ALL PROJECTS SUMMARY (listed oldest to newest)
1. Cob wall in front of my home in Pueblo, CO 2005
20' long, 2' deep overkill foundation, stone from BLM site @ $15/ton, my first stone masonry.
Below, summer day temp 91˚ but the radiant mass of the bench & the shade keep it a cool 75˚.
Look at the girth of the Catalpa tree that accompanies the bench! She so big! (Log segments keep dogs from jumping wall.)
Look at the girth of the Catalpa tree that accompanies the bench! She so big! (Log segments keep dogs from jumping wall.)
2. Mailbox 2008
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I had friends who'd come upon hard times so I "hired" them to help build this cob mailbox in front of my house. I previously had the two metal boxes on poles & I just left them in place, laid stones for a foundation & cobbed up & around them. I'd learned my lesson about runoff from the flatstone "hat" on the bench that caused spalling so I used a level to make sure the cantilever went farther out than the wall below.
The middle cubby was formed from the newspaper box but now my neighbor & I use it to exchange treats. |
3. Cob chicken coop 2010
I thought this would be a quick project but it took all summer & kept me from my rural ATV shed. Turned out it was a good summer to be away as my neighbor dealt with a mountain lion in the fall.
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So many people have said "Chickens! I wanna live in here." But I say "As much chicken as I've eaten in my life, they deserve a chicken condo."
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4. ATV Shed 2009 - present
Started in 2009. Exterior completed in 2019. I was teaching full time so I had just under three months each summer to work on it. I had a little bit of help for a few days here & there but the vast majority I did solo including all stone work, all of the porch & I'd guess at least 85% of cob walls. I contracted the roof to a fellow cob builder.
The interior is yet to be finished.
The interior is yet to be finished.
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5. Cob bench at Colorado State University-Pueblo 2019
6. Addition to garage/studio: Cob oven, roofs, winter sunporch bench & ottoman, solarium, rocket stove & bench, earthen floor, finish plaster
2020-21
A. Cob oven B. Cob ottoman/coffee table
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Spring 2020
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C & D. Cob bench & Pajareque wall above bench
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E. Roof for sunporch & solarium foundation & walls.
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F. Rocket Stove & Bench
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G. Earthen Floor
Three truckloads of lava rock to insulate the floor (free on fb market place). First layer of cob made with grog left from sifting sand. Final coat is cob made with sifted sand (& chopped straw).
Three sequential coats of linseed oil & after it cures Bioshield wax. |
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H. Plaster almost done on bench. Walnut shelves up.
Aligning shelves with the window is pleasing to the eye.
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7. Projects for & with others:
• 2012 mud murals with Kiko Denzer at CSU-Pueblo
• 2017 cob oven at the Music House
• 2009 fire circle benches with ceramic tiles at the Mountain Park Environmental Center
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8. Pottery: Spring 2025
Since retiring in 2019, I've wanted to take pottery before my colleague, wood fire potter Vicky Hansen, retires, so I jumped in this January. She invited some of us to make pots for a wood firing (the kiln is at her home rurally) & it was only last week that we got some moisture sans wind making it safe to fire. It's a 12 hr. fire constantly fed with wood to cone 10, stoneware.
It had been 40 years since I was an undergrad that I'd thrown on the wheel (I was never very good & I was rusty! The little blue-topped pitcher in the foreground of first pic was my first attempt at throwing.) But I've been making slab pots at home often using Mexican stamp symbols that I carve out of linoleum. The forms are inspired by the images & the limits of slab, but sculpting them really scratches the itch for building with cob! I've had so much fun with this.
I'll have a few more pots to post soon, but here's the results from the woodfiring.
This summer I hope to finish the ATV shed, though.
Btw, word has it there's a way to adapt a rocket mass heater so it can fire pottery. I tried firing a small tile but it didn't vitrify enough in one 3 hour firing which is the longest I do on the coldest winter nights... but I am still exploring & any input is welcome.
First pic below: woodfired pots.
Second pic: prior to firing.
Bottom pic, the kiln opened with the work of half a dozen potters.
It had been 40 years since I was an undergrad that I'd thrown on the wheel (I was never very good & I was rusty! The little blue-topped pitcher in the foreground of first pic was my first attempt at throwing.) But I've been making slab pots at home often using Mexican stamp symbols that I carve out of linoleum. The forms are inspired by the images & the limits of slab, but sculpting them really scratches the itch for building with cob! I've had so much fun with this.
I'll have a few more pots to post soon, but here's the results from the woodfiring.
This summer I hope to finish the ATV shed, though.
Btw, word has it there's a way to adapt a rocket mass heater so it can fire pottery. I tried firing a small tile but it didn't vitrify enough in one 3 hour firing which is the longest I do on the coldest winter nights... but I am still exploring & any input is welcome.
First pic below: woodfired pots.
Second pic: prior to firing.
Bottom pic, the kiln opened with the work of half a dozen potters.
