It was “all systems go” this morning when I came back to the studio. Set the damper, the vents, the peeps and everything else as I turned on the kiln for the long day ahead!

Closed up for the firing… it was a long evening of kiln loading last night. But always satisfying when you get all the bricks in the door frame. Hoping that everything is well-placed, nothing tips over, and no chunks of random kiln bits get inside anything! It was late when I finished last night… and early when I started firing this morning!!!

And there it is… a well thought-out, three-dimensional puzzle of shelves, bricks & pots!!! I always want to squeeze in as many pots as possible, but you need to leave enough air space for the soda atmosphere to move around the pots to create the magic! Lots of shelves… lots of pots… and all fingers crossed!!!

With the holidays coming quickly, it’s time to start firing my holiday ornaments! They’re wheelthrown and then propped up on these little tripods that I make for them. They’re in the soda kiln, so the tripod raises them and allows for all sides to be affected by the soda atmosphere. It’s always my hope that none of them decide to jump off their perch during the firing!!!

Brick by brick, shelf by shelf, pot by pot… and eventually the back stack was done. Then it was onto loading the front stack which is two shelves deep, so twice as many pots!!!

One shelf, one layer at a time…

Last night I loaded the soda kiln with a lot of work… but I’m always struck by the empty kiln before loading. An empty kiln full of potential… and a lot of really cool soda build-up “patina” on the bricks!!!

After several days of glazing & wadding, my studio cart was finally full… which tends to pretty much “equal” a full soda kiln’s worth of work. Sure, I probably could have gotten this all done a little sooner… if it had not been so amazingly beautiful outside this week “forcing me” to go play on my bike… repeatedly!

And in case you’re wondering, the masking tape works as a “safety belt” to keep pieces from jumping off the shelves as the transport the cart full of work from my studio downstairs to the kiln room via the rickety freight elevator!

The sun is streaming into the studio and hitting these cute little star ornaments. Sure, they really need a bit of glaze and wadding… but the sun is shining in?! Which “kinda means” that I might just NEED to go outside to play on my bike again this afternoon? I mean… we don’t get these glorious 70-degree days very often in November in Chicago!!! I gotta take advantage of them… and quick!!! So my loading might be a smidge later than planned this evening… shucks.

So I’m still glazing & wadding for my soda kiln… which I will be loading later tonight. I think I’m getting down to the end. Like these ornaments that now have some tenmoku inlaid glaze accents. Some of them will still get a blush of colored glaze before going into the kiln too. Things are coming along nicely… no need to panic yet!