As part of the GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN, my students we encouraged to finish their projects from Week Two for judging at Week 9… this past Thursday. Remember back when they had to throw a large serving bowl, pass it to another to match, and then pass it back to finish it up… and make coordinating serving utensils to go with it. Well here are the Top Three… congratulations Ashley, Katie & Aaron!

Okay, so this may have been my favorite pot from the entire LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP… because it comes with a great story!

So back in 2017, Carmina was in my beginning wheelthrowing class. But for one of our classes we focused on handbuilding. San Francisco potter Kate Chenok had contacted me as one of my Facebook Fans saying that she was coming to Chicago and asked if she could stop by for a visit… and I said yes, of course… but then I encouraged her to do a class demo while she was here. She was so gracious and did an AMAZING demo for my class. She brought her templates and showed my class how to make these cute textured-slab-darted cups. So the story is… that Carmina made this cup back in 2017… and has been wondering how to glaze it ever since?! Until this workshop…so SIX YEARS LATER it is finally done!!!

Good save Carmina… I’m glad you waited.

To see more about Kate’s visit and the demos she did for my class… click here… http://firewhenreadypottery.com/2017/06/class-demo-by-a-visiting-artist-kate-chenok/

And then be sure to click here to see more of Kate Chenok’s work… https://www.glazedoverceramicsorinda.com/

So when I said there were some “treasures” from the LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP… I should have mentioned some of the TINY treasures too! Lillstreet has been offering some classes now using the miniature wheel making miniature pots. Lillie has been teaching them how to make tiny pots with tiny handles & tiny details. Well, Ruth took the class and decided to soda-fire some of her tiny pieces! And they might just be the CUTEST soda-fired pots EVER!!! Well done Ruth!

I mean… c’mon… could they BE any cuter?!

So here they are… after a very long wait… the pottery “treasures” that came out of the soda kiln Monday night during my LILLSTREET 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. As with every soda firing, there area few hits, a few misses… and some crunchy chunks of kiln wash or brick flakes that “ruin” a few pots! There’s always a certain amount of loss during a soda kiln firing. But the soda-fired beauty of the rest of the pots makes it all worthwhile! And I think my workshop students were thrilled with their results as well.

Before my students could enjoy their newly soda-fired pots… they had to do some kiln maintenance! Always a hassle after a long firing weekend, but a necessity that I made sure my LILLSTREET SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP folks got to “enjoy” as part of experiencing the “full” soda-firing process! Scraping kiln shelves, re-applying kiln wash on both sides of every shelf & cleaning the kiln room. After they put in the manual labor… we finally got to go back to caress, fondle & appreciate their new soda-fired treasures!

And then when they were done making their doughnuts… and thought they were done… they then found out that they needed to make a box to “keep it fresh.” A little twist that my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students hadn’t quite anticipated. So if they made a larger doughnut, they now needed a much larger box!!! A fun little handbuilding challenge to finish off the night.

Towards the end of yesterday’s LILLSTREET 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP, my students got the chance to load the soda mixture into the kiln. When the kiln gets up to cone 8, it’s time to mix it up and then start scooping & inserting the mixture into the kiln. I like to use a long angle iron to fill with the mixture – and then slide it into the kiln, dump it into the fire box, and then watch the flames shoot out!!! It’s a lot of work, but all part of the soda-firing process. I think they all enjoyed the experience. So now after several rounds of adding soda, the kiln has been turned off and it cooling all day today! They’ll return tomorrow night to open & unload the kiln… do some kiln cleaning & shelf maintenance… and then we’ll all get to look at their new soda-fired masterpieces!!!

Yesterday was the firing of our kiln for the LILLSTREET 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. I started the kiln early in the morning… waiting for the pyrometric cones to start going down… and sometime around noon it was time to put the kiln into body reduction. Which is always fun because that’s kinda the first time you seem some flames peeking out of the kiln here & there!

So this weekend has been part of the LILLSTREET 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. I have a great group of students with most of them firing their work in a soda kiln for the first time! There’s so much to learn & we’re just trying to squeeze it all in! Friday night we met up, talked soda, and then started glazing & wadding right away!

It was a very long night… since we also had to load the entire kiln & brick up the door. My group were “rock stars” with everyone pitching in… even as we went well past the “posted” end time! They all had a great time, worked really hard & soaked in as much as they possibly could! We got ALL of their work into the kiln… so I’m hoping they each get a bunch of beauties out when we unload Monday night!

So last night we had some “imported” treats under the yellow towel… all the way from China!!! Chicago’s Chinatown that is!

Still impressed with the packaging… including the “cool” interior sleeves of cookies. The matcha flavored OREOs however?… not so much! Thanks to Korina for bringing them in… as she prefaced it with “I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like these.” She knows me too well… me & my palate of a four year old!!!!?