While other friends are being a little “healthier” for breakfast this morning with this bright & colorful fruit salad in a “rustic†yellow bowl with a stamped rim & white slip stripes!

Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play |
While other friends are being a little “healthier” for breakfast this morning with this bright & colorful fruit salad in a “rustic†yellow bowl with a stamped rim & white slip stripes!
So while I’m in the studio firing the soda kiln all day today, looks like some of my friends are having a YUMMY morning. Like my pal Sarah who’s enjoying a banana & chocolate chip breakfast bundt cake this morning!!!
So?… if there’s no frosting does that mean the cake is for breakfast???
So my soda kiln loading took awhile tonight, but went very smoothly…
until I saw THIS!!!
Apparently whoever unloaded from the soda kiln last didn’t get the whole brick out of the right side peep as it was fused in place! Of course I only noticed this after the door was fully bricked up!!! This side peep is one of the ports that your need to insert the soda into the kiln. This brick-blocked-port is a problem!!! It took awhile to chisel it out… now hoping that it didn’t leave any bad debris inside the kiln?!
And there it is… all bricked up for the night. For tomorrow I turn it on for a full day of firing. Always a LONG day… but the payoff is always good in the end. Plus, it’s a great day to do some glazing of class demo pieces & studio cleaning!!! Busy work that I keep putting off… but tomorrow’s the day!
Front stack loaded… two shelves deep with a lot more pots. Quite a few mugs. You know they’re my favorite thing to make! I love loading the soda kiln… pot by pot, shelf by shelf until it’s full.
Now time to brick up the door… ugh.
Back stack packed & loaded… lots of pots already in the soda kiln.
And that’s just the back third of it!!!
An empty soda kiln filled with possibilities… and some really cool soda-covered bricks!!! Loving the crusty patina colored finish after a lot of soda-firings in this kiln!!!
Well, my studio cart is all glazed, wadded & full…
…with masking tape “seat belts†in place for the arduous journey downstairs via the rickety old freight elevator! Always hoping for no jumpers or speed bumps!!!
A few oval vases glazed & ready for soda-firing… just need some wadding! I think these might be the last pieces to be glazed… getting ready to start loading soon.
Back to glazing… as I’m nearing the end. Lidded jars glazed… inside the jar & inside the stamps! Next up… soda-resistant wadding on the bottoms & lids.
Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
Lillstreet Studios ∙ 4401 North Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois 60640 ∙ 773-307-8664 gary@firewhenreadypottery.com |