The Final Step Before the Pottery Kiln

  • The glaze mixing room located in the basement of the Piedmont College Art Building. For many potters, this is the last stop before the kiln.
  • Jude Worthington cleaning tools and getting ready to glaze their pottery. In their hands are a whisk and power tools used to mix the glaze before use.
  • Ready for the glaze are a handful of plates, cups, bowls, and a small pot. Theyare carefully glazed in order to avoid complications in the kiln.
  • Placed upon the tables of the Art Building, each with their own colors. Each plate represents the different color that each will become.
  • Each mixture must be mixed properly or the glaze won’t set properly. A power mixer is used when mixing in large quantities.
  • Each piece is dipped into the glazing mixtures and evenly coated. The bottom remains unglazed, otherwise it will melt and stick to the rack.
  • They’re dipped into the mixture into the mixture slowly in order to ensure the color is evenly distributed.
  • This orangish mixture causes the pottery to become a reddish tint thats looks good at a centerpiece. Long tongs are required for larger pieces like this vase.
  • While in the interior may be covered in some glaze, the mixture won’t reach the bottom due to the downward dipping motion.
  • The inside of the smaller bowl is glazed with a brush in order to evenly coat the final product.
  • The inside of the vase is left unglazed, excluding the lip, since it won’t be containing food items. This is done to save on glaze and as an aesthetic choice.
  • The finished product before the final firing to cause the colors to show. When fired in the kiln, the glaze will turn into glass.

The glazing process is a long process that involves the careful coating of pottery with a glazing mixture that causes colors to occur when fired in a kiln. In the kiln the glazing mixture essentially becomes glass and becomes usable as a plate, pot or bowl.

Day in the Life of a Cart Attendant

Almost an empty cart barn at the Country Club of Gwinnett. No carts means a busy day on the course.
This is Ben Durkin, a freshman at Piedmont and also a cart boy at the course. Today’s his first day back at the course for winter break!
Ben unplugs the carts to take them out to the line for people to use. The most important part of the job is making sure the carts are charged for the day.
When the picker cart is down, sadly you have to handpick balls off the range. Ben is seen here handpicking range balls from the practice green.
In this close up, you can see Ben in the background going to take the picked balls to the ball washer to be cleaned.
Even when things may run smooth, there’s always a bad day. This is a totaled cart the boys had to tow back up to the barn.
At the end of each day, no matter how hard it may be, Ben ends up with views like this cleaning up the course.

A Day In The Life of A Coworker

A day in the life of my Coworker Austin Burton. We work for Forsyth County Parks and Recreation. We provide maintenance work for the park in order to keep it running. We are the grounds keepers also. Without us to maintain the park it would turn into filth. We mow the grass, take care of the turf fields, fix equipment, clean the bathrooms, and take equipment we can’t fix to the shop. Just remember, next time you go to the park and want to destroy it, someone works hard to keep it nice for you.

Austin’s day starts off with warming up the work truck especially when we have these low temperature days. He is posing in this not for my picture but for our new staff introduction photo.
Here our boss is seen directing another coworker where to back up to hook up to the trailer. This is a crucial part in safely hooking up to a trailer.
After getting the trailer hooked up, our boss briefed us on the days work we had. He’s not always around so interacting with him is always fun.
Austin is seen here cleaning a mirror in one of our bathrooms. We were assigned this area of the park by our boss.
We are very sanitary here as we don’t know what has touched stuff in these bathrooms. COVID has also increased our sanitation.
Here Austin is hooking up a plug for our turf field brush. This allows him to raise and lower the brush when working.
Austin is using the turf field brush here. This takes the turf that is pushed down and fluffs it up.
After brushing the field, He has to clean up the debris the brush gathered on the field.
On our way back to the shop for the end of the day, A coworker called for us to come check out a water leak. Leaks like this are not something we can fix so we have to contract them out.
At the end of the day we have to put away all of our tools and equipment. Austin and fellow coworker Johnny Tatum are seen doing so. This is the end of the day for us.

Student Life and COVID Precautions

The average day of a Piedmont College student looks much different now than it did a year ago. With all of the masks and plexiglass dividers, it almost feels like a different world all together.

Beka Stegmayer, a junior exercise science major, walks to class on an average day.
Beka starts her days by picking a mask. As a college student, you should never leave the dorm without it.
Beka must wear a mask whenever she enters a building on campus. This protects herself and others from COVID.
While navigating campus, Beka must follow arrows that indicate entrances and exits. This is to provide a one way flow of traffic.
While many things have changed, the bookstore still allows Beka to pick up and drop off her books in person.
Beka must complete her Lion Check and a temperature check before taking part in any athletic activities on campus.
Masks must still be worn during physical activities in the gym. This keeps Beka from contracting COVID, and it helps improve her cardiovascular health.
Getting food in the cafe looks a little different for Beka now. She can no longer serve herself, she instead must have a worker fill her plate from behind a wall of plexiglass.