Ceramics field trip.

So this past friday I had a field trip with my ceramics class that I was really not looking forward to at all. It turned out to be ok.

We took a train about an hour away to this little town called certaldo on the way to siena. then we had to take two cars for about 15-20 minutes on these curvy, hilly streets. We got to the place to do the raku firing (its when the pots turn black and look crackly where the colored glaze was applied), and it was beautiful. It was totally in the middle of tuscany. Surrounded by all these vineyards and groves and things. bella.

So the guy takes us into the gallery and shows us some stuff, we sit outside having tea and coffee and cookies. and then we go and we put the glazes on the pots. they go into the kiln. so while the kiln is slowly heating up, we go have lunch. we had to walk to it and it was a half an hour walk cuz we were in the middle of nowhere. but it was pretty and i actually saw in italian squirrel, which is really rare...they look different than the squirrels in the US. anyway, lunch was good...fresh bread, then pasta with like a meat sauce, then a different kind of pasta, then salad and proscuitto and cheeses. then coffee. not too bad for 12 euro.

so we walk back and we jack up the heat. like all theway. i played with the dogs that were there. this one, charlie. he didnt look like a puppy anymore, but he totally still was. the guy that worked there threw this stick down all the way in the backyard and there was a lake down there! it was really pretty. well the stick went into the lake, and so did the dog. so the dog comes running back up and we're all sprinting all over the place cuz he was soaked. he was a cool dog. i became friends with him. wouldnt leave me alone. kept having to throw that stinkin stick. lol.

so after they were in the kiln for a while, we took them out and stuck them in a pile of sawdust and they lit on fire! then we covered them with the sawdust so that they would be black and crackly. put them in water, cleaned them off. hung out for a little while and went home.

it was a pretty fun day. I think the fact that the 7 of us in the class get along really well helps. most of us are actually going to see a beatles coverband together tonight. should be fun.