Kiln is Loaded, Pilots are Lit!

 ....Aaand, we're rolling! Granted, we're not rolling very fast at the moment, and those darn pilot lights keep threatening to go out, but this firing is happening! 

It seemed to take longer than usual to load the kiln. I kept taking breaks to warm my hands; I can't wear gloves because I have to handle the wet sticky wadding. As usual, I couldn't fit as much ware as I hoped, but I think I got everything in that I really needed to. There's a LOT of wax in this firing. I'll have to get up around 3 am to turn on the burners, so my neighbors don't call the fire department when they see the smoke from the burning wax. That has happened before! 

Best guess, I'll be spraying soda around 4 pm, pulling draw rings shortly after. It's been too long! I'm super excited for this firing. 

Glaze Layering & a Quick Tip

Due to the vagaries of firing, I'm never sure what a piece will look like until I actually take it out of the kiln. In case that's not enough uncertainty for ya, we can make the result even less predictable by layering glazes! Each glaze has its own factors a variation, and they all interact with each other.

Does that sounds insane? Like, why would you do that? Because the fired results can be so complex and intriguing and beautiful! 

Take this piece:

The balloon is to keep the rim from warping while drying. That is the Quick Tip! It worked perfectly. 

I have since glazed and fired this mug, using thinly brushed layers of three different glazes. I brushed on the glazes because three dipped layers would be a lot of glaze, so would have the potential to flow off the pot & onto the kiln shelf. Brushed glaze also tends to be more unevenly applied than dipped glaze, which we usually think of as a disadvantage to that method, but in this case, it creates greater variation for a more visually active surface.

See links to the glaze recipes here! 

The Grind

The lovely weather we've had in Maine this weekend marks the beginning of firing season; but before firing comes shelf-grinding.

I can't say it's my favorite part of making. It's dirty, heavy work, with none of the joy that comes from the creative parts of the making process. Still, dopamine queen that I am, there's a satisfaction to it, looking at the freshly smooth, washed shelves.
And then there's the bisque firing itself! The bisque is the less complex of the two firings that make up the cycle...[read more]

Refuge

 This sign appeared in the studio I teach at last week. I chuckled but at the same time felt grateful; lately the world feels like it's going down the tubes & while I do what I can to turn it back, everyone needs rest & refuge. My pottery community provides that for me. It's heartening to know it's not just me. 

There's another aspect, as well. I still believe that we need places, social places, where we can just be people; friends and neighbors. I believe this is the only possible path to the healing of this country. For  example: I have students who I know are evangelicals, who I think probably voted for trump. I also have several student who are trans. I see them all laughing together, sharing successes & failures in clay...and then, as part of the conversation, sometimes it comes up that one of them is trans. It's hard to continue to hold hateful beliefs when the person you've been told to hate is sitting beside you lending you their wire tool. 
This is the power of community. This is where our shared humanity cannot be denied, and where it has the power to heal us. 

Anyway, blah-blah-blah, new post at Patreon.