I know that the company is called Gladding, McBean, but I still feel rather awkward and ungrammatically-correct putting that comma in there.

Anyway, here are a few more GMB pics–as always, check out the rest on my Flickr gallery.

The kiln room. I could have spent all day in here, just watching the light change. So so beautiful.

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Glaze on a kiln wall. I'm posting this here because my mom said it was her favorite shot because of the color. I don't think it's all that great, but I'm glad she liked it. :-) It was pretty neat how the glaze coated and dripped off of the walls and ceiling of the kilns. I wasn't expecting to see that.

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Part of an original facade from the RCA building. Can you spot the typo? Yep, they really did that. Whoops!

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Have I mentioned how much I loved the lighting? I have? Well, I'm going to mention it again. Because, wow.

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Close-up of the capstone. I love the detail on it, and as always, the light...

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Urns.

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Anyway, back in May, I went on a photography tour of the Gladding, McBean factory in Lincoln, CA (about 30 miles or so from me.) The tour was set early in the day, so that we could have the best light possible for this beautiful location, and while the old buildings themselves were neat, the light was absolutely incredible. In fact, now that I’ve had plenty of time to sit on these pictures and then go back and process them, I’m kicking myself because I see shots I would have liked to do differently, and I really feel like I didn’t do the lighting justice. It was so beautiful. Oh well, I tried…

Before I get into the pictures, here’s some background from the tour:

Established in 1875, Gladding, McBean began its long and prestigious history when rich clay deposits were discovered in the town of Lincoln, California. Many historical landmarks throughout the United States were originally made with or are currently being restored using Gladding, McBean products. Gladding, McBean artisans have worked with some of the greatest architects, past and present, creating terra cotta pieces ranging from archways to exterior facades and gargoyles to graceful fountains. In all, Gladding, McBean has produced terra cotta for more than 10,000 buildings around the world. The tradition continues today as Gladding, McBean graces impressive contemporary buildings and landscapes with finely crafted terra cotta and garden pottery, sewer pipe, roof tile, floor tile, and brick.

Here are some pictures from the tour. Because I took so many pictures, I’m going to split them up into a couple of posts–this is the first one, and tomorrow I’ll post one more.The complete set is, as always, in my Flickr gallery.

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Bricks.

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Looking through a kiln, playing with depth of field to get the bricks in the back in focus. Didn't quite get what I was aiming for, but I still like how it turned out.

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Paging Little Boy Blue... Little Boy Blue, to the warehouse please

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A pile of very large pipe. Ignore the green glare off of my lens filter. I'm still kicking myself for that. Need to get a better filter!!

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This was pretty cool! This is our tour guide, explaining the measuring process they use. They have the shrink rate of their clay (from when it's fresh to when it's been fired in a kiln) precisely calibrated. So this is a ruler they use to make their models/molds with--it's sized up so that when you make something and it shrinks in the kiln, it comes out the right size. For example, say you want to make a tile that's two inches on each side, you measure out two inches on the ruler he's holding, which is actually more like 2.5". But when the piece shrinks, it's two inches, just like you wanted. COOL.

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Who would have ever thought that piles of sewer pipe could look so neat?

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Piece of old facade being used as a model for restoration work.

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Obviously this is an old sign. For some odd reason, I always channel Ayn Rand when I look at this picture. Fountainhead, anyone?

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