It's been a tense few days. Despite the glaze peeling off some pieces during the firing (again!) it really was an excellent firing, with some truly stunning pieces. Some loud and brash and some quiet.
The glazes are on quite thickly and I am using all unprocessed, self collected materials so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to get a selection of faults, but it is heart breaking to hear and see beautiful pots crack apart. There were no pots this time that failed in the firing and met the hammer on the way out but a few have since bitten the dust as they acclimatise to the outside world.
Hopefully the rest will continue to survive.
Now more relaxed I can enjoy the positives, but I have to think about the negatives to plan the next firing. I've never had dunting before and also a weird fault where the glaze seems to craze not only down to the clay but within itself, so that ash crystals on the surface feel rough and lift off in a little shard of glaze. Very sad that this has happened on an otherwise gorgeous piece.
Some new glazes include plenty from the Malverns. This is a dark semi matt glaze based on the Precambrian diorite and Triassic sandstone there.
Those are some amazing results you're getting....
ReplyDeleteLove the green orb.
love the striated surfaces of the glazes, hope you can get the glaze problems figured out, are you bisque firing ?
ReplyDeleteYes - I have to bisque fire (and very slowly too). It's the stresses of the glazes on rather unusual clays I think. It's just something I have to put up with to keep alive the chances of getting remarkable colours.
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