The following morning, we're at the studio bright & early and ready to get the show on the road. One of us bumps up the gas, another adjusts the damper and body reduction begins. Kiln checks are every 30-45 minutes, leaving plenty of time in between to do whatever we wish. That's why I love firing the gas kiln; any excuse to spend 12+ hours at Clayworks puts a huge smile on my face. The rest of the day is spent looking through the peeps, checking the cones, nudging the gas & jiggling the damper, all the while hoping that - inside the kiln - everything is coming together, making magic, and that the pieces within will be glorious when the kiln door is finally opened. Late Monday afternoon, we were delighted with what we found.
On this table is about one third of our work. There were so many pieces on the shelves we were unable to get everything in for this firing. (Yay! That means another weekend at Clayworks will be coming soon!)
Pictured above, roughly front to back, is the work of Elaine Spallone, Julie Wiggins, and Chris Beloni. (Chris was the Team Leader for this firing.) In the middle of the table are some of my "flock". I had thirty-four birds in the kiln this time, evenly divided between what I call my "shino" birds and my "icy blues".
I experimented a little with four of the "icy blues", adding a bit of blue glass on the tail feathers. That's standard operating procedure for the "shino" birds but it's the first time I've tried it on their paler cousins. I was hoping for more of a "pooling" effect but the form of the tail didn't allow for that and the glass ran. Ah well, the idea was spur of the moment. Next time, I'll plan ahead when I'm making the birds and create the tails accordingly. I haven't decided if I like these little ones or not. What do you think?
This coiled planter, the biggest I've made to date, was a happy surprise. I didn't expect it to be so colourful. Now that Spring is here, I can't wait to fill this one with a rich potting soil and give a plant a new home.
Speaking of new homes, there's a mockingbird sitting just outside my window; in its beak are three or four pieces of pine straw.
I hope it builds that nest nearby so I can watch Spring's miracle of life unfold. I love this time of year as much as I love firing the gas kiln. Life is good.
4 comments:
wow.... great pics! I like the icy blue ones with the additional color on the tail. And that planter--- will be good to see these in person, hopefully. thanks for the post!
Wow, loading the Kiln is an artform. Love the results. Your birdies are so lovely, and Elaine's Owl platter is fantastic!
I love your shino birds, do you have an etsy site or a place you post them so I could purchase one? Elains owl platter is cool and so if your coiled planter, is that a mix of glazes you used on it? it almost looks like raku sheen.
Amy, thanks. I have a bit more work to do on the Icy Blues with glass. But it intrigues me.
Barbara - Yes, I learn more & more each day about loading the kiln. On day I hope to do it on my own. EEK!
Lovely Linda, I used to have an Etsy site but found it just didn't serve so well for me. I'm not a photographer and the photos I took never did the birds justice. So I gave up on it. The coiled planter was glazed with Carbon Trap Shino, then layered with Willy Helix and sprayed with Tom's Clear. Added dabs of Oribe. And a dash of granulated rutile (my fave) here and there. Lots of red underglaze accents on it as well. The clay body was Recycled Clay with large swatches of porcelain slip.
One big messy experiment. But my sister loved it. It was her b-day present. :)
Post a Comment