2017-11-19 - Sunday - Old pots and new pots

While cleaning out the garage I found some old mugs I made with a copper-heavy glaze which I didn't realize wasn't good to drink from. They will make nice shards for a future mosaic.

In the afternoon we unloaded the gas kiln. It was kind of  mixed pack, tight areas and loose areas, so we had some variations in the results.

The opening.

The cone packs.

My pots.

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2016-10-20 - Thursday - Updates all around

Thursday I pushed the three blanks out more from the inside to increase the volume and started molding the foundation for faces on them. The next step will be to add more clay and sculpt the rest of the faces.

Remember the face pot that I rushed to get finished for the Clayworks fundraiser? It's fired and it's on my shelf in the photo below. I will show you a better photo later in this post.

In the photo above you can see a poem I have pinned to my shelf. It's "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski and I re-read it whenever I can. I really like this poem and it inspires me.

Remember those first cone packs I made? Here they are after the firing. The left one was in the top of the kiln and the right one in the bottom. It's usually hotter in the top of the kiln, but the number 10 cone on the bottom flattened out first.

Here is "Michael" in a much nicer photograph taken by Adrienne Dellinger --with an iPhone, no less.

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2016-10-02 - Sunday - Raku and gas kiln = busy day

Sunday we were loading the gas kiln and while waiting for Jeff to finish glazing his work I fired some of the raku pots I've been making.

Raku paraphernalia all ready to go.

While waiting for the raku kiln to heat the first load
I glazed some more raku pots for another firing.

First couple of loads with underglaze and clear crackle.

During the raku firing I also made my first ever cone 10 cone packs. I know! The people I fired with always made them. Now I've done it too.

My first cone packs.

Another batch of raku, mostly luster glazes.

Same pots, other side.

This video is of the second batch of clear crackle pots
that Deborah helped me with by spritzing the pots
with water to promote crackling.

Finally it was time to start loading the gas kiln. We had a fairly loose pack due to Jeff needing to get some plates fired (and that we didn't have enough work for a tight pack). And here I thought I was making too much work...

Back stack.

Front stack (along with my cone packs)
and you can see by the flames that we started
"candling" the kiln.

By the time I left, the temperature was up to 866 F.
It will go to 1590 F and hold until
the morning when we start the firing process.

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