So my soda kiln unloading went well yesterday. With plenty of fun colors & beautiful soda flashing throughout the kiln! Can’t wait to bring most of these new pieces to ART IN THE BARN this weekend in Barrington!

With another day of drizzly rain, my outdoor plants are very happy to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. They’ve had a rough go of it during the past few weeks of dry droughtness!

Started taking off a few more layers of bricks… almost cool enough to unload. It’s always exciting to see a good “pop” of color at the top of my soda firing. I’m not a fan of the “soda-blasted” dark grays that look like “dolphin skin”… some people like it, but not me!!! I prefer COLOR over dark grayness!!!

Today is Monday… welcome to a new week! It’s also soda kiln unloading day!!!
I just cracked the kiln open so it can cool a little quicker. Also… a little sneaky peek!!!

Kicking off the first day of Fall… with a cloudy morning bike ride. Lots of clouds with lots of sunrise potential. Or so I thought? We started with a good splash of color low on the horizon. But then the clouds took over & the color dissipated to total grayness. And now we’re supposed to get light rain all day… which is fine because we really need it! I can almost hear my plants breathing a collective sign of relief!!!

After a full day of firing the soda kiln… and the crazy coolness of the flames shooting out everywhere… it is always odd to me to turn it off at the end. The noise, the flames, the drama… all ending with a flip of a switch. Now hoping that everything inside looks great!!! We won’t find out until Monday night… fingers crossed…

As the firing is nearing the end, it’s time to add the soda mixture into the kiln. It evaporates instantly, causing the flames to go CRAZY… and hopefully sending the soda mixture throughout all of pots & shelves inside!!! Wherever the flames hit the pot… that’s where the soda mixture will work its magic & “glaze” the pot!!! Fingers crossed.

So I just placed the kiln in “body reduction.” This is when I throw the balance of gas-to-air out of whack. Too much gas for an efficient flame… so the kiln is seeking air anywhere it can find it. Thus the flames shooting out of the kiln searching for air… like the movie “Backdraft.” It is also the time that the porousness is being sucked out of the bisque making the pots inside solid & vitrified. Who knew so much chemistry & physics would play into my simple little pottery world?!

Early this morning… WE HAVE IGNITION!!!
And a long day ahead of me in the studio firing the soda kiln
for next weekend’s ART IN THE BARN in Barrington.

Finished loading last night… carefully stacking every shelf from back to front & bottom to top. You want to get in as many pieces as possible, while still leaving enough room for the soda atmosphere to move around inside & hit every pot. Lots of new stuff just in time for next weekend’s ART IN THE BARN in Barrington.