Unloading the kiln

I fired a kiln load of glazed pieces yesterday, and opened the kiln today. Here are some photos to share of a bunch of the results.

As you can see in the photo above, things are looking pretty good. No glaze runs or problems with pots falling over or slumping. Yay!

A quick shot of me as I'm about to unload the kiln. I'm happy with what I'm seeing!!!

The pots were still fairly warm, so wearing the welding gloves for protection. I really like the way the glazes melted on the outside of this bowl. It was an experimental combination of two glazes, so I'm very happy with the results! Awesome!

Here is one of the extruded coil pieces.

The leaf is so thin that I can pick it up without burning my fingers, even though the kiln is still fairly warm. I'm still not certain what I will do with the ceramic leaves I made, but it certainly is interesting how thin I was able to make them.

A nice pitcher, and the glazes turned out well.

A multi-colored vase.

This unique pot had a twine dipped in liquid clay and then wrapped around it. Some of the clay was so fragile that it fell off during the bisque firing. I'm glad what remained stayed on during the glaze firing!

A puppy dog flask.

This interesting pattern was made with the reaction of the glazes to the textured slip. Very interesting experiment, do you agree?

A 'corked' bottle.

Another extruded coil piece.

A very small squared off bowl with an interesting glaze pattern.

A matching set of bowls.

All in all, I'm very happy with the results. One or two pieces did not turn out as expected, so I may end up reglazing them to see if I can get a different result.

This plaque is called "The Path We Take" and it sybolizes the experiences we encounter from the decisions we make in our lives. The plaque also undulates, partly to represent some of the 'hills' we have to climb similar to the challenges we overcome during our trip through life... plus the wavey design casts an interesting shadow on the wall when the piece is hung.

The leaves are made of a thin layer of liquid clay that was spread on a leaf, then fired to burn off the leave and leave the clay. The clay leaf is then glazed, resulting in a very interesting ceramic leaf. Cool, huh?

Here is a photo of all the pieces that came out of the kiln.

Another kiln load ready

Hi Everyone! It has been a while since I last posted, so I thought I should update my blog. First let me show you some pottery (the part I like - haha).



Here I am next to the kiln I just loaded tonight with pottery pieces waiting to be fired. They are coated with glaze and the kiln is set up to fire them to a temperature of about 2230F (cone 6 for those that know the cone system). I plan to start the firing process tomorrow early in the afternoon. It usually takes 10 hours to do the glaze firing, as the temperature is slowly ramped up by throwing switches on the front of the kiln which control the individual electrical heating elements. Since mine is a manual kiln, I use a kitchen timer to alert me every two hours to make the next adjustment.


Here are some pieces I've fired within the past year. The lumpy pot on the left is actually called "Memories" and is a way to show how the memories we collect throughout our lives shape and define us... thus the 'lumps' pushing out to form our life with the vessel itself symbolizing our being. I know... kinda deep stuff... sorry. The center piece is a jewelry box. In making four different jewelry boxes, I've determined that they are not a way to make money, as they take too much time to make unless giving them as a gift to someone. (I.e., not worth making to sell.) The platter is one of my favorites, as the pattern around the edge is interesting, and the carving in the center helps to create the look of great depth to the glaze. And the colors are pretty neat too! :D

This photo is one I submitted recently for an art fair registration, so hopefully it will pass the jury process and allow me to sell my wares at the art fair come September. The large covered jar on the left has man different glazes on it and was quite the challenge to handle. The bowl in the center actually only uses three glazes, but the overlap of the glazes creates even more colors. The vase on the right is actually done with a Raku process, and part of that process is to 'smoke' the vase as it cools to make the cracks show up better.

Li and I are still writing back and forth. I sent her flowers and chocolates recently just because I thought it would be nice for her to receive a surprise. Besides, how often does a lady receive flowers out of the blue? Hopefully she enjoys them both. It seems she is trying to find a buyer for her fashion clothing shop there in Nanning, and once she sells it, she will be moving back to her hometown to work in her family's store. I'm not sure if that means our communications will be lost, or if she can still stay in touch with me. I'm hoping for the latter, and perhaps if the fates smile upon us, maybe someday we will be able to meet.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is for some sunshine (finally!) so maybe my friend Ning and I will have some good luck selling some of our pottery at the farmers market tomorrow morning. Next weekend we have an art fair on Saturday, so we have been trying to get things prepared for that event for the past couple of weeks. I've had a local metals shop make me some weights for the canopy (tent) we will be using to help hold it in place in case of wind. The weights should be 40 to 45 lbs each, and I have asked for 8 of them to be made (two for each leg of the canopy). At least the chances of the canopy staying in place are much better this way. (crossing fingers now!) lol Wish us luck for our upcoming sale!

Some glazed pots

This stippled bowl is covered with an iron red glaze.


This bowl has white and green glazes layered on the inside.


The outside is stippled and layered with black and a green glaze that turns blue when layered over the black glaze.

The stippling on this vase took me an hour of carving, but the effect is worth it!

A mint-green jewelry box.

This bowl has two layers of glazes that crack apart and peel when drying, giving this interesting result.

This is a very large covered jar that barely fit into my kiln for height. I used 8 glazes on the outside to color it with some very good results. To hold the jar while glazing, I inserted my arm into it almost up to my elbow.

One of my nieces has a high school graduation celebration this weekend, so I look forward to seeing most of my siblings there. Her dad (my brother Steve) is the one who raises the hormone-free beef we get each year.

Li is still writing to me. She may try to get an online email account so we can send emails directly to each other. Right now we are still using EMFs, and then I'm sending photos to her via one of her friend's email address. It sounds like Li will be moving back home to work in her family's store soon, so she will need to sell her shop in Nanning, then move her belongings. The last time I moved it was a TON of work. Hopefully it will go smoothly for her.

If my luck holds, the weather will be good at the farmers market tomorrow morning for selling some more pottery. I'm looking forward to setting up the booth at one of the art fairs this month. Today I ordered up some metal weights from a local metal fabricator to help secure the booth and keep it in place. They are 50 lbs each, and I will use at least one for each leg of the canopy - two for each leg if it is windy.