffin kiln's can provide a variety of different surfaces. One can fast fire them or one can slow the flame down and create a lot of reduction if wanted. Vicky's firing schedule was somewhere between 25-27hrs. Right after we got done loading she put fire in the kiln. She put more fire than what I am used to because I have a fear of blowing up the wadding and cone packs. I and others believe that the early part of the firing is when you create most of your fly ash from 100 degrees to 500 degrees some where in there. Now I think this because one, the draft is much slower in the begin allowing for the ash to land on the pots. And when the kiln is hot it seems as if the fly ash is less and has a harder time of sticking to the pots when the draft is greater. Now, the last couple of sentence might be b.s. but this is what I believe. I do know that Vicky's kiln in proportion of firebox and chamber is more firebox than I am used to seeing. I was told by a friend that in general woodkilns should be 1/3 firebox 2/3 chamber, Well insulated, 45 degree angle from fire box to chimney. Now I also thought that Vicky's kiln fired faster to temperature because of the larger firebox. So, I guess there is up and downs to that. So I guess the moral of this story is there are a lot of different kiln, different firing, different surfaces. " -Pat Hutti


My friend Pat Hutti just sent me some pictures of his newest work. He has moved to North Carolina and is working at Coastal Carolina Clay Guild. We met at Eastern Illinois University, but he finished he degree at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville . Being a grad. of SIUE, he is an addict of the wood fire, and so, he is actively seeking out any and all opportunities to participate in wood firings. Currently i do not know the specifics on who's kiln this is but the above are pictures of some of the work that came out of the kiln below. I'll ask Pat for the specifics and update this post, but I just wanted to get this up and show my support. Great job Pat, the work looks get and is ever evolving.

Yo! What's up with my finger nails?

I've been wondering about my finger nails and potting for a while now; and I think I may have found something close to an answer. After sessions of throwing pots, I notice (usually a couple of hours later or the next day) that my finger nails are longer and in need of a trim. I feel like I am always cutting my nails. Also, I have a heightened sense of a quality nail clipper verses one that has lost its edge. It appears that after making pots, with hands exposed to water for longer periods of time, that my nails have actually grown longer. So I can't help but wonder if this is possible. And with this thought in the back of my mind, and over time, i also think that my finger nails are getting thinner. I am thinking that maybe if they do in fact grow faster with more exposure to water, that they are also thinning out as they are stretching out...

I was on my way to a night out last Friday evening, in the passenger seat, with friends in the back, clipping my nails; when one of the other passengers all to her own, commented on how often i trim. I expressed my thoughts, my wife doubted my speculation, we discussed, another passenger blackberry referenced, and my wife got burned according to the below Q/A.

What follows is some "whatever" information that i found on the internet, obviously none of it is for sure, but all is interesting and furthers my thoughts. The Q/A seems like it might be somewhat reasonable, though I'll have to get in touch with Kassie!?!

"Q: How do you make yours fingernails grow faster?

A: Scientific evidence shows that when exposed to water for long periods of time your finger nails grow faster. The tough protein called keratin begins to form quicker because keratin is made of 67% water. Also, Tyler is full of bologna. Kassie is obviously the smarter of the two. Rubbing garlic on them makes the keratin grow faster, also. Get the garlic cut it up in pieces, make the juice of the garlic comes out and you rub that on your fingernails leave on for about 30 minutes then wash your hands. Everyone knows that tapping your fingers makes the nails grow faster. Ask any pianist."

"I was actually just talking to a guy at work about this. he works in the dish room and always has his nails in the water. Anyway he said that his nails have been growing faster since he has had them in the water all the time."

"No water is actually drying to the nails."

"If you want your nails to grow faster, take prenatal vitamins. Your hair will also grow faster."