Barrel Firing Number 9 (Number 9)

Others have posted far better photos than I have from BF #9 which took place on Saturday. See here & here. It was a very long day/ I arrived at Clayworks at 9:20 and didn't leave until 8:30-ish. I would have been there earlier but had to stop at a railroad crossing for an annoyingly long (and slow) train. Drumming my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as the cars crept by I suddenly found myself enjoying some really magnificent graffitti-adorned cars.
"What the heck?" it finally occurred to me. "I have a camera. I can take some pictures." Of course all of the really good examples had long since headed down the track. But here's one I liked, mainy because I love the Chessie logo. And once I got engaged with the unexpected artwork, that train seemed to race down the track and the gates lifted before I knew it.

There's a lesson in there somewhere I think?

The barrel firing (and the saggar firing) yielded mixed results. We had a lot more breakage than usual this time and --- for the most part --- less colour than we've received in previous firings. Initially I was disappointed. But after cleaning my wee flock, I was surprised to find that all but one of them looked pretty darned good. And I completely avoided the burn marks & crusting that oft happens in the barrel. So much for jumping to conclusions. Another lesson?

Keeping the sawdust burning evenly proved to be a major challenge for this firing. And to top it all off, Mother Nature decided to gift us with a thunderstorm late in the afternoon.

Fortunately, our barrel "Model T" weathered the storm. Most of the pieces inside were already cooling, though you can still see a hot section through the hole on the bottom right.

John manned the raku kiln for three firings on Saturday. (Thank you John!) The third firing made it through the thunderstorm unscathed. So did John's good spirits!

Here are some pieces from the raku kiln. Amy's pendants look great! And I was happy with one of the two raku birds.

Amy's plaques were especially nice and John had some lovely results! They show more on their blogs.

I ended the day by glazing more birds and some cave art test tiles for the gas kiln. Will post pix of the results once the kiln is unloaded at week's end. In the meantime I have a sale to get ready for this weekend..and next. And I'm looking forward to another Barrel Firing/Raku Combo soon.

Last Class Raku

Tuesday, Ron and his students held the traditional last class party/raku firing. And, as usual, there was plenty of good food, good drinks and good company. There were also plenty of pots. My favourite moment in the raku process is when the kiln is first opened, revealing the glowing treasures inside.

Already beginning to cool, there were some real beauties that came from that first firing.

My second favourite moment in the raku process is watching how the pieces react during the various stages of the firing. Here, one of my birds enjoys a fountain of flame. (Watch those tailfeathers!)

You can see the glaze a bit better here. It's called Apple Crackle -- the first glaze recipe I tried making on my own. I should have paid attention to the small print in the recipe that cautioned "this is a very tricky glaze to get right." Tricky is certainly one word for it. I've tried this glaze in three previous firings. And while Tuesday night's results were closer to what is considered "right", it's not what I'm seeking. Gotta keep trying.

Which brings me to the part of the raku process that nearly always frustrates me - the final result.

Wow! My good old stand-by glaze, Clear Crackle, crawled like crazy on my wingless dragon. But there was a lovely little gift given too. A teardrop of glaze, caught in mid-drip from the creature's snout.

John called it the "kiln kiss". And I guess that's why, despite my frustration with raku, I'm still intrigued by it. I could get a perfect, crawl-less piece next time out. The Apple Crackle glaze could unexpectedly come out magnificently. But chances are I will never get that perfect teardrop again. I'm hooked.

(Amy is too. You'll find more on her blog.)