foxy glaze

I opened the kiln up this morning. the pots had cooled right off, as I had left them 48 hours, so I could unpack immediately. I’m very pleased with the result. none of my usual glazes were harmed by the extra 50 or 60 degrees of heat, in fact some of them were better for it. the copper/tin matt glaze did some very nice things, it became green on the porcelain overlay of this one.

and whether it was the porcelain adding flux, or the higher temperature, it has started to melt into beads where it overlaps with the wood ash glaze. this tall cone shaped pot I had right next to the flame and I was worried that it would be spoiled, but it has worked out really well. the copper/tin glaze on the bottom half has come out in rusty, foxy colours, except where there is porcelain inlay, where it is green. and the wood ash/clay glaze is fine.

all the barium glaze coped with the higher temperature very well, as I expected. I even got some of those elusive green tinges. this one was next to the flame.

this tall three spouted one has the green where the two layers of glaze overlap, whereas the last firing tended towards ochre.

and lastly, here is the huge pot. it doesn’t look a lot different from when I made it, which is fine. It has the barium glaze which is just enough to finish it.

while waiting for the light to be strong enough for photography – even in full sunshine at this time of year I have to have light actually coming into the workshop – I took the dogs out. we had a fleeting view of two Roe deer’s retreating rears (white) bouncing away from us in the woods, which were absolutely sodden after yesterday’s torrential downpours. I love this pool in the narrow part between the fields.

and this stream or ditch was full of rushing muddy water today.

Tilda had a good drink after rushing around in the wood – she completely missed the presence of the Roe deer.

Sal knew the deer were there but he also knew it wasn’t worth his effort to go in after them.

and then I had a real treat – I looked through the gap onto the plough from Cake’s Lane and there was a fox. a very sandy coloured small one. maybe a vixen. she ran further off, then cavorted about and finally settled down on the wheat, too far away to photograph, but I did just catch her on the plough.

I could see her following our progress down the lane, her ears pricked up in our direction, but she still lay there on the wheat field quite calmly.

here is the webpage for the rest of the pots I unpacked today.