Nice Ash

I am very pleased with the new changes I made to my firing this time. I got new color on my oribe pieces and more pronouced ash deposits on my shinos a little farther in. The new wood mix for finishing the kiln left a nice blend on the turquoise, adding a lavender to the mix and creating a little more "abstractness" to the pieces, more for the imagination. Also on the shinos deeper in the kiln, there are some strong ash patterns with the distinct color edges that I like. The glazes are more fluxed by the ash whereas the shinos, with their higher clay content, make the ash sit on top of the surface more if you don't get too hot. Still struggling with my oxblood. I think I would need to firing a diiferent pattern to make them work. I'll settle for the occasional gem when it comes.

I took a little more time with the placements, elevating some pieces so they would get hit with enough ash. I will take more pictures to share. These two show some of what I'm talking about.
And then there is my first clumsy attempt at a "tumble stack" of sorts...with a sawdust clay mix. I like the texture so far, a definate need for more experiments. I want to eventually get into more sculptural pieces, my minor in college. That one throwing class I took got me hooked though.

You can see the sawdust clay mix on the base of this tall bottle and the effects of the ash on the tuquoise and orange-ish shino.

First Peek...looking good!

I like what I see... I tried a "new" wood, actually I tried it a long time ago and have been wanting to try it again, and it gave the pieces closer to the top the light blue-lavender highlights I wanted. Goes nice with the blue/turquoise. I will definately find more now. My ash book by Phil Rogers has a wealth of information in it as does Jack Troy's Wood-fired Stoneware and Porcelain book. I read a lot. Can't wait to take down the door and start unloading. Mary Ann wants to go out to eat, so when we get back it will be cool enough. It's gone past that huge 3% "crystalobite shrink" at 500F.

KILN'S DONE...

I'm tired but I wanted to share some pictures from the firing. I can't wait 'till Sunday. I got a soft 12 in front and 10 almost flat in the back. Only about a cone difference front to back, gettin' better. Top to bottom is even. I'ma likin' this kiln...

Loaded and Ready

I have some of my new brushwork shown on these pieces. I experimented on pieces last firing and can't wait to see how they come out.

I now have the kiln ready and I'll fire tomorrow. I thought I was going to fire earlier in the week but I took my time and did it at an enjoyable speed. I'll post some pictures when the firing is done.

Thanks Scot...

I had the good fortune of having Scot, a new member of our Syracuse Ceramic Guild, come down to help with the prep for a wood firing workshop scheduled for May 15 and 16. Dave also helped but I forgot to get the camera again when he came. Sorry Dave. The picture above shows him finishing the beech up, a nice finishing wood as its heat value is very high at 89-91 and it is plentiful here. He proved to be a quick study and had the art of splitting down in no time. You may not think it's that hard, but there are some woods that are challenging. The grain is wavy in some woods such as apple. You can see some of it in the lower right corner of the picture. I am trying apple wood this firing. I have an old apple orchard on the property with parts of the trees coming down at times. It does have some very nice coaling qualities like beech does. I also have some large hophornbeam that I girdled two years ago and are now standing seasoned wood waiting to be cut. It has the highest heat value in my woods. It will be interesting to see how it looks in some line blends. I usually start at 60% ash, 40% feldspar with 10% china clay added.

New site: Wikiclay.com

Hey everyone,
I just joined a new ceramic information site by Michael Kline called Wiki Clay. Check it out for information on artists, techniques, all kinds of useful information. I'm on a list of ceramic artists who blog.

http://wikiclay.com/wiki/clayceramics-blogs

...and the winner is...

Congratulations to Fallen Leaf from the Netherlands, Europe! She is the winner of the mug. Thanks to all that entered! I'm going to do this again soon. I'm firing around the 20th of April. I'll give away something from that load.
Falling Leaf, please get ahold of me at williperri@aol.com so we can work out the details.