We have ignition… giddy-up!!!

My soda-firing has been going pretty smoothly today. Still a long day, but I got a LOT of projects done around my studio too! Getting my soda mixture ready… as it’s about time to start adding the soda into the kiln atmosphere. That’s when the real flaming drama really begins!!!

I’ve had some good “body reduction” going on earlier. It’s where the air-to-gas ratio is out of whack on purpose. Forcing the flames to “find” the air wherever it can. So it’s finding the air in the porous bisque, vitrifying it & sneaking out the peeps trying to make a stable flame!

On a separate note… I have no idea if B6 means anything?!

Bricked up late last night & ready to go this morning! It’s going to be a LONG day… but hopefully I’ll get a lot of cleaning & busy-work done while I’m firing today!

Finally finished stacking the kiln! Shelf by shelf. Post by post. Pot by pot. Tried to make some good choices as to which pot goes where for the best soda effects… in terms of air flow during the firing, as well as factors like clay type, glazed or not glazed, colored slips, etc. Hoping that the right pots in the right places will work out for the best in this firing tomorrow!!!

An empty kiln… always filled with so much potential. Loving the soda-fired patina on the bricks from repetitive firings. Glazing the kiln just as it will “glaze my pots” tomorrow when I fire them in this kiln!

LOTS OF POTS!!!
Tons of mugs and so much more! All glazed, wadded & ready for a trip downstairs on the rickety Lillstreet freight elevator! Hence the masking tape “seat belts” so nothing hops off along the way!

Huge thanks to my friend & former teaching assistant Cynthia for sharing her homemade marshmallows with me & my class… a nice ziplock bag full! And since I have the palate of a four-year old… of course I LOVE marshmallows… and it’s hard to top Cynthia’s homemade gooey-puffy-sugary treats!

With all of the April showers we’ve been having lately… it’s about time we got some flowers too… beautiful Star Magnolia flowers! Hopefully even more May flowers coming soon!

Lotsa’ stamps, lotsa’ green & one really impressive spiral! Another large platter fresh out of the kiln… getting ready & building inventory for the summer art fair season which seems to be coming quickly?!