A Big Thank You To Al Gray

I would like to personally thank Al Gray for all his hard work loading our kiln at the college each and every time. Al is a student and doesn't get paid for his work, but he loads the kiln tirelessly. Here's Al taking a much needed rest after he and I finished loading the rest of the kiln today.


Al and I are the tried and true volunteers who show up to get the kiln loaded each time. Of course, Al and I have a lot invested, we are the most prolific producers of the wares loaded into the kiln. Since Al is tall and much stronger than I am, he puts all those heavy shelves in the kiln. I help by bringing the pots outside and setting them up in groups by size to make the loading easier. I also hand each piece of glazed ware to him to save a few steps.


After we got the kiln loaded this afternoon, I made a canister. I was pondering how to texture the vessel and asked Al about it. He said he had some casters he carved and I was welcome to use them. Al is very generous with his tools and advice and he is also one of those people who can make something out of nothing. Here are some of the casters Al made and let me use today for my canister.

Thank you Al Gray.