November 1

Barrel firings can be very fickle affairs. The barrel might get too hot or not hot enough. Humidity plays into the mix. And rain always complicates things.

Several factors worked against us in last night's firing. First and foremost, it rained overnight. Heavily. It didn't help that I forgot to add charcoal to the barrel. But given the rain, I'm not sure that would have made much of a difference. The end result is less colour to the pieces... and excavating them from sludge instead of ash. Yet I had some very nice results.


The wondrous thing about this kind of firing is that we can do it again. Any pieces that didn't capture the colour we hoped can be fired again. And fire again we shall. Saturday 11/07.

BOO!

All Hallows Eve 2009. Is there any better date to do a barrel firing at Clayworks?

The usual suspects were on hand, and we all had a piece of the action in the barrel. (left to right, Amy, me, Cinder, Elaine, Kim)

Our barrel, fondly named "Model T" has seen better days. And after more than a dozen firings, its days are, sadly, numbered. But Model T was on its game tonight. Despite intermittent showers, the barrel burned on.

Model T smolders on as the rest of us sleep. Tomorrow we'll see what transpired overnight. Rain is pounding our tin roof as I write this...so who knows what the morning will bring? But as I head for bed, remembering to turn the clocks back one hour, I'll keep this picture in my mind.

Trick or treat? I'm looking for magic. I'll post pix of the results once we have them. I'm optimistic.