Fine Mess Pottery

 ....Aaand, we're rolling! Granted, we're not rolling very fast at the moment, and those darn pilot lights keep threatening to go ou...

I loaded the glaze kiln last night, placing the last cone pack around 9 pm. The firing is humming along; the kiln was in reduction by 9 am. ...

Kiln is loaded, cones & draw rings in position, door is bolted! We're candling tonight & tomorrow is the big day! (Sorry, I know...

What's inside?? I hate not knowing  Man, I was not even lying when I called this the Murphy's Law firing! Let's have a brief re...

​ Details matter! The image is of the gap between the kiln shelf & the bottom of the pot, which is raised up by three wads of high-refra...

So, a weird thing happened this morning.  I candled my bisque overnight, but when I came out in the morning to turn on the burners proper, I...

​ After fumbling around a bit early in the firing- this is only the second time I’ve fired this kiln, due to some unexpected burner issues- ...

 You always have to learn a new kiln. The sound of the burners, the length & color of the back pressure, the reduction smell - all those...

I said WADDING, not waddling. I am pre-making the wads for Monday’s firing, because making wads during the load means garpy hands …which mea...

  Are you familiar with the Law of Bad Hair? That refers to that phenomenon that happens when, after weeks of hating your hairstyle & wa...

The week leading up to a glaze firing is always a busy one at Fine Mess Pottery. This one is compounded because we are less than a month out...

I put off unloading, because Friday & Saturday were so bitterly cold, and because no one is waiting for these pots. Today warmed up to a...

Lookin' for some hot stuff, baby this evenin' I need some hot stuff, baby tonight I want some hot stuff, baby this evenin' Got...

If I didn't clarify before, my last firing was only a Murphy's Law firing if Murphy's Law was about screw-ups. Everything that...

My last firing was smooth sailing all the way - a high pressure day, a steady climb, body reduction by 7 am, all the pretty cones falling ev...

Ugly pink bisqueware! But it will get better. At least I hope it will. With just over a week left before the Maine Pottery Tour , I am s...

I always think I am going to get tons done during a firing. I have all day, and I have to be home for the kiln! In practice I'm lucky ...

Chillin' indeed; though the calendar says it's mid-April, the weather says it's more like the 109th of January. Nevertheless any...

Because my propane-fired kiln is outside, I am often asked how I can fire in the winter. Doesn't the cold prevent the kiln from heating ...

Yesterday's firing was textbook; like ya see in the pictures, if anybody made movies about firing. Almost perfectly even, light to mod...