1954 Chevy Gets New Home

Our 1954 Chevy, five-window, single-wheel (kind of a rare option), flatbed truck got a new home this weekend. Perhaps you recall seeing it in our garage while Gary was working on it. He had requisitioned my roll around drying rack for all the parts. The guy who purchased our truck plans on completing the restoration and then signing up the truck to be used in movies. He lives in Orange County and he said some of the jobs he's gotten have given him $900 a day as a driver of his old cars in various movies. Perhaps we shouldn't have sold the Chevy. But we don't have a car trailer and don't live close enough to Los Angeles.

Fremontodendron californicum
California Flannelbush, a California native plant,
be sure to look at the texture on the leaves

By the way the color of the truck is Ocean Green, the original color for this truck. It had eight layers of paint on it and there were traces of the Ocean Green as the bottom one. We're glad we sold the Chevy. Kind of sad though, Gary never even got to drive it around the block after he got it put back together. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Over the past month or so Gary has been laid off, then called back to work, then reduced to a three days of work per week, now he's being paid hourly instead of his regular rate of pay, what a roller coaster. Another reason for my post about (bullshit) White Feather.


Gary is fast becoming an experienced studio assistant. Last week he helped with the barrel firing. And yesterday, Gary helped me with this window box vase. Remember this window box vase, Crowded City? Well when I placed it in the bisque load a couple of weeks ago, I leaned over to put something else in and the brick I was using as a stilt, fell against the side and knocked off a couple of the end sections. Thank goodness I was the one who broke the piece. This piece was a crowning achievement in porcelain hand building for me. It has 17 pieces I had to keep together and get them to stand upright all at the same time. I didn't have the heart to dispose of it, so I decided to fire it anyway to see how it would do in the bisque load. Glad I did, it made it through just fine.

Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr'
a clumping bamboo with variable stripes

A day or so ago I was thinking of sawing off the projections all the way around, but decided to just saw off the opposite end pieces to match those I broke. Since I was ill last night, Gary used the dremel tool and sawed off the pieces for me. Today, I'll take it to school and glaze it. I've still got a bit of sanding to do, but that won't take long. Gary called this vase, Blades of Grass. One of my fellow classmates said the same thing. I may glaze it with a green color, perhaps green to black satin matt glaze. I could just see a vine house plant growing in this window box and the vines growing out and around the ends.

Gazania rigens
Treasure Flower, native of Southern Africa

This morning I took a walk around the yard. I observed so many plants in bloom but, as I got close to each plant, I noticed there's even more to see if I'm really observant and take the time to look closely. So I've sprinkled in a more than one plant today for you to enjoy.

Drying Cabinets & Shelves for Greenware

Potters are inventive when it comes to finding or making equipment. Some examples of green ware drying cabinets potters I know are using are rolling restaurant cabinets, baker's racks, store display racks, old refrigerators, and many other unique items. Some of their cabinets have doors and some do not. Some have put plastic around their racks to cut down on drafts.


I used to have the perfect green ware drying shelf to use while working at home. I had a large stainless steel roll around rack. My husband has requisitioned the rack for his project in the garage. He is using it to lay out the parts for the Chevy truck he is restoring. The truck is painted Ocean Green, a stock color for 1954. Wouldn't it be a nice pottery glaze? Um... Eventually I will get the stainless rack back. I plan on making a canvas cover to fit over the whole rack with Velcro sides, then I'll have large space to dry green ware.


In the meantime, I have adapted several other spaces to use as drying cabinets for my green ware. My makeshift drying cabinets are working out well. Both of them are out of drafts and keep a fairly even temperature. One of my drying cabinets is my hall linen cabinet. I have a couple of free form platters drying in there now. Since the shelves are solid, I place trivets on the shelf and then put the piece to dry on the trivet. The beauty of this cabinet is that the piece drying is at eye level and I can see right away if the piece starts to warp. I find large platters and plates seem to warp the most. I use bean bags or rice bags placed on top of the piece if it starts to warp.


Another drying cabinet I use is a closet. I purchased some plastic shelves at a local lumber supply warehouse. You'd normally see these shelves used in a garage. (Gee, maybe my husband and I can trade?) The plastic sections snap together and just fit inside the closet. The shelves already have open grids, so the air can circulate around the piece nicely. I have a one of my triple serving dishes drying on the shelf. The grids in the shelving are a bit large, so if the piece I'm drying is too small I place some screening material over the shelf and weight it down on the ends.

I may let my husband keep the roll around rack so I won't have to make the canvas cover. That way I'll have more time to spend working with the clay. How's that for a justification?