Productive Days

I had a productive day in the studio on Monday and then again yesterday. Yesterday I got a couple boards of soup/cereal bowls made and a couple boards of plates. I also got the feet cut on the bowls I made Monday and handles on all of them and the spoon jars I made. It was a good day.

My dad and brother in law came over last night and we cut the stringers for my stairway and discussed what will happen next on the renevation. Sarah came home and so that was another voice in the discussion. I got a bit overwhelmed and sort of zoned out and couldn't figure out what to do. I just want this whole thing to be done. I wish we had enough money to hire out the work and let other people figure out how to solve the problems that come up in a job like this. Anyhow, we will get through it and I'll be glad to have it done.

Tonight is the opening for Treasures of the Earth at the Arts Council. I went over yesterday morning to have a look at all the pots. It's a nice show. I'll take my camera tonight and get some pictures. The reception is always well attended and lots of pots sell this first night. My dad and his wife always come as well as my sister and her family. It makes me feel good to have them there. This is the 12th year of the show. I 've participated since it's beginning. I can remember the first pots I had in the show. They were electric fired to cone 4 with tan and brown glazes that mimicked salt fired pots.

I need to run out an pick up a local paper this morning. I got an email yesterday wanting me to write a brief piece about the show. I did so and submitted it to the person in charge. I hope it came out well. It's supposed to be front page.

That's it for now. I am off to cut feet on yestedays pots and slip all the other stuff. I need to knock off around 3 today.

Treasures of the Earth

This morning I have to get my truck loaded up and go into town to the Cleveland County Arts Council to set up for the Treasures of the Earth pottery show. This is the 10th or 11th year for this show and I have done it since the beginning. It's a month long exhibit featuring about 20 potters from the region. The work ranges from hobby potters to serious amateurs to professional potters. I got everything boxed up yesterday and my display all dusted off. It's a good show and the reception always brings out lots of pottery enthusiasts.
Here is a picture of my new favorite refired mug. I love the way slip broke on the edges to a light color. It's much more shiny than my work normally is .

Refires

I refired about 50 pots in my little updraft gas kiln. I had good success in the bottom of the kiln where cone 10 went completely down. In the middle I only got to cone 8 and I don't know what the top was probably 5 or 6. The pots that reached cone 10 improved greatly. My high silica clay got very very shiny and the slips really brightened up. The only problem was that the silica in the clay caused to wads to fuse to the bottoms of the pots so I had to grind them off. Nevertheless I came away with some first quality saleable pots from what I almost threw away. The refires were really metallic looking, not what I am always after, but in this case I liked it a lot. As a matter of fact I now have a favorite mug that came from the refire.

As to my slip problem, I am still thinking about the cause. I have conflicting information regarding body reduction. I do know I over reduced this kiln for most of the firing. I need a neutral atmosphere to get my colors to be bright. Probably with an oxidizing soak for at least one hour at the end. I would like to start salting a little earlier so that I could finish around cone 9 also. I think this will help with the color. I think my slip problem is something that is happening early in the firing, before cone 08. ? Maybe things are getting too hot too fast, or I am trapping carbon gas under the slip. I may need to improve on my bisque to be sure I am burning out all the organics. Or soak for an hour at 1650 to be sure during my glaze firing. The problem is only with the high alumnia slip. Lots of info and variables to think about.

Finally, Pots

Here are the pots that made it. I refired about 25 more today in my little gas kiln. I have never done that before so we'll see if it helps in any way. Pots on the showroom floor after being sanded and dusted.

Two oval serving dishes. One with Grolleg slip and pours; the other with helmar slip and incising.

Pots

Yunomi with various slips.

Two ovals. one with helmar slip and incising, the other with EPK slip and slip pours.

Square mugs

Owl candle stick holders, helmar slip.

Mugs with helmar slip and incising.

Problem

Here is an example of what went wrong. I have emailed several people for help today and gotten some good response. Phil Rogers says he had this problem for a while and believes it is a firing problem. He suggests a hard body reduction at cone 09 followed by a short oxidation then back into light reduction for the remainder of the firing. He believes the residual salt is sealing the surface when the pots get hot early in the firing and the reduction cannot get to it. He also mentioned I may be able to save these pots by refiring them to cone 9, 10 in a neutral or oxidizing atmosphere.

I'll be getting the pots brought in tomorrow. I'll get some pictures of some of the successful ones up then. Sarah took a look at the pots today and was more optimistic than I was. (She always is). She said it wasn't nearly as bad as my previous firing. Ha! She's right. I can be a person who sees the glass half full too....half full of poison. (stolen from Woody Allen).

Firing

I unloaded late yesterday. I was quite disappointed. I have had two bad firings in a row now. The problems are reduction related and my flashing slip is crawling, which really really irritates me. I am not getting the color I want with my slip when it does work either. Anyhow all the pots are down in the kiln shed, I went to look at them again this morning and decided that some of it was okay, just not what I am used to. I will post some pics as soon as I get my spirits up about the whole thing. I am going to make some calls today to see if I can get some insight as to what's happening. I went back through my kiln logs from the past 3 years last night and have layed out a plan for my next firing. I am going to try and make a quick load of bowls and easy pots so I can do it ASAP.

We are having a mix of sleet, freezing rain, and snow today. Yuck. I hope we don't lose power. I have to pack up some pots to send to a show in Ohio, luckily I have some things set back from previous firings to send.

Cold and Clear

Wednesday morning. It's beautiful out this morning although very cold, some where in the 20s with a bit of a wind. Nice and brisk which makes me feel alive. It will be several hours before I can crack the door to the kiln. I peeped in last night with the flashlight and things look good. I noticed one test slip that had crawled badly, but no worries as it's a test.

I had a good night teaching last night. I am really trying to share all I can with my students. I did and extensive demo on bowls and cutting feet. I see lots of pots out in the world that could use improvement and so I want to do what I can to help my students on their way to making the best pots they can. In turn, I learn a lot about my work and how I do things. My way is not always the best way or the "right" way. I tell them this and I tell them to try things, to look, to see, to explore, to not get attached. I tell this to myself too. Teaching is helping me become a better potter, a better communicator, one who listens and talks, and helps, and nutures, both the students and my inner student, me. Anyhow, I see that they are getting it. They are trying, and responding and asking questions and looking at what they are doing. That is rewarding. I got home last night alittle after 11pm, tired and ready for bed.

We are expecting a wintery mix of precipation tomorrow morning. I would love some snow but can do without the ice and freezing rain. I hope you all have a good day. Check in later for some pots.

Chunk

I finally fired yesterday. All went well so I am hoping for some good results. I cut back on the amount of sodium I introduced into the kiln. I went with 3 lbs of salt and a little over 3 lbs of soda ash and baking soda combined. I went with the Gail Nichols method of soda introduction where the soda ash and baking soda are combined with calcium carbonate (whiting) and water to produce a paste. This begins to set like plaster and you break it into chunks. This is then put into the kiln on angle iron, just like I do my salt. I have never liked spraying soda in the kiln. It's a pain in the neck to heat the water and use the pump up sprayer. I want things to be as simple as possible and not involve any extra apparatus, like a sprayer or compressor or whatever. I will unload late Wednesday or early Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed for some good pots.

South Mountain

Sarah and I went up to South Mountain State Park yesterday and hiked 2 miles up to the Chestnut Gorge Overlook. The elevation is about 2200 ft I think. You could see the Charlotte skyline on the horizon. It was a beautiful day and a good hike up and back.

Why change?

I have had a couple questions as to why I changed my burner position. I have wanted to try this diagonal position for a long time but haven't gotten around to it. I have also thought it would be cool to have 4 burners firing in from each corner. It seems the diagaonal placement is big in the UK on salt and soda kilns. I am thinking this comes from Peter Starkey who wrote a very good book on salt glazing back in the 70's. I had checked it out for a while from the ASU library. Starkey's kiln design had this diagonal placement. (I think). Boy, I'm not doing very well with my facts. Who cares...okay, to continue...more recent books like Phil Roger's Salt Glazing and Rosemary Cochrane's Salt Glaze Ceramics show lots of UK kilns with this arrangement. My kiln with the burners in the back, firing towards the front, has always been cooler in the back. Also lots of the salt/soda gets blasted up towards the front and so those pots get hammered. (I cut back on my gas pressure when I salt but this doesn't seem to help a lot). So my thinking is that the diagonal placement would help with evening up the heat, and also distrubuting the sodium better. Or at least in a different way. I haven't seen this arrangement in the US , except at Clary Illian's and in the four burner case at Blair Meerfeld's pottery in Colorado. Gail Nichol's in her new book on soda glazing favors the four burner set up. Ruthanne Tudball, the Queen (in my opinion) of Soda, has the diagonal set up. So anyhow that's my reasons for wanting to try the diagonal setup.

However it seems I will not be doing so on this firing. Yesterday upon further inspection, and after moving the burner back to the back, I found the problem to be with the burner orifice, not necessarily the positioning. The flame was burning out around the mixer which must have became loose or wasn't properly seated. I fixed this easily and now it is burning properly. I have disconnected my line up to the front of the kiln and do not feel like going to all the trouble to reconnect it. (I just want to get this firing over with). So for now I'll be back to my old setup.

What a long, not very concise answer.
I'll fire tomorrow, (keep your fingers crossed) and will post results soon.
Best, Ron

Mission Aborted

I loaded the kiln yesterday and was finished by 1:30. Prewadding everything made it go quick. I lit the burners last night at 10 pm and went to bed. I got up at 12:30am to increase the gas pressure. When I cut the gas up I noticed that the burner in the front of the kiln was firing on more pressure than the one in the back. Remember this is a new burner arrangement, instead of having both burners in the back, I moved one around to the front, opposite of the other burner. Well this isn't going to work the way I have it set up. I need to regulate the gas pressure to each individual burner. Evidently the long leg is getting more gas than the short leg and so I was going to be in trouble. So I shut down the kiln and went back to bed. Today I am moving my burner back to the original position. I will fire on Monday.

Mooving On

I am all set to load tomorrow. I went ahead and prewadded everything I could this morning and mixed one more test glaze. It was really windy today, but sunny and beautiful. The cows in the pasture behind our house were up on the ridge for a while until the wind got up.

I got my kiln shelves all scraped and then I hung a big tarp up in the front of the shed so that I can be out of the wind tomorrow. It's cooled down a lot today and the wood stove is all stoked up for the evening. Nice and toasty.

Tearing down the walls

I had a lot going on today. I unloaded my last bisque and got those pots all glazed this morning. After lunch I worked on my kiln for a few hours, getting the bagwall back into place, working on the floor some more, and clearing out the kiln shed.

My dad came over around 5pm to help with my renovation. My neighbor Tracy showed up too and my brother in law Ronnie. What a good crew I have. I am fortunate to have generous people in my life. Anyhow we worked for a while and discussed getting the header in place and what's to come. I am going to be busy for the rest of the week getting my pots loaded into the kiln and fired. So I probably won't get any major work done in the house until the weekend.

That's it for now. Sarah is working late and won't be home till after 9 pm. I've got to go scrounge up something for supper in the kitchen.

New Week

Monday morning. It's very soggy outside, not terribly cold though. I am looking forward to spring already. I'm not much of a winter person.
I got my bisque loaded this morning, I had some pots that were still damp so it will be a long slow firing. I wish I had one of those computerized electric kilns that I could program and just forget about. My little bisque kiln is fired with gas. I have to write a "X" on my hand in ink so to remind myself it's going.(Kinda like the string on the finger idea). I tend to forget about it for hours at a time.
I will probably spend part of the day glazing and later work on the renovation. I am hoping my dad will come over to help out and give me some advice. He's really good at this sort of thing.
I am hoping to fire my salt/soda kiln at the end of the week.

Weekend Recap

I spent part of Saturday tearing out this wall between the kitchen and what will become our new living room. The new space is what used to be my pottery workshop. I was very anxious doing this just because I guess it means a commitment to getting that space finished. Lots of work to come, money to spend, etc. I am sure I'll be really happy once it's done and maybe it won't take as long as I think. I'll try and keep a little construction log here as we go.

Sunday I met with the Circle of Eight. We talked about our upcoming exhibition at NCECA in March in Louisville Ky. We also hashed out some ideas about galleries we want to approach this year. We will be having a sale in Charlotte on April 28. If you don't know, Circle of Eight are eight potters from NC and SC. We have come together as a group to promote our work, to help and support one another and because we all really like one another and it's fun.

Sunday night we had supper over at Sarah's parent's house. It was good to see them and have a visit. They mean a lot to me and I am lucky to have such good in laws.

Friday Pottery Roundup

Yeah it's Friday! I had a productive day, more on that in a minute. Here is a shot of the pitchers. I got them handled and slipped yesterday. I am pretty happy with these, the handles are a challenge. Below is a picture of a group of home schooled kids that came out here yesterday for a little demo and pot talk. They are all taller than their teacher, Libby (far left). They were a good group, some have been out here before.

Today, like I said was a good day. I started off taking the household trash to the landfill, after cleaning out our deep freeze and some other junk I needed to haul away. Then I made a quick trip to the grocery before getting home and to work in the studio. I have finished all the pots for my next firing, I slipped a board of yunomi, some vases, and candle holders, and unloaded my bisque from Monday. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the pots that came out of the bisque, once they were inside along with all the stuff I made this week it's quite a lot. I have probably a load and a half. I sure hope this next firing is better than the last. I am trying some new slips and a new burner arrangement. Risk is good right? So the plan is another bisque on Monday, then fire at the end of the week.

Oh right, I also worked down at the kiln some. I fitted my new door in place, brick by brick. It went well but the door opening has moved over the years and of course it's not square anymore. That meant I had to 'custom fit' two bricks in each course. This involved rubbing the bricks against a cinder block to make it a bit smaller so it would fit. That took a while, and was a good way to end the day.

Pitchers

I made this board of pitchers yesterday along with some mugs and a teapot. These pitchers take awhile as they are made in two parts and I like to go ahead and get them done in one go. I throw the bottom and stiffen it up with a heat gun, then I partially throw the tops, add them to the bottoms and finish shaping the top before pulling the spout. I'll get the handles on these today I hope before I have to go teach. I made some square mugs and the teapot was made on a whim after I saw that I liked the shape of the bottom of these pitchers. I thought it would make a good teapot body so I tried it out. I'll let you know if it makes the cut.

Get Going

I've gotten a bisque loaded and going this morning. I am hoping to fire the salt/soda kiln on the 25th so I'll probably get another bisque fired early next week. I have plenty of pots but there are a few things I want to get made this week like some owl candle stick holders and some yunomi. Oh and some small bottles. And some pitchers. I better get busy.

We had a good weekend. Sarah and I celebrated 7 yrs of marriage on Sunday. I have a wonderful, beautiful wife and I look forward to many more happy years together.

End of Week

Today I worked some in the house. We are starting renovations on our downstairs area. This was orginally my pottery workshop. We are turning it into more living space now that I have the new studio all set up. So I didn't work on pots today other than slipping a few things and well that was that. It's going to be nice to have this new space. We are planning on building some closets and adding a bathroom too. We have no closets. Crazy huh? I'll be working tomorrow on moving the water heater and maybe some other small stuff.

Okay so that's it for now. I'll write more later. Here is a pic of my animal jars with all the critters attached.