norfolk firing two

and the last of the unglazed pots in my workshop got fired at last .. there are some left, mostly rather old and unloved. they are handy sometimes as kiln-fillers though. this time I thought I would try starting reduction earlier to see if I could get a more even spread of clay body reduction through the pack.

sploded

however it was a bit silly to hurry and put the cones in too thick a piece of clay and not get it entirely dried, as the clay blew up in the first hour of firing, and it had to be a by the log book and pyrometer firing, not what I prefer. often that means over or under-firing as the temperature bears very little relationship to the state of glaze melt and heatwork is time as well as temperature related.

cone clay

and the bits of clay get everywhere, as here on the edge of the bricks under the arch at the front. luckily as the glazes were all very dry nothing stuck except for one little bit which popped off easily. it would have been a different matter had it been a kiln full of chun glazed pots.

first sight

a very nice sight when the first few bricks were out

russet

a corker, or a cracker, or whatever ..

thekilnopen

the one next to it on the right, was one which had a huge popping out of some foreign body after it had been glazed – the damp made whatever it was swell – probably lime (how that got into the clay I have no idea, I don’t use plaster in my workshop, or at all) I chopped it out, and re-glazed the top to give it a chance, so it has a good side

goodside

and a bad side

2 tall rust accretion flagon detail 57 x 23 cm

another picture of the chaos produced by a little damp clay when you put the burners on quite high at the start and jump to four hundred odd centigrade in an hour

splosion2

in that back corner was the third tall bottle, which also came out well. this one had a history too – I glazed it with the dolomite/copper/tin glaze that’s on the first piece, then changed my mind and washed it off – but not completely, then glazed it again with the “rust accretion” glaze.

inthekilnbackcorner

nicely reduced at its foot – but that was the only pot which had a foot of toasty reduction, all the others were pale. I think although I started reduction early, it wasn’t a really strong, smoky, stinky reduction.

sunnypots

the clay body is my speckled mix, whereas the one next to it, the first one out, is fireclay, with a lot of grog. anyway, pleased with that one too.

listeningpodassembly

this listening pod has a great inside to its ear

murkylisteningpodtop

I dribbled the black iron oxide over it and then glazed it with the dolomite glaze. what good things I have got with that oxide over the past year or so!

scored smaller flagon saltmarsh

the same thing here, though the low early sun has given everything a golden glow which is not quite accurate.

assembly

better colour later, this is everything.

now I have to start making again, small bottles I think, I have plenty of everything else.

1 front tall saltmarsh flagon 54 x 23 cm

I leave you with my favourite. rather than being one of the boyz, she is an elegant person with a completely individual style of dress, of statuesque build, great dignity and grace.

 

 

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