Early this morning…. the door is all sealed, pyrometers in place… and we have IGNITION!!!

So much fun watching Kelsey get so enamored by the flashings & patinas on some of the crusty kiln door bricks. Sure, it might have slowed down our process a little… but Kelsey is right… some of the bricks are GORGEOUS!!!

After stacking the kiln full of pots, it was time to close the door last night… brick-by-brick, one at a time. Luckily, I had some eager volunteers to help with the process. The bricks of the kiln door have been well-used & well-worn through MANY soda-firings, so stacking them is an ever-changing challenge. With that, a little sealing of the bigger cracks with some wadding always helps. They all persevered and we finally got it closed up & put to bed for the night.

It was a LONG night of loading, with my SODA WORKSHOP students learning a lot & did a lot of the work! They did a great job collectively… working together to make some loading decisions & working together to get all of their pieces in! Most of them had never loaded a kiln before… so this was.a great learning curve for them!

Last night we started with an empty kiln for my 3-DAY SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP. So my “workshoppers” started their evening with glazing & wadding their bisqued pieces. The goal for last night was to FILL this kiln… and they did!!!

Just in time for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!
Gotta replenish & restock the shelves!!!

Here’s a little sneaky-peek of some of my new Christmas Trees as I start unloading another glaze kiln! Just a couple more days until this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! Tons of pottery everywhere… and a lot of trees too!!!

Glazing & loading… time to add another shelf and LOT more trees!
This is just the glaze first kiln… I think I might try to squeeze in two more glaze kilns
before next weekend! Dare to dream…

Two kilns… twice the pottery… glazed & fired to cone six just in time for this weekend’s art fair in Glenview! Cooling now… cant wait to open it up to see some new treasures inside!

Well, here’s the “Big Reveal” of my soda kiln firing from this past weekend. It’s always a labor of love… not just making all of the work, but also all of the loading, bricking the door, firing, putting in the soda mixture, unbricking the door, unloading the pots, packing it all up, scraping the kiln shelves, kiln washing the shelves, mopping the floor, and so many other “not-so-glamorous” tasks that are all part of the process. Most people think we “just make pots.” Well, there’s a LOT more to it than that!!!

But I’m pleased… my firing came out GREAT.
Nice bright colors… not too much gray “dolphin-skin” build-up! I need to prep & price everything now… getting it ready for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend… as well as ART IN THE BARN two weeks later!!! Can’t wait to send them off to their new “forever homes.”