Of course, the order of the photos is the opposite to how I'd like them. That first picture is of a cobalt glaze - the Leach 4-3-2-1 glaze with 0.2% cobalt - which is horrid but I thought I'd include it for completeness. The shino glazes all came out quite similar. The pure petalite glaze has shimmered a bit, so I think I'll ditch that in future.
So where to go next. More technical stuff to sort out with the kiln I think. Nic suggested using a baffle in front of the flu to keep heat in. I have done that in the past two firings at it has worked, but I removed it this time. I think that needs re-instating. The pack was also too loose, and i think that'll have to be worked on. I need more kiln shelves though.
Lastly, the kiln has taken two days to cool which is too quick. I'd like to find a way of keeping the heat in a bit longer, especially in the first few hours after the firing. In two hours, the kiln lost 400 degrees or more. So the lid arrangement needs some readjusting, and the use of fibre needs some more care.
Finally, I think some or many of these pots are a bit, well, plain and dull. Not all, but some. I think a bit more decoration needs to be worked on - either the hakame thing again (I am reassessing some of my previous pots and deciding that I quite like some of them.)
13 comments:
Woo hooo! Well done Andrew! I love the quiet nature of those shinos from this firing. Yes, ditch that blue too, it's not you at all. I like the two ovalish vases in the 7th photo. What glaze is that? The same shino, but different part of the kiln? How about firing down with the gas burner to keep the kiln from cooling to quickly? You could put it in there for several hours after the firing.
Of course if you don't have enough shelves there's always wadding/shells and creative stacking. Best of luck with the show. I'm glad you are looking back at some of your other pots and liking them now. That's how it works in my experience. Very exciting. Start planning now for the next firing, less stress at the last minute if you do that. You're the man!
Beautiful pots and shinos, I like the matt surface of the blue, wondering how it would look on a plate or as an accent color with another glaze?
Hey Andy, Make them all blue to sell them??? But I know that you know cobalt and wood firing just don't fit! If you want blue then why not try iron blues or some ash glazes? I think the shino over the darker clay body is really nice. Some great pots, See you soon, Nic.
Yeah - blue sells :). But not that blue. I put these in as space fillers so I won't be doing that again. They were meant to be an attempt at an oxidized celedon but I never got around to firing them in the electric kiln.
As for the dark clay pots they aren't glazed at all. It's just a hyplas slip over a crank clay. Again just thrown in as space fillers but amazing colours on them. Will do that again.
Thanks for all the comments.
Linda the blue is very shiney - just a bad photo obviously.
Hey Andrew, woohoo exciting, lovely bowls, like the handled pouring bowls to and the ovaly ones that Ron mentioned. This is all great to see. Loving it.
h
x
If you only lived closer! I would run right over and be the new owner of a few of those!!! I think you are your own worst critic, as we all are, but there are some very nice pots there. I can remember some of your first blogs, look how far you have come and so quickly! Gives me hope!!!! Also, I'm firing my gas kiln tomorrow going to try again at a cone 10 and you reminded me that I need to do that baffle thing, thanks!! I'm a brown pot girls so not too fond of the blue, sorry:) (which actually means that you could probably sell all of them)
So great to see the results of your firing. There is real progress going on, and some lovely glazes. Cost of firewood is horrendous for us too, and can be a real barrier to experimentation with wood firing, but hopefully you will make some good sales with your work.
Regarding the kiln cooling too fast, I'm not sure what you are aiming for with that, but an initial drop at the rate you mentioned doesn't sound too much to me (after all, many potters crash cool their kilns to around 1000 degrees C and then cool "naturally' after that). I did slow cool my kiln once, but ran into problems with some of my liner glazes that became rough with crystal formation. Unless I am slow cooling for a special reason I now let the fire go out and come down reasonably quickly (probably around half an hour to 40 minutes) from 1300 to 1100 C before clamming up the fire box completely, and controlling the rest of the cooling with the chimney dampers. Ron's idea of firing down with gas would be very practical and easy if you really need to come down slowly, or you could fire it down with wood by simply reducing the fury of your fire.
Good luck with it all.
Thanks Peter - I'm happy with the pots - in fact, almost all the pots had something going for them, with the exception of the blue ones.
The rate of cooling has to do with the colour in the shino. Shino benefits from the longer firing - I wasn't getting this much colour before - but slow cooling does promote colour I think - like in copper red glazes, it all happens after the firing. I have put white shino pots in a bisque firing, and seen colourful pots come out, so that's kind of proved it to me, in a way.
Anyway, other than putting more pots in the firing, I'm not sure what I can do about it. I shall arrange the fibre better next time and try to seal all the edges and gaps. This firing was very empty.
Promoting crystals in ash would be good as it would add to the effects I think. I got a nice lustre on the shino this time, from a slight reduction when I clammed up. The ash came from firing with hard wood and throwing in oak sawdust. The runs around the tankards is from my celedon glaze - added to help keep the rims smooth for drinking from. I thought it would blend in more, but it ran like ash.
The firing down is even more controversial. People like Arthur Rosser think it promotes colour, by reduction cooling down to as low as 600 I think. He uses small amounts of pruning material. I could do the same, but I think that's a test on its own sometime. A lot of people seem quite sceptical about it.
But then what do I know? I'm still learning all this stuff, and I go by what I read and what Nic and Matt tell me. All I can do is experiment and see what works and what doesn't. So far, no two firings have been the same, and I learn a lot each time I fire. I think that's all I can do, although it does mean that, at the moment, there's kind-of no consistency in my work. But I'm happy with that, for the moment.
I quite liked the gold/orange/peach colours I got from this firing - they're fresh - but might not be to everyones taste. I was most surprised by the colour on the ball clay slip - that it fluxed and went red. I'm going to do more of that for sure.
Hi Andy,
Good to see you at Oxford.
Have been following your blog but have had difficulty commenting however i think I have sorted it now.
pots look great and very saleable.
eared vases pots look great!
Like thebowls and pouringbowls/jug/sauceboat shape.
Tony made a great 2nd man.
Brian
Hello Brian! Thanks for the comments - yes Tony made a good second man. I couldn't have done the firing without him, really (it was his bravery up the ladder that got my chimney built.)
Hope things are going ok for you. I haven't forgotten you - I have two dvd's to post on, plus that kiln design. Just been a bit of a rushed two or three weeks, and it hasn't let up yet (I have another firing in a couple of weeks time, possibly.)
Great pots!!
Post a Comment