Soda kiln firing… before & after. Side-by-side comparison of the magic
that happens in the soda kiln as the pyrometric cones melt and reach cone 10.

Celebrating another TEXTURE TUESDAY with a new stamped vase… fresh out of the soda kiln!

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with some quick peeks at some of my new “hybrid mugs” that came out of my latest soda firing. So pleased with the results… although I still need to clean & prep some of them before they head out. I need to fulfill a few orders & prepare for my next art fair in July in Glenview!!!

Just a reminder … groovy cool textures made with handrollers from the folks at MKM Pottery Tools!

So it’s been a hot-minute since I unloaded my soda kiln…
and a very HOT day today!!! But I digress…

So I’m finally getting around to sharing some photos from this latest firing. You know MUGS are my favorite thing to make… and these turned out great with fun colors & flashing marks!

So the steel door finally came off yesterday when the kiln finally cooled down… creating ONE BIG REVEAL instead of layer-layer & brick-by-brick with the old kiln. Very exciting & everything looks great. I love when the bright colors are popping… instead of the grays & browns that usually come out of a soda kiln! It was a fun unloading… like a little pottery treasure hunt!!! More photos to come…

Celebrating another Mugshot Monday… with a photo from my friend Eric with his favorite mug! Relaxing & enjoying a little “Father’s Day time” on the front porch with his pooch by his side. Looks like yesterday was also “Happy Doggie Daddy Day!” Thanks for sharing Eric!

In terms of sneak peeks… this is all we get!!! With the new full steel door, I can no longer peel off the top couple layers of bricks to speed up the cooling & get better peeks into the kiln. So it’s one peep brick pulled for one peek. Guess we’re all gonna have to wait until the kiln cools enough to fully open the door!

Yesterday I fired the soda kiln… a very long day checking it & making gas/air alterations. The new soda kiln has a solid steel door. So it was a little weird not having the “visual cues” that we used to have with the old “bricked-up” door. Remember the old kiln?… with crazy cool flames shooting out all over the place??? Sure, maybe not so efficient? Maybe not so safe? But it was always fun playing with the flames shooting out everywhere!!! This time, much “calmer” with a bit of a glow… and very few flames even during reduction! It all went smoothly… we’ll find out soon enough how it all turned out.

While my soda kiln was in “body reduction”… I made my soda mixture for later.
Basically soda ash & soda bicarbonate.

In the old kiln, I just scooped the mixture into the kiln on a long angle iron going in through the front peep bricks… dumping into the fire box. But the new kiln has a different fire box & peep “situation “… so we can only add soda through the back peeps with a much shorter angle iron. So I had to roll-up my soda mixture in wet newspaper “burritos“ that I will add into the kiln towards the end of the firing. Dropping them in through the back on that short angle iron. A new kiln & a new technique… we’ll see?!

And we’re just a couple days away from the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR! Make sure you’ve marked your calendar, rallied your pottery buddies & stocked-up on some roadtrip snacks!!! Make a full day of it visiting all six stops with 34 potters along the way! I will once again be at the Sandwich location… Stop #5. C’mon by…

For more information… www.northernilpotterytour.com