clay: heath factory tour

I was very fortunate to chaperone our advanced ceramics class’s tour of Heath yesterday. But first to the trunk of Zan's car to look at her mishima vase. It's a beaut. I asked where the image came from, and she said she has a bunch of vintage magazines from the 50s and 60s from which she got the image.                                    

And then Zan told me to choose a mug...with Valentine's Day happening next month and just because I love hearts and slip trail of porcelain, of course I chose this Bmix Cone 10 mug.

 

And then onward into the ceramics factory, where I was already familiar with their process of using the jigger-jolly with their mold.

 

And re-acquainted with the glazing processes of both spraying and dipping. I learned that it's 8 months of training for a glazer to learn how to spray glaze, where each glazer has their own maker's mark and that they weigh each pot before and after glazing to make sure coverage is right. I was more interested in watching the dipping. I wondered if glaze had already been poured into the interior of the mug before dipping to glaze the exterior of the mug.

 

Onward to the top hat kiln, first installed by Brian Heath, who was as technically proficient as Edith in the ceramics chemistry and process. The gas kiln is for the glaze firing, where the Lincoln, California clay is fired only to cone 02 or 2000 degrees. That's pretty low compared to an electric kiln where we normally fire glazed ware to cone 5 or 6, which is about 500 degrees more.

 

Lastly, I marveled at the palette of ceramic flux, nepheline syenite because hey I've mixed chemicals for glaze before.

I wished I had discovered ceramics much sooner and maybe minored in studio art. Never too late though. If I retire, I may return to university for a bachelor of fine arts.

And following the ceramics factory tour, we let the kids out of the bus to sketch at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center at the Lincoln way of San Francisco or as you exit the bridge coming from Marin.    

 

The views were stunning, even from the coffee shop, where I bought myself my favorite flavor of latte--yeah that yummy! Where could I even buy orange blossom syrup? I wonder.

 

Despite the gorgeous views, the kids seemed more interested in the gift shop and the coffeehouse than in walking the bridge or studying the beautiful vistas. See the couple behind Zan? That man either had just or was about to propose to his fiance.

The woman showed us her blingtastic diamond engagement ring and asked if we would snap photos on their cameras. Kim obliged while I took a pic of Alcatraz Island...

 

And here's a view of Fort Baker in Sausalito, where I told Kim we had started out on our outrigger race toward Angel Island.

And of course, a partial view of the San Francisco cityscape.

Yep, there across is the cove from which we paddled.

I never tire of these views and don't take them for granted.