2017-03-13 - Monday - Pirates and crystals

Monday I stopped by Carolina Clay Connection to pick up some glaze materials and noticed this skull and crossbones flag on the other street. I asked inside, but nobody knew why it was there. I never did find out what it was about.

Going through some old buckets of glaze in the co-op I found this small bucket of Malcolm's Shino and was delighted to find salt crystals growing around the rim. Amazing stuff, there. To think they just grow there with no prodding is so cool.

It's the little things. It always is, if you're paying attention.

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2016-08-27 - Saturday - Kevin Crowe workshop

Saturday was the first day of the Kevin Crowe workshop. Like so many potters, Kevin is very talented and an extremely nice person. He is quite a potter and shares his knowledge and skills freely. He showed us so many tips and tricks to make our pots better and make it easier to do things.

Kevin wood-fires his pots in a three-chamber kiln. In the first chamber he relies on the wood ash to become a glaze on his pots during the four day firing. In the second chamber he puts his regular glazed pots and in the third chamber he uses salt to glaze the ware.

Demoing a tall cylinder.

The base for a large pot.

Break time.

Some of Kevin's work.

More of the room.

Adding coils to the thrown base to make a larger pot.

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2015-05-26 - Tuesday - Salt kiln and bowls

Tuesday we fired the Clayworks salt kiln. There was a good turnout and everybody lent a hand.

Later I snapped a photo of some of my new bowls.

Getting to temperature.

Adding soda.

More soda.

Adding salt.

New bowls.

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April 16 - Tuesday Kiln and flowers

Will Baker is building our salt kiln at Clayworks and getting lots of help (whether he wants it or not!).  It's coming together nicely and we are all learning quite a bit about the process.  I'm very curious about the salt process and am looking forward to a whole new way of firing pottery.

Walking around outside Clayworks I stumbled upon this beautiful flowering vine which is apparently a weed, but quite striking.  Please click on this photo and view it in a larger size so you can really appreciate the beauty of this flower.  I could have missed it very easily but I'm glad I didn't.

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Tuesday 2009-03-10

Ron offered to let us put some of our pots in his recent salt firing. I jumped at the chance and gave him one of my craggy crunch pots. I lined it with shino and decorated it with a little bit of red and yellow underglazes. The rest is the salt. I was VERY pleased. Thanks Ron!

I love the finish on this pot.

Proof of the salt firing --wadding marks!