After a couple hours of the kiln firing & warming everything up, the temperature starts to build rapidly. At a certain point in the firing, you put the kiln into body reduction. Forcing the balance of the “air-to-gas” ratio out of whack. Not enough air for a stable flame. So the flames seek out extra oxygen wherever it can find it. Pulling the air from the porous pots… and reaching out through any cracks in the bricked-up kiln door! Very exciting!

After a couple hours of “Pottery-Tetris” last Friday night… the back stack was loaded, and then the front two-thirds loaded. It filled up pretty quick & might be a little tighter than I would like it to be?! But confident that I’ll be able to “push” the soda deep into the kiln during the firing. All stacked & ready to brick-up the door! And then home for the night…

So last Friday night, I rolled my studio cart down to the kiln room… via the jenky freight elevator… yikes! Everything arrived safely and I was all glazed & wadded… ready to start loading the soda kiln. The challenge is always to “squeeze in” as many pots a possible… while still leaving enough open spaces for proper air-flow through the kiln so the soda atmosphere can make its way though to hit all of the pieces! Here we go…. giddy-up!

After hundreds of firings, the soda kiln at Lillstreet is showing some wear & tear… and will be replaced at some point. But until then, I do LOVE all of the crusty colors & patinas that have taken over the bricks. Such great textures to appreciate… purely from the build-up from the soda-firing atmospheric firings! Very cool.

Last Friday I was “greeted” with this… and empty kiln full of possibility! And yes, another soda firing weekend for me! I’ve been a little busy lately, so I apologize for the delay… but we can re-create my soda firing weekend now… a few days later!

So it’s been a busy week… with working all day, teaching three night classes, cleaning the kiln, biking & doing my taxes!!! Yes, I’m still working on my TAXES!!! But here’s the inside my soda kiln from last weekend… finally! Another beautiful firing with some great colors & flashing marks all the way through! Looking forward to spending some more time with each of these pieces as I start to prep & price them all for the upcoming art fair season! After I finish my taxes of course…

This morning I pulled out a few bricks from the kiln door to help cool the kiln.
So here’s a quick sneak peek. Looking good so far!!!

Towards the end of the day-long firing, I start to put the soda mixture into the kiln between cones 8 & 9. The introduction of of the soda, moisture & combustible materials make the kiln go crazy during this high reduction time. So dramatic with flames shooting out everywhere!!! Not for the faint of heart… but so much fun for those of us who love playing with flames! Especially knowing that these crazy flames are also working their “magic” on the pots inside. Fingers crossed everything looks great inside!!!

Part way into the firing, it’s time to put the kiln into body reduction… altering the ratio of gas to air. Reducing the air level so the flames need to seek-out oxygen wherever it can find it. And that’s when the flames start to peek out through the cracks & crevices of the bricks. So much fun… kind of enticing!

Packed tight from top to bottom, as well as the three shelves deep. It’s a lot of pots & mini tiles trying to utilize as much surface space as possible… trying to get the most out of every soda kiln firing!