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	<title>Estrick Pottery Blog</title>
	<updated>2008-07-05T20:54:35Z</updated>
	<id>http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/atom.aspx</id>
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	<generator uri="http://app.onlinequickblog.com/" version="2.0">Quick Blog</generator>
	<entry>
		<title>Moving!</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/06/12/moving.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-06-12:c992ed0e-06c8-4e3a-9ffa-fa0c282a9038</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Pottery Business" />
		<updated>2008-06-12T17:18:56Z</updated>
		<published>2008-06-12T16:36:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[It seems that no matter how smoothly things are running, there comes a time when a big change is necessary. That time is now upon me. After 4 years in my current location, I will be moving the shop.Move? But Neil, your current gallery is a wonderful space, with a nice roomy studio and an open, uncluttered gallery! Yes, yes it is. Which is exactly why it's time to move. After taking a good look at where the money is coming in, it's clear that the gallery space is way too big, and the studio can comfortably hold a lot ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Making Slides from Digital Images</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/05/30/making-slides-from-digital-images.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-05-30:5dddaa83-f6ea-403e-9954-a67ad65e4b97</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Pottery Business" />
		<updated>2008-06-12T16:35:57Z</updated>
		<published>2008-05-30T11:56:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[A few weeks ago I posted about my new light box setup, and how I was no longer going to use film. There are numerous places to get film slides made from digital images, however I have never met anyone who was happy with the quality. Well, a fellow potter, George Laurell, emailed me about a company that he uses, iprintfromhome.com. He said he's been very happy with the results of their work. So I'll give them a try next time I need film slides, and if anyone else out there tries them out, let me know how it goes.Please ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Fred's Kiln</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/05/24/freds-kiln.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-05-24:bdf1248b-f7d0-4729-979c-12cb55b5ad66</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Events" />
		<updated>2008-05-24T12:38:55Z</updated>
		<published>2008-05-24T12:00:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[My friend Fred Gregory built a gas fired kiln this winter, so I thought I'd put up some photos of the process. It's a copy of my kiln, except that he built it on cinder block instead of a steel frame, and his is a couple of inches taller (for bragging rights). He figured that since mine fired so nicely, he might as well build the same thing. Fred did all the brick work, and I helped him out with putting up steel, and I built the burner system. He did a beautiful job on the construction, which was expected ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Light Box</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/03/21/light-box.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-03-21:67809f15-80b4-45eb-af5c-42baf2a8e929</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Shop Stuff" />
		<updated>2008-03-21T11:35:49Z</updated>
		<published>2008-03-21T10:35:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[I use a home-made light box for shooting slides, which holds 6 light bulbs. In the past I have always used photo floods for the bulbs (250W, 3200K) since I could color-correct with either tungsten film or a blue filter. My last batch of bulbs burned out last week, though, so I had to make a decision as to whether or not I wanted to continue using photo floods, or switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. I decided a few months ago that I was no longer going to work with film, since most galleries and juried exhibitions will now accept ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Web Sales</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/01/31/web-sales.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-01-31:8b642049-de56-4e44-988e-cefa403e2947</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Pottery Business" />
		<updated>2008-06-12T16:36:23Z</updated>
		<published>2008-01-31T16:47:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[My friend Fred once said "Making pots is easy. Selling them is the hard part." Or something like that. Too true, Fred. Especially when it comes to selling pots on the web. You may have noticed that I got rid of the shopping cart on my web site this month. I was sad to see it go, since there was something about having my own 'e-commerce' site that made me feel a little less out of date in my use of technology, but it just wasn't paying off.The internet is supposed to be the future of commerce. Maybe so, maybe ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>New Web Site</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2008/01/31/new-web-site.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2008-01-31:1e388949-e39f-4b43-a635-ee44e5dcf120</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Events" />
		<updated>2008-02-07T13:50:44Z</updated>
		<published>2008-01-31T16:30:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[Man, I am a total blog slacker. It's been weeks since I've had a chance to write. The holidays flew by and the winter class session started up with tons of new students a few weeks ago. There just hasn't been time for blogging! Seems like no matter how hard I try I just can't get caught up. Most of my time has been spent working on the  new web site. The bulk of it is done, but there's still a ton of work to do. I'm very happy with how it's turned out so far. I'm using GoDaddy's ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Sgraffito Platters</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/12/19/sgraffito-platters.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-12-19:8a3aec2e-1037-47c7-9e35-feaf66ef90c5</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="New Pots" />
		<updated>2007-12-19T12:18:49Z</updated>
		<published>2007-12-19T11:39:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[I've been thinking that I'm getting a bit bored with some of the work I'm making lately. I still like it, but I've been doing the same designs for a couple of years now. I need something new. I've always found that the best way for me to get going on new designs is to revisit some old work. I had done some sgraffito work in the past that I had always been happy with, but for whatever reason had stopped doing some years ago. So I decided to try it again, but incorporate some of the techniques I've been ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Open House Report</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/11/24/open-house-report.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-11-24:d0a16bff-5bf3-4c99-86de-250f24661b71</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Events" />
		<updated>2008-01-29T18:27:51Z</updated>
		<published>2007-11-24T10:44:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[The Holiday Open House was a huge success! Many thanks to everyone who came, and special thanks to the artists who spent the day doing demonstrations. I've received a lot of feedback from customers, and they all had a great time. For those of you who couldn't attend, here's a recap of the day:Ruthmari Andersen did demonstrations of glass bead making, and customers got to try and make a bead themselves. People were amazingly good at this on their first try! I even gave it a try myself, and I must say it's as fun as it looks. Of course, ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Cone 10 Firing, November 3</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/11/07/leroy-november-3.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-11-07:8eeb6371-763c-486c-9099-b391d6441e15</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Firings" />
		<updated>2007-11-07T14:58:09Z</updated>
		<published>2007-11-07T13:30:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[The firing previous to this one had some evenness issues at the end of the firing, so I raised my bag walls half a brick. I'd been thinking about doing this for a long time, and finally decided to give it a try. What a difference! The top was slightly ahead for most of the firing, then I evened it out at cone 10 and they dropped together. Piece of cake! It was the most even firing I've ever had. Not that the previous ones were bad, but it's exciting to get rid of that 1/2 cone difference that's always ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Cone 10 Firing, October 24, Part II</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/11/06/leroy-followup.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-11-06:e2daf559-6d3f-4593-95aa-8651bf8d439b</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Firings" />
		<updated>2007-11-07T14:58:31Z</updated>
		<published>2007-11-06T16:07:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[The 10/24 firing was interesting. Everything was going great, nice and even, until cone 10. Cone 8's had dropped together, and 10's were starting to bend. Half an hour later, 10 was down on bottom, and hadn't moved on top! Not sure what happened there. I got it evened out, though, and the pots looked good. Here are some examples:/images/103115-95962/Jar.jpg" border="0">   /images/103115-95962/Mug.jpg" border="0">/images/103115-95962/Vase.jpg" border="0">   The first piece is stoneware, Standard Clay's 306, a nice dark clay. It is decorated with sgraffito through a band of porcelain, then glazed with Hot Tea, one of our class glazes. ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Holiday Open House</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/10/25/holiday-open-house.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-10-25:62b71e24-65db-460e-8f5f-bad3e9694003</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Events" />
		<updated>2007-10-25T17:00:21Z</updated>
		<published>2007-10-25T16:56:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[/images/103115-95962/Holiday_07_Web.jpg" border="0" width="510">This promises to be a fun event! If you've ever thought about taking an art class, but weren't sure if you'd like it, here's your chance to try it out for free. Come play on the pottery wheels, make a silver pendant or glass bead, or put some paint on a canvas. Good times! ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Leroy, October 24</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/10/24/leroy-october-24.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-10-24:8eabf55c-88f3-47ad-8988-1f4152144700</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<category term="Firings" />
		<updated>2007-10-25T11:25:54Z</updated>
		<published>2007-10-24T16:12:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[Just realized today is the 24th. Only 3 months till my birthday, at which time I will be 36 years old. Yup, much closer to 40 than 30. Not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, on to more important things....Shawn (my newest renter) and I cranked out a load of pots over the last couple of weeks, and I'm firing them today in the gas kiln. A little info on the kiln:The kiln is named Leroy, 'cause he's bad, bad. He's a 24 cubic foot (stacking space) downdraft with 2 power burners and a roll-away door. I built him ...]]></content>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<title>Welcome</title>
		<link rel="alternate" href="http://blog.neilestrickgallery.com/2007/10/24/welcome.aspx" />
		<id>tag:blog.neilestrickgallery.com,2007-10-24:b947f226-da49-46af-ad51-c6b537a3a5c9</id>
		<author>
			<name>Neil</name>
		</author>
		<updated>2007-10-24T16:09:18Z</updated>
		<published>2007-10-24T15:51:00Z</published>
		<content type="html"><![CDATA[My first blog. Kinda surreal. Who'd a thunk a humble young potter in Grayslake would ever be hip enough to say he actually has his own blog?!? Not me, that's for sure. So thanks to the wife for welcoming me in to the 21st century and giving me the blogging bug. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts on running my shop, making pots, fixing kilns, and all the other things I do. Please comment at will, as feedback is terribly welcome. I do spend the majority of my days all alone in the shop, after all. For those of ...]]></content>
	</entry>
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