So, after an excruciatingly long wait we opened the kiln yesterday. It was cool enough to unpack on Tuesday but I was flying off the Belfast to do a 2 day Masterclass and public lecture at the University of Ulster. My first visit to Ireland + of course had to sample the true Irish Guinness. Had an excellent time and Belfast seems like a great city.
Anyway...back to the firing....
This is a view from the firebox. As you can see cone 12 didn't go down at the front though it did throughout the rest of the kiln. Overall it was a very good firing. As it was longer than usual I used a selection of much stiffer glazes to allow for the extra ash deposits + time, however the results were very similar to my usual firings. the grate was surprisingly low in ash so I think that the quality of the wood we used limited the amount of ash + volatiles flying through the kiln and negated the extra hours we put in.
I did get some absolute stunners out of the firing and am currently looking very long and hard at my new work to see what I make of the results. Photos soon.
The kiln was full of very new work - mostly quite experimental.
Photographing everything carefully is a good opportunity to look closely at new work and evaluate it.
If you would like to come to Ceramic Art London and see my new work in the flesh please see here for details.
This is a view from the firebox. As you can see cone 12 didn't go down at the front though it did throughout the rest of the kiln. Overall it was a very good firing. As it was longer than usual I used a selection of much stiffer glazes to allow for the extra ash deposits + time, however the results were very similar to my usual firings. the grate was surprisingly low in ash so I think that the quality of the wood we used limited the amount of ash + volatiles flying through the kiln and negated the extra hours we put in.
I did get some absolute stunners out of the firing and am currently looking very long and hard at my new work to see what I make of the results. Photos soon.
