Making Mugs

This Thanksgiving week Bill has had enough time off to make ceramic mugs for the seasonal studio show and gifts this time of year. He has also managed to finish a second tall "sister" sculpture.


The Open House Studio Show will be Saturday, Dec. 8th from noon until 6pm at 1177 Croton Rd., Flemington, NJ.

Heating The House

This Jotul F 3CB wood stove burns over night and all day during the weekend to help heat Christian's 2,000 sf farmhouse. It is the world's best value for heating dollar and best selling small/medium cast iron wood stove in North America. Before getting it installed much work went into digging out from under it, rebuilding the foundation, creating a hearth topped with old bricks and installing a new chimney liner. Bill and Alex drove to Maine to purchase this stove (used six times) for half price. It came with all parts for installation and some we sold, besides fire tending tools.

Bill also helped Christian install an efficient Weil McLain six zone gas burner system which runs PEX hydronic floor and modern Runtall cast iron wall heat, as well as forced hot air in new duct work.  Christian spends about $100/mo. for heat during the winter here.

 

The air handler is installed in the new crawl space under the dining room, fireplace and oldest part of the house. Left are the PEX lines installed 6" apart instead of the usual 8", to create more heat in the bathrooms. The carved out return boards came from a company in Montana and the solarium to the right has a Runtal cast iron wall heater.

Maya Lin Coffee Table

We have been using our Maya Lin Stones around the newly painted barns and now have a coffee table from this Knoll collection. They are lovely shapes and colors together while easy to move around the lawn and then store or use in the barns.

This week was the dedication of Maya Lin's two Princeton University installations, "The Princeton Line"; an earth sculpture commemorating Princeton's Dinky train, and "Einstein's Table"; a granite water table paying tribute to Princeton's resident Albert Einstein. I went to hear her speak about the works and her focused environmental approach to art and life. What a brilliant artist and architect who grew up playing with clay and exploring the southern woods of Ohio.