third firing results

Were awesome! Tin Man found his heart.


I was all packed up to take professional-quality photos and bailed at the last minute. We're getting the roofs re-done next week, so I'm pre-occupied with that, but after that and a workshop I'm teaching, I'll get back in the studio and get that taken care of properly. For the moment, I'm sorry, this video may suffice. Tim posted photos on his blog:
and here are my larger pots.I will focus on getting these available in an online store in November. In the meantime, if you see something you want, write me and I'll get you a better photo. Thank you for your inquiries and encouragement!

so, the results:

we used 75 gallons of veg oil and about 3/4 cord of wood, much of that wood was oak/mixed hardwood

for one thing, the loading was pretty good. perhaps a bit tight, but not bad. the innermost parts of the stack were too quiet for the porcelain, but the dark clay still looked lovely, and glazed ware would be just fine. the loading did seem to allow the flame to move to the back of the kiln more effectively, but it's kind of hard to figure out at this point which was more effective, the load, the placement of the flue, the length or timing of the soak, or the degree of perforation of the little bag wall that blocked the most direct flame movement from firebox to flue. these details will be the source of continued experimentation. As you read, my potting friends, I would love to hear your thoughts, on these matters or others.

cone 12 was flat in the hottest part of the kiln while 11 was 1/3rd in the coolest, the back bottom. I like this, I was going for this, because there was very little glaze in the kiln, and I wanted to make sure that the surfaces would be glassy and the clays vitreous. what I don't like is a super-shiny surface, which happened to the porcelain but not the dark clays. I will research how to reduce cool gently enough to avoid scumming the glazes (soda surface) at high temperature but early enough to matte them out before they've solidified completely. we were overly cautious this time about when and how hard to begin reduce cooling. also, the pyrometer had been moved and it started melting, so we probably could have started adding wood (soot) earlier than we did. as it is, I think we started in earnest at about 2000*F, lightly before then.

we added seven and a half pounds of soda to a 70 cubic foot kiln that had not seen soda before. half of that went in as a Gail Nichols mix with water and whiting, and half was sprayed in. the nozzle on the sprayer was set to "jet", and did it ever. there were little freckles of soda in the most inaccessible places, and almost too much soda on the most exposed plates and bowls. as in, pools of glass that, if they had been more, would run the risk of cracking out. se.e the plate on the right- that's soda glass so perhaps next time we will add soda only by solid, and see what that does. there was a problem with the soda that I gleefully sprayed in the top of the dome- it bubbled up under the shelf wash and glued the shelf- binder to the nearby pots that were not wadded on tall wads. unfortunately, I had thought of this as a coveted spot and put many people's work up there- my apologies for the unforeseen. we ground down the shelves very thoroughly and I put two coats of wash on them for the next firing.

Color: score! deep reds in the dark clay.
lots of orange in the porcelain, salmon and rose colors following flame lines on pots nearest the fireboxes- overall, it seems that the reduction was more thorough in the front of the kiln than the back, and of course most intense closest to the fireboxes. I didn't love the darkness of the ash speckles- perhaps this is the influence of the oak? where the ash really accumulated, it did melt together into a pleasant clear/green glass, a bit flat as far as ash goes, but green at least. I look forward to firing the kiln through the wall flue alone, closing the floor altogether, and trying to go for a more directional flame mark. as it is, there was a lot of evidence of interesting flame mark. but it's not an anagama, never could be.

and lastly, new forms: I do like the rather self-contained bowls that I have made for ten years now, and I've also been playing with a form-moulded open oval bowl that I like a lot too. (in that third photo) it's more "pedestal-like" with four little feet, more formal feeling. and I've made an oval plate version of it too, which I think I'll make into a full-sized plate now. those feet take a long time to get right, but I'm really loving the oval shape, so expect more of those in the future. the closed-in bowls now have divots in them for a fun sexy finger-hold. and the cups still have divots for either a thumb, or how I hold them with the middle finger. pitchers are still evolving. I really like making ones with a low indent, forcing the user to cradle it with two hands, one at the belly and one tilting it at the foot, but the customer's kitchen will be the best laboratory. now that I'm out of school, I need to seek critique. please know that I love and need feedback on my changing design ideas! function is still essential. I like pushing the user to re-think, but not to the point of interference with the essential usefulness of the object. I do finally seem to have nailed a good teapot- I have one matching set from this firing and one matching set from the woodfiring that I did with Richard- can you believe it- front and center in a small anagama, and a whole tea set survived! unreal--

big love, everyone!