Three Days in the Studio

 Yesterday, today, & tomorrow

• Yesterday: I unloaded the kiln, discovered that the ware, while still quite saleable, was oxidized & pale. Spent most of the day ruminating on how that came to be, and I think I figured it out! I lit the burners to start the candle extra-early on Wednesday night. By the time I swung the door shut, I'd worked two 12-hour days, I was exhausted, & I just wanted to take a hot bath & get into my jammies. Normally I'd light the candle around 10 or 11 pm. 
  Also different: I turned on the burners proper later than usual! Normally I'd set an alarm for like 3 am, so the smoke generated by the burning wax would be cleared by the time the sun rose, so as not to alarm my neighbors. This time there wasn't much wax in the kiln, and no one wants to get up at 3 am if they don't have to, so I didn't. I slept til 6-ish. 
  All that means that the propane tanks were open for 6 or 7 hours longer than usual. I think this caused the propane to lose pressure as ^10 was falling, which accounts for the stall. I don't know why there was still back pressure, but I did notice it was much more transparent than I'd expect. I think there was just not enough gas coming through the line to keep the kiln in reduction, or to let it climb in temperature. 
  I feel much better about all this now! It's an unsettling feeling, to have something so crucial go wrong, and no explanation for it. 
• Today: Today is grinding & sanding; sorting, pricing, & packing. Some ware will fill orders, some will be delivered to consignment accounts, and some will be held back for the Portland Pottery Holiday show that opens this weekend. 
• Tomorrow: tomorrow I get to make the pretty drive to Wilton, in the mountains of Maine, to deliver mugs to a new account: Chaos Coffee! I'm excited about this, as I have a soft spot for small-town independent coffee shops. They are often hubs for local community. Also a fan of good coffee! Then Monday night is my last class of the session.

After the opening of the Portland Pottery event, then I can start getting in the holiday spirit! Until then it's gonna be work work work. I've got plans, tho! I'm already working on this year's cookie design, and I ordered some new soap scents. 😊

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Well, I unloaded the firing at zero-dark-thirty this morning! Just when you think you know what you're doing, the kiln will surprise you - or at least, me. 

I knew this firing was different than the most recent firings before it. The back-pressure flame was very transparent, even once the sun had set, which usually makes the flame more visible. Even if I pushed the damper all the way in, the flame didn't get any longer, although I did get back pressure out the burner ports, which would indicate a very heavy reduction. So, weird mixed signals all around. The kiln also stalled for nearly two hours with ^11 bending on top & ^10 just barely tipping on bottom. Nothing I did would move those cones! Eventually I had to turn the kiln off, mostly out of concern that a long hold at 10/11 would cause warping. 

Small blessing: that didn't happen. In fact I had only one second in the entire kiln, and that a very minor flaw: one mug got a piece of wadding stuck inside, but it was a very small piece and I can make the resulting flaw almost invisible with my trusty Dremel tool. 

But the pots are very pale, obviously oxidized. I am always hoping for that golden tan that is a common soda-fired surface on b-mix, and which I got quite successfully in the last two firings. I'm not too disappointed - they aren't what I hoped for, but they have a delicate prettiness of their own - but I am a bit worried because I don't know why this firing was different. It may be that in my efforts to tip those cones during the stall I inadvertently slipped the fire into an oxidizing state? I feel like I would have noticed that! But I don't have a better explanation.  

Anyway, that's clay life for ya! I've never been one to hide my errors or pretend to perfection. I think it's important for students & early-career potters to know, they aren't screw-ups! Clay is just like that; there are so many variables that we all get unexpected results sometimes. 

If you want to see the pieces in real life, many will be at the Portland Pottery Holiday Show, December 13th - 24th, from 9 am - 7 pm. Also, you are my invited guests to the opening night party, Thursday December 12th from 5 - 9 pm. I'll be tending bar in my festive finery! 

By The Hum of the Burners

 

When the kiln is firing, I usually don't make pottery. I don't want to start a new making cycle before the old one is finished, and I know that tin a couple of days I will need the studio clear to start the sorting, pricing, and packing process. I find other tasks to occupy my time, like making soap. 

I don't make soap as much as I used to; at one time I thought I would have a secondary business. The decision not to monetize - to let soaping remain a hobby - meant I would only be making a few batches a year. Yesterday was one of those times! This is an old favorite: After The Storm. It has a fresh, ozone-y scent with a hint of violet. 

I also used up the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers in a turkey pot pie! I love pot pie but don't have the knack for crust, so I rarely make it - store-bought crust puts it outside my usual per-meal budget. In this case the crust was the extra in a packet I bought for a pear-Gorgonzola tart I made for the holiday meal, so it counts as a leftover, too! 

Up next: the Portland Pottery Holiday show, the delivery of various orders & inventory, and, by tradition, the Week of Reflection.