Basement Tour

Here’s something other than pottery for a change – a tour of my basement. As a potter, I probably spend 1/2 my time in the basement. I throw and hand-build upstairs in my studio, and make glazes, glaze the pots, and fire down below. At this point in time, I’m getting a little anxious for Spring. It can get quite chilly in the basement during the winter months and it’s hard to work when my fingers and toes are so cold. I’ve learned to schedule around the kiln firing though, which certainly warms things up considerably. Too bad I can’t figure out a way to steal some of that heat for the rest of the house – we’d save a lot on our heating bill.

This is the area where I store my glaze chemicals, all labeled and safely tucked away in plastic containers. Glaze chemicals are quite toxic if not handled properly and a heavy duty respirator is required when working with them. I also store my clay and some of my inventory here. The third shelf over towards the right was given to me by a good friend who somehow always knows when and where to get stuff that is being given away free. This particular find came from a college library in Boston. It’s perfect for storing pottery because it’s narrow in depth and I can add and move the shelves up and down easily. Plus it is made of metal and quite sturdy. As you can see though, I’m running out of room. That’s why those 3 bowls are on the floor – there’s nowhere else to put them! Thank goodness the craft fair season is almost here. It’s definitely time to sell some pottery and make space for more.

This photo was taken outside the entrance to the “kiln room”. The kiln room is completely encased in plastic sheeting, including the ceiling. Before I put up the plastic, I could smell the fumes when the kiln was firing clear up on the 3rd floor of the house – not a good thing. With the advice of an engineering friend, I surrounded the area with plastic and put in a second ventilation system (a fan that blows air out another window) in addition to the one that is hooked up to the kiln. Now I can stand right outside the plastic room when the kiln is going and not smell a thing – a good solution without having to build walls, and much less costly too.

This photo was taken inside the kiln room. My kiln is actually quite small. Someday I’d like to get a bigger one, but for now this one will have to do. Luckily it works like a champ. Being small just means it has to be fired more often. All of the 5 gallon buckets you see are filled with glazes. I have more than 40 buckets stored in this room – way too many glazes for one person. Eventually I’d like to whittle them down to 12 or so of my favorites – a much more manageable collection. On the back wall is a board where I hang up my glaze test tiles – the ones that are worth keeping anyway – and on the table is a load of bisque ware ready for glazing. Which reminds me, I better get to work soon. My basement isn’t the loveliest place in the world, but it fills the bill for what I need to do. Hope you enjoyed the tour!