With an art fair next weekend, and a collaboration project in the works, I’ve really got to get these tiles bisqued. And I might as well fill the whole kiln with a “few” other things too, right?

Bisque Kiln Layer #1 – mugs, mugs and more mugs!!!

Bisque Kiln Layer #2 – assorted bowls, spoon rests, soap dishes and some tiles.

Bisque Kiln Layer #3 – mugs, soap dispensers, a teapot, and two large platters.

Bisque Kiln Layer #4 – more mugs, tumblers and a lot of tiles.

And here’s the BULK of my textured tiles for the collaboration pieces I’m doing with Cory McCrory. Packed tight, piled high with a bit of air space between the rows. Fingers crossed that the heat makes it into that dense pack of tiles okay?

Last night I unloaded my soda kiln. It was a long night of unloading, packing and cleaning the kiln. So I had to “postpone” sharing these photos until today. I hope they were worth the wait…

The cone pack shows that were had a hot Cone 10 firing on top,
the bottom was a normal Cone 10 despite being just 12-degrees different top to bottom.

Here’s a couple bowls as they were coming out of the kiln.
So much fun to see the new treasures… after hoping that all went well during the firing.
No glops. No chunks. No funky “kisses” from the kiln.

My kiln was a bit too hot to unload when I got to the studio last night.
Then I got “distracted” trying to make some new terra cotta planters for this weekend’s art fair in Schaumburg. Sixteen planters later… and it was now much later than I had intended. It was a VERY late night of unloading, packing, shelf scraping, kiln washing and cleaning… too late for sharing photos!!! But there will be more… trust me.

My kiln is still a little too warm to unload…
so I took off a couple layers of bricks to speed it up.
And look what I found front & center?… a nice new stamped vase!!!
Hope there’s more beautiful things inside later tonight!!!

After just a couple hours of sleep…
my kiln is all closed up, burners on and warming up quickly!

I loaded my latest “spoon addiction” into the kiln tonight.
Part of the soda firing process tells us that everything “must” be elevated form the shelves so that the pieces don’t stick with the soda build-up. And I didn’t’ want to have any huge wadding spots left on the spoons, so I made my own pointed stilts to prop them up. I also dipped the tips in kiln wash to help make sure they don’t stick.

My fear is that the props might not hold them up as they shrink. With two separate points of support, I hope they continue to prop up the spoons. This was the “best” solution for now… and my fingers are crossed. It’s very similar to how I fire my wheelthrown Christmas ornaments. Those work fine, so I hope these do too!

Finally, it was time to start loading. I love kiln loading. I’t s wonderful, three-dimensional Tetris kind of puzzle. Fit everything in. Leave enough space for the flames & soda to flow through. Shelves. Posts. Pots. Repeat.

Here’s the back half… a single shelf stack all the way to the top. I know that the very top shelf of the kiln usually gets a lot more of the soda blast. And I know that I don’t want the vases to get blasted. That’s why I dropped them down a layer – hoping they get a better blush &  shine instead of a soda blast.

And the front stack of two shelves… complete with a lot of spoons scattered throughout the kiln.

SO now it’s all packed up for the night. Kiln packs in the right places….
all I need to do is brick up the front door. Brick by brick.

Such potential for such a small space…

No exploded bottoms from firing my vases while they were still wet.
Even more to glaze tonight. Success!!!

Tonight I loaded the last bisque kiln before this weekend’s soda kiln. Okay, sure, it may not be the best & well-loaded kiln ever… but at this point, I just need to get ’em fired so I can glaze ’em.

Kiln Layer #1 – large stamped bowls and wall pocket vases.

Kiln Layer #2 – textured tiles.

Kiln Layer #3 – stamped vases, wall pocket vases and the textured slab vases I made last night. Of course, they’re still a little more damp than I would like, so I’m going for a couple hours of pre-heating with my fingers crossed.