The Dog Blog

Finally rollin' again!

2011-04-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

We bought an old house just over a year ago, and the tumultuous move from the sale of our last house, moving into a rental, and finally into this house has caused the production of pots to an almost grinding halt. Now after tons of preliminary work, the studio is finally rolling (very basically). Currently i've been working on just catching back up, so working on the basics, lots of bowls and mugs. I'm off to the artisans shop in the Thompson Center tomorrow to restock them after a long time!

2011-04-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Studio is a comin'! New clay!

2010-08-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

So much stuff going on besides makin' pots......
Still trying to get the studio together, (pictures of the garage half to come soon),
the first picture is of a shelf i just hung (wow) and a window at the bottom of the half flight of stairs down to the basement that i'm planning on cutting out to make into a doorway for quick access out to the garage.
In my dreams, when the super garage/studio is built, i'd love to have an artist in residence/intern/apprentice and offer the now basement studio as a living space....

Also big huge thanks to the pottery boys who gave me a bunch of cone 6 and cone 10 standard clay and great lakes clay! I've almost strictly used A.R.T. clay, but mostly out of habit from college and my apprenticeship, it'll be good to try the standard which i've embarrassingly never tried as of yet. The donation was so generous of the boys, and super convenient for me in this period of spending money.
Definitely check out the pottery boys website as they have a very interesting business model.
Thanks Glenn and Keith!!!

Made some small bowls....

2010-06-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Made some small bowls yesterday, a fourth of what i need. Feels good though as it's the first time i've really gotten back to making pots since we've moved into our new house.

2010-06-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

After composing an email weeks ago, i waited two weeks until i was comfortable enough to close my eyes and press send. I was asking potters for spare kiln brick in order to build a high fire gas kiln. I was very timid about asking people for "stuff," but about 20 minutes after pressing send, David Toan, owner of Terra Incognito Studio sent me a reply.
He stated that he had in his kiln yard, the old studio kiln built by Delores Fortuna, that he always hoped to put back in use but had just recently come to terms with it being one of those things he might never get to.

The kiln is a welded angle iron frame with welded iron mesh siding. The floor is made of soft brick, and the walls, ceiling, and roll away door are ceramic fiber. The kiln is a 22 cubic foot updraft. Burner system included.

I showed up to Terra Incognito with a rented 16ft truck with a lift gate and my brother-in-law (and hired gun) Bob, ready to load the kiln. The kiln had been sitting in Dave's kiln yard for the last four years wrapped in tarps. But the plastic tarps were whether beaten and riddled with holes and rips. Upon removing the tarps we were immediately confronted with two small wasps nests; small or not, they were buzzing around are heads. At one point i caught a wasp in my hand with leather gloves and tried to squish it, but it had found a pocket of my fist were it wasn't getting squish and in turn i could feel through the leather glove, the wasp biting! Luckily no one was stung.
After the wasps were cleared, we gave the kiln a push to see what we were dealing with and found that because of a particularly heavily rainy spring and beat up tarps, the fiber kiln was completely engorged with water. Bob and i together could not rock the kiln! We ended up using a car jack to boost up one side and then prop it with bricks, and then jack up the other side in order to slide a cart under it. With the cart, we were able to roll the kiln over to the truck.....

At the truck we discovered that the kiln was almost exactly the size of the lift gate, and that the cart was just a little bite bigger. Side note, when the lift gate goes up, it goes up on a downward angle instead of flat, an added complication. In the end, we pushed the kiln and the carts front two wheels onto the lift and then braced the back end with bricks as the back wheels hung off the end. Because of the shear unbelievable weight combined with being propelled up and on an angle, and holding the suspended back end of the cart, we recruited eight other men from the studio to support the kiln as the lift gate unbelievably held and lifted the kiln up!
Through the whole process of getting the kiln onto the truck, i had almost "called it" at multiple points not only because of the whole ridiculousness of everything that was happening and how dangerous it was, but also, in the back of my mind realizing that this was only half of the process, i still had to get it off....!

After saying our thanks and goodbyes, we hit the road home and i immediately began phoning and texting everyone i know to see if they'd enjoy risking their lives with me. To the rescue came two of my hulking cousins Connor and Colin; also my friend Tyler was already waiting at the house, so including myself, there was five of us.
It seemed to be alot easier getting the kiln off the truck, then on, probably because we had the system in place of getting it on, we now had a good method for getting it off. With steady hands and strong backs, the kiln was unloaded and is waiting to be refurbished and installed.
It has fallen into some disrepair, but nothing that can't be fixed. The roofing has collapsed which can easily be fixed, but the walls and door are it pretty good shape needing minor repair.

Can't wait to high fire!

Introducing..............

2010-06-08T07:46:00.001-07:00

"It's a Boy!
May 30, 2010
"Max"well Alexander McCabe
6lbs 14oz"

I made these signs to surprise Terri when the troop came home from the hospital. It came out a little weirder than i expected due to the small secret windows of opportunity I had to work on it, but all the funnier.

Big sister Amelia is terribly proud to be able to hold Max while standing up (under supervision).

My Toothless Invention!

2010-05-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

My daughter Amelia lost her two front teeth last week within a few days of each other, and tonight she just lost a third!
Here's a picture of a Dwayne Naragon bowl in use.
Dwayne was my teacher at Eastern Illinois.
Evidence that his work does indeed function.

Gotta' Git Some Mon-knee!

2010-05-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Kiln for sale!
6 years old, mint-ish shape! (a couple of dings)
Only selling to help finance the starting construction of new studio space.
Carl Mankurt of Chicago Kiln Service was just out to fix up my other kiln, and cleaned up this kiln (new thermocouple, i think that was it).

KS-1027
Single Phase
Chamber: 23-3/8" opening, 27" deep, 7.0 cu. ft.
240V: 48 Amps,
11520 Watts.
Cone 10, 2350 degrees. Shipping weight 290 lb.
208V: 48 Amps, 9980 Watts.
Cone 6, 2250 degrees. Shipping weight 290 lb.

this is a link to the kiln:
http://www.skutt.com/products/ks-1027.html

$900.00

773.304.6804
dan

OK! i get it!

2010-04-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

Do all potters get this as much as i do???

We just moved to a new house, and so my whole pottery studio is in my mom's garage. When you open the door, you are faced with a wall of everything. I'm just starting to set up my temporary studio space at the new house, and so i was stopping by to pick up a few things. I pulled into my moms drive the other day, and the neighbors had a construction crew over. Apparently they are having a new fence installed. I had just opened the garage door and was looking through things when one of the workers stopped over to show me how the new fence was temporarily going to effect my mom letting the dog out, and asked if it would be OK to park their cement mixer at the end of my moms drive. As we were talking, he saw into the garage and at one point asked if i was a painter. I told him that i was a potter and quick showed him a vase that was readily accessable. He said that he liked it, and then said he knew about pottery because of the movie "Ghost" as he closed his eyes, began to sway his hips, and moved his hands together up and down as though making a pot in the air.

I was of course laughing, but this is not the first time i've gotten the Patrick Swayze reference, this is not the hundredth...

I think the movie "ghost" should be more celebrated in the pottery world for bringing hand made pottery to the mainstream. Maybe.

Also, i'm looking for a life sized cardboard cut out of Patrick Swayze for my classroom and booth, so if anyone knows of a lead, please let me know!!!

A Post without a Picture? Response!

2010-03-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

I asked a science teacher at school and found the answer I was looking for.
I previously stated that I had experienced a very odd thing at the pug mill, in the blend of mixing, I found a chunk of clay that was ice cold (i.e. none of the obvious things applied, clay coming from an outside source...).
I was looking for a response along the lines of some sort of chemical reaction, similar to the clay heating up due to fiction.
I explained the circumstances of what i was doing, mixing clay, and that i reached to dislodge a chunk of clay that was stuck on the auger blade, and was shocked to find that the clay ice cold amongst a body of luke warm clay.
The teacher explained that it sounded like an exothermic (exit) endothermic (enter) reaction.
That because the clay I was reaching for, was stuck to a blade and not moving amongst the rest of the moving particles, it could not react to the fiction of the rest of the clay.
And so it reacted in the opposite manner, exothermically.
Because that chunk of clay could not mix and warm through fiction, the greater mass of clay endothermically pulled the stuck chunk of clays warmth into its own body as the stuck chunk pushed its own warmth exothermically into the blending clay body.
And so, by comparison, the difference in temperature was quite dramatic.

A Post without a Picture?

2010-02-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

It seems to me wrong to post without a picture,
but i had a weird occurrence the other day, (for the second time) that i couldn't figure out, and couldn't chalk up to some freak occurrence again.
Keep in mind that this is the second time this has happened:
I have experienced, and can logically understand why, when mixing clay, the clay actually heats up (warms) if it mixes for a longer period due to the friction of the matter moving and rubbing against itself in the hopper. Similarly, I know that microwave ovens generate heat by causing the water molecules in the to-be-heated item to rub together causing friction heat. I've also heard that clay warming through the mixing process is not a good thing, as the warmth kills off the good bacteria that lend to the clays plasticity.
This i can understand.
The other day, I was mixing clay in my classroom, using a peter pugger, and i reached in to dislodge some clay that wasn't blending enough, and when i touched it, i was surprized to find that it felt like someone put ice cubes in the barrel. I was so surprized. The clay itself was freezing cold, but only a little cold patch mixed in with all the other regularly temperatured clay.
I have no idea how this could happen, all the clay is store in my classroom, so it's not coming from outside.
I speculated that maybe a student actually put ice in the machine, but i really really don't think that that is the case.
Is there some way that this can happen chemically through the process of mixing?
i'd love to figure this out. Maybe i'll go and talk to a science teacher and post my findings if any.
If anyone has thoughts or knows the answer, i'd love a reply.

The studio is lost!?!

2010-01-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

After a few years in the residence of a beautiful, but compact two flat, we've decided to move on to bigger and better horizons. We're currently in a rental, but also in the last stages of purchasing a place all to our selves. Though it was sad to leave such a great and established studio space, and though i don't yet quite know what the future will hold in terms of production, it will be great! The house we're trying to buy has a little old coal room that is probably going to make due as a temporary space. Back to humble beginnings...
and yeah, i get it, the shop was messy.

November 21, Thanksgiving Practice!

2009-12-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hidden pottery?

Who needs a shirt?

2009-09-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law has now his second of three businesses geared towards better living, and so running dog pottery has joined up.
Sewn green will be producing the official RDP apparel. If you find yourself interested, check out Bob's site, specifically the organic cotton 101 page which has some really interesting facts about organic grown cotton.
Bob's other enterprises:
1. natures pasture
2. sewn green
3. green envy

Shirts are available for purchase from my online store.

Other great news,
the two pieces in the post below that were accepted into the Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition came out as award winners!!!
The jug won honorable mention, and the jar won first place in the crafts category.

Gettin' Stuff Done!

2009-07-11T19:48:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to announce that the two pieces above have just been accepted into the "Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition!" These two piece have been dubbed with the titles of "Obesity Jar" and "Obesity Jug."
"Bruce Grimes, professor and raku artist at Cedarville University, in Cedarville, Ohio. He has
juried many professional shows in Ohio, and Texas when he lived there. Work is to hang in the exhibition August 14- 23, 2009 at the Artisan Building on the fairgrounds."

The above piece and the group shot below were a collaboration with local florists "Blossom Boys." I worked with Ryan and Steve just last April as they produced the floral arrangements in my vases for the "Steak Night" event we held. The center pieces that night were beautiful and a big hit, as we raffled one off and sold the others.

These pieces are now for sale at their shop in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago.
9911 South Walden Parkway,
Chicago, IL 60643
773.779.4400

Fountain Square Arts Festival 2009

2009-07-01T19:58:00.001-07:00

This past weekend i exhibited work at the Fountain Square Arts Festival in Evanston, IL. Last year at the fair, there was a horrible storm that destroyed a large number of artists booth displays and their works; as well injured many people from debris flying around.
This year on the other hand was the yang to last years ying. Brilliant weather; hot bright sun and a cool strong breeze. On Sunday, the winds picked up in the morning and were very strong and so, caused great hassle and scare to many venders, but soon calmed down.

Above is a picture of my booth display.
I was able to slip away from my booth for a moment to snap a picture of a friend from Eastern Illinois University, Jacob Grant's booth.
Also, I stumbled across this potters shop by happenstance in Hannibal, MO maybe a year ago, and so it took me a minute to connect the dots when i came across it again so far away; Steve Ayers below and his booth display.

"Jacob Grant pottery display"

"Ayers Pottery display"

Pat Hutti is up to something!

2009-05-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

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."

Steak Night has come and gone.

2009-04-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Steak Night turned out to be unbelievable. Saying thank you does not seem like enough for all the support we were given throughout organizing this event, but thanks.

The night was very full; a healthy, teaming crowd. World Music was more than accommodating and the room pulled together very nicely.
And we all feel very proud.

Thanks too:
Natures Pasture (meat)
World Music Company
Beverly All Stars
Blossom Boys
Beverly Bakery
Tranquility Hair Salon
Armanetti Town Liquor
Mark Villalobos (wine)
(mvwoodworking.com)
Maureen McCabe (asparagus)
Core Fitness
Beverly Yoga
Beverly Spin
Dale Vanderbloomen
(catwoodstudios.com)
and all the friends and family that helped out big time!
Hooray to us all!

We all feel like this was a great thing and are definitely thinking about the next one.
Thank you for coming and showing your support.
Daniel McCabe
runningdogpottery

Steak Night is coming!!!

2009-04-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Holy tons of work!!!
Steak night is almost here,
this Saturday, April 18th.
We've been so busy with all the preparations; we're really excited to see how all of our hard work ends.
Besides tons of awesome pots to make, planning an event like this requires more of everything else.

Here are two shots of some of the work in progress.

I've also been super busy making some extra pedestals for the evening, and the list goes on and on.

Soooooo, the great news is that we sold out last night which makes us feel even better about everything we've been preparing.
I'll throw up some pictures of the event after the 18th.
Hope to see YOU there,
Thanks everyone for your support!
Daniel McCabe

March 7th kiln load

2009-03-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Just unloaded the kiln and got this little fellow out of it. I'm pretty excited about it, these are newer handles for me which i'm still elaborating on. This kiln load was fired to cone 7 (electric).

Fast paced life brakes for no one!

2009-03-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

I thought I might kick off my first blogging experience with an image from last summer.
Poor little sucker really worked his way in there,
and i had to work his way out with a shovel.

Pottery is awesome.