Yesterday, as I was starting up the kiln, I took some time to clean up my studio and turn out some more reclaim clay. Right now it’s just kinda a pile of goo. But soon enough, after a little drying & wedging, I will soon have a bunch of “free” clay!!!

The kiln is loaded. My glazing is done. The kiln has been started.
Sadly, not everything fit in…

As I was cleaning my studio this morning, I “created” a couple stacks of bisque that didn’t quite make it into the glaze kiln. Looks like I’ve got a good head-start on my next kiln, huh?!

I’ve already waxed the bottoms… and therefore stacked them with newspaper in between just in case. I don’t want to risk any transfer of the wax resist while they wait for my next firing!

The kiln loading went well today. I’m sharing the cone 10 studio kiln with my studio neighbor Karen Patinkin. We’ve both ben glazing for a few days. Mine is more dipping, Her’s is more fastidious painting. Either way, we both kind of came together in the end and had a very efficient kiln loading. We were both surprised to see how early we were finished loading this evening.

Unfortunately, I got so carried away packing, loading & finishing up the kiln loading that I absolutely forgot to take some final pictures of the final stack?! So I guess we’re all going to have to wait to see the “after” photos as I forgot to take the “before”???

The glazing has begun. My mind is getting glazed over. And it’s starting to “spread out” all over my studio. It’s amazing to me how neatly stacked piles of bisqued bowls can suddenly take over my small space once they’re glazed and no longer stackable?! Crazy. And it’s also crazy to me to see just how much bisque I have piled up in my studio… I had NO IDEA that there were so many pieces in there waiting to be glazed!!! Crazy!!!

From this photo she just shared on Facebook, you can tell that my cousin Kim has a bumper crop of cherries growing on the tree in her backyard. Today was apparently cherry-picking day. Luckily, she found a nice oval casserole to put them in.

Now I hope she decides to make a pie or two to share!... or jelly… or jam!!!

As much as I hate glazing, you’ve got to start somewhere. So I’m getting ready to pull out the buckets, stir ’em up and start the dipping! Let the glazing begin…

Today I fired my soda kiln. It was a long day at the studio.
A long day of firing. A long day of firing the kiln.
A long & productive day of cleaning & organizing my studio.

The day starts early in the morning with blue flames going in…

And ends with a lot of orange flames shooting out… exaggerated by the addition of the soda mixture, and flaring out of the reduction environment seeking the oxygen!

It’s always exciting to fire a kiln and know that soon you’ll be seeing the pieces you’ve created finally done. You’ve worked on things for so long. Throwing. Stamping. Trimming. Firing. Glazing. And finally firing again. One step closer to the finished product.

An empty kiln holds such potential. Ready to be stacked layer by layer, shelf by shelf.
Of course you need to take a second or two to admire the kiln. To appreciate the colors and crustiness of the bricks. Over the course of many firings, the soda build-up changes colors and “eats-away” at some of the bricks. So it’s actually bad for the kiln, but kind cool to look at. Except for the arch of the kiln.. which has definitely seen better days. Remember the definition of an arch… well it generally refers to a curve somewhere. Sadly, the arch of our soda kiln doesn’t look too curved any more?! Uh oh… and yes, the next picture is the top “curve” of the arch… and I use that term loosely…

So I start with loading the back stack which is just one shelf deep.

Once the back stack is done, you can start the front stack which is two shelves deep. At this point it’s always a delicate balance of packing as many pieces into the kiln as possible… versus keeping enough air space around the pieces so that there’s plenty of air movement during the firing to distribute the soda. I have a tendency to pack my soda kiln tighter than most. I want to get in as much as I can!

Once the kiln is all stacked & packed, it’s time to close up the front door… brick by brick.

Once the kiln is closed, I turn on the burners for about 15 minutes to get some heat in there to dry out everything overnight. So I came home for a very quick sleep so I can get back to it early tomorrow morning to get the kiln started. The earlier I start, the earlier I can finish firing!!!

So I’ve been glazing a lot. Getting ready for my upcoming soda kiln. Glazing. Cleaning. Wadding. Getting them all ready for their trip downstairs to the soda kiln. At this point, I have one side done of my rolling cart. It’s a LOT of the smaller pieces. The ones that seem to take so much more time. But the good side is, that once my rolling cart is full of glazed work, I know that it pretty much equals a full soda kiln load. So I have one side done… more glazing & wadding tomorrow!!!

And yes, I’ve once again added on my masking tape “safety belts.” As I need to roll my cart down the hallway, take it down the rickety freight elevator, and then roll i tall the way onto the kiln room, I have found that some pots like to “jump off” the cart if you’re not careful. So a few “safety belts” help keep everyone safely in place!

Back to reality… with the kick-off of my summer art fair season just over a week away, I’ve really got to finish labeling & stamping my postcards so they get in the mail today!!!