My firing yesterday was smooth & effortless. I spent the day cleaning my studio
while I was “trapped” there firing all day long. I started early in the morning so it wasn’t
too late in the evening when I finally turned it off for the day. Then, all day Sunday it cooled
and it was still over two hundred degrees when I got there around 6:00pm tonight. When you
unbrick the kiln door, it’s always great to see the results. A treasure trove full of new pots!

Once the kiln is unloaded and the pots are packed up to take home, then the “real” fun begins.
Cleaning. Yes, the kiln needs to be cleaned after every kiln firing. Scraping shelves. Sweeping
out the fire box. Kiln washing the shelves. Sweeping. Cleaning. etc… all of that “glamorous”
stuff that no one realizes is all part of making that one pot they eventually see at the art fair!

Well, it’s finally my soda firing weekend. It’s been a long & productive two weeks getting
ready… throwing, stamping, firing, glazing, wadding and getting ready to load the kiln.
So I rolled my studio cart down to the kiln room. Safe after the trip down the freight elevator -
thanks to the masking tape “safety belts” that I put on the shelves to keep pots from
“jumping off the cart along the way.

And then it was time to load. Which takes me a lot longer than most people.
Especially with my “addiction” for filling all of the kiln shelf spaces. No shelf space left unfilled.
I’ve got tiles. I’ve got ornaments. I’ve got kiln filler galore!!! So here’s the back stack
of the kiln, one shelf deep. With lots of filler. And ready to start the front…

And then here’s the front stack which is two shelves deep. Including cone packs
in just the right places! Ready to be melted down!

So once it’s all filled up with pots, posts and shelves… it’s time to close the door
with individual bricks. Layer by layer. Brick by brick. Then a quick warm-up…
closed up for the night… and ready to fire tomorrow!!!

One week closer to my soda kiln… and it’s time for another bisque kiln.
Just in time to fire the bisque, cool it and get the contents glazed for Friday’s loading.
It’s been a quick, fast-paced round of production this time trying to make enough work
to fill the soda kiln. I hope this bisque tops it off!

Layer #1 – bowls, ovals, tiles, ornaments… and a couple Karen Patinkin pieces!

Layer #2 – bowls, ovals, ornaments, tiles and soap dispensers.

Layer #3 – ovals, ornament, soap dispensers, tiles and more

Layer #4 – lots of tiles, a Karen Patinkin platter and some freshly made, still wet tripods
for firing my ornaments in the soda kiln. Yes, I made the tripods about 5 minutes before
loading them. Let’s hope they survive the firing?!!!

And, I think I may have redeemed myself a little better this time…
not as much empty kiln space as last time! I love me some kiln filler…

After teaching class tonight, I loaded another bisque kiln. One step closer
to my upcoming soda kiln. And you know how I pride myself on packing an
effective kiln. However, I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I didn’t do all that well this time.
I’ve been trying to crank out as much as I can, but I didn’t do so well with the smaller pieces
that fit into all those empty spaces! Sure the first couple layers were pretty good…
but by the third & fourth layers & was out of filler – only large pieces & no filler?!!! Sheesh.

Kiln Layer #1 – ovals & mugs

Kiln Layer #2 – ovals, mugs & bowls

Kiln Layer #3 – ovals, mugs & bowls

Kiln Layer #4 – ovals… and one more bowl!

Hopefully next Tuesday’s bisque kiln will be packed a little tighter…
as long as I’ve made enough new pieces between now and then!!!

So my day started out a little better today than yesterday.
Not quite as early. No kiln to unload. No rush to set things up when I got there.
Regardless… I was still a little tired after a late night of glazing & loading.

The fun continued today with more customers, more friends, more family.
And more chocolate shakes!!! Part of the “food court” area of the art fair
is this wonderful trailer from The Malt Shoppe. And over the years I have “trained”
them to make the best chocolate shakes ever! It starts with chocolate ice cream
and chocolate sauce. They mix it up into a shake, add more chocolate and mix again.
And then, just when they think it can’t get any chocolatey-er… I have them mix in
some hot fudge!!! I want the shake to be brown!. I want it to scream “chocolate”!!!
And over the years, they’ve been doing a great job… and this art fair was no exception!
Yesterday I only had one. But today I made up for lost time with three!!!
But who’s counting?!

At the end of the fair, it’s always an “adventure” to pack everything up and drive home.
Somehow even after selling a lot of pots all weekend long, it amazes me every time how
there’s not more empty space in the van?! Still packed. Still full. How does that happen?!

Yet again… after a full day at the art fair, then packing & shlepping it home…
it was back to the studio tonight for more glazing & kiln loading. There was and empty
shelf on the top of my back stack of the kiln. Plus, Corinne said that I could do another
layer or two on the front stack before she puts her sculptures in. So… despite my exhaustion,
I glazed more & loaded more. Until I couldn’t glaze no more…

Today was a very long day.
Not only did it start out very early unloading HOT monsters from the kiln.
And then a full day of chatting & selling pottery at the art fair. But that’s not it.
As if I had endless time, and endless energy… I also needed to go back to the
studio after the art fair to glaze and load part of another kiln! One of my fellow
studio mates is firing a kiln with her sculptural work in it on Tuesday. She offered
me some extra kiln space in her kiln… and you know how I love to fill a kiln!
Nothing pains me more than an “under-packed” kiln!!!

So I seized the moment… took on the opportunity… and pushed myself to work late
in the studio to glaze and pack the back stack of the cone 10 reduction kiln. Corinne
will be loading her work in the front of the kiln. And if all goes well, I’ll have some
new “replenishment” pieces just in time for “ART DETOUR.” Including some more
stamped bowls, tumblers and my new “line” of textured Relic Rattles!

So last night, I stopped by the studio after setting up my Barrington art fair booth.
I knew that my electric kiln full of monsters would still be warm from firing
overnight. And it was still just over 800-degrees. To hot to open… but I just had to!
So I cracked it open about a 1/4-inch with a thin shard. And went home for a quick sleep!

Then this morning, I stopped in on my was out to Barrington for the start of the fair.
When I got in, the kiln was still about 200-degrees hot. Warmer than I would like…
but I didn’t really ave any choice. I had to take them out. I had to take them to the fair.
So there I was, with a thick pair of gloves, carefully unloading another hot kiln!!!
Luckily, they all turned out great… so I pulled out, tried to cool them quickly so I could
pack them out without the foam sheets melting!!! Then it was off to the fair…
with a new collection of festive monsters in tow!

And the newest member in the tribe…

Okay, so it was another long night in the studio.
Frantically painting underglaze… and then spraying a layer of low-fire clear
glaze on them all. Glazing the insides… and bottoms… touch-ups… clean-ups…
Finally getting them all into the kiln around 11:30pm last night. A day late…

So right now… I’m exhausted but pleased that all my monsters are safely
packed away in the kiln firing. Although it’s going to be tight…
counting the hours until they will be fired, cooled and ready to unpack!
And there just aren’t enough hours between now and then…

After a full weekend of loading, firing & cooling… it is always so much fun
to unload the kiln. Lots of pots. Lots of mugs. Lots of bowls. Lots of tiles…
plus a few pops of color, with a new blue glaze I’ve been toying with!
Especially fun when you take off the first few rows of shelves…
only to find this brilliant new blue jumping back at you! Exciting!!!

And then once you get the rest of the door unbricked, you can see the entire kiln load.
Well, except for all of the treasures that are hidden behind the pots that faced the door!

And with the holidays coming sooner that you think… lots of new ornaments!!!

Next up… adding some wire hanger hoops to the top of each ornament.
Christmas will be here before you know it…

Well, after just a couple hours of sleep and a quick shower…
it was back to the studio with for a full day of firing my soda kiln.
I started the kiln early in the morning and it all went smoothly. With the temperature
raising at the right rate, body reduction where it should be… and the rest of the day
the kiln seemed to “fire itself.” In the afternoon, I measured up my soda mixture of
soda ash, soda bicarbonate, whiting and wood chips! When the kiln gets up to the top
temperatures, it’s time to start inserting the soda mixture into the kiln. So around
cone 9, I started putting it in every 15-20 minutes. All in all, an easy firing.
So now I wait… the kiln is all closed up and cooling slowly. Fingers crossed…

Plus, besides firing my kiln all day, I also got a beautiful firing “souvenir.”
Albeit a temporary & slightly painful souvenir… it was a quick reminder how
hot things can get around the kiln. At one point during the firing, one of the wires
popped out of the pyrometer and I needed to fix it. So I tried to pull the pyrometer out
of the kiln part way with gloves on… and I still got burned!!! Luckily, it was a minor
burn. Imagine how bad it would have been if I didn’t have gloves on!!!

Yuck. And pay no attention to the grimy terra cotta residue in my overly dried-out
& beat-up fingers! They’ve been working hard… and need some TLC. Soon…