Pit Fire part 1

I have been asked at recent show to show a few photos of the process. I know some people do not believe I use white clay, but you can see for yourself in picture #2. These are from the firing we did on 8/24/2009.

Here is a pit, yes it truly is a hole in the ground.

This is the base layer, organics such as leaves, grass, etc plus sawdust and the first colorants.

The pieces are set in the hole, notice a few paper bag saggars in the mix.

Now add some wood, and some more wood....

light it up and watch it burn.

Pit Fire part 2

Once the fire is going we let it go. We watch to make sure the grass doesn't start burning outside the pit area. This fire was very hot, the dark orange flames put the temperature of the fire between 1800-2000 degrees (according to a old book from 1905). The pots are not at that temperature just the flames at their base.

Here are photos of some of the pieces, notice there is not a lot of color yet. The pots go in white, initially turn black from the smoke and as they heat the black burns off at about 1000-1200
degrees. The clay will remain white until it cools more of the color becomes apparent.

Pit Fire part 3

Above is the the pit when we went back in the morning.

Here are some of the pieces out of the pit. They will be washed and waxed later.

I Hope you enjoyed the photos of our recent firing. It was not our best for color but you at least get an idea of the process. Thanks for looking and feel free to comment or send me and email with any questions.

Chad

ART ROCKS!!!!

It was a great weekend for the show. Great weather, it was so nice to be on the ground of the Rock County Courthouse. There was a steady flow of people to visit with, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you all. It was also a great weekend.....Up in Smoke Pottery won Best in Show! That was a honor. Tomorrow back to the pit to get stocked up for Sidewalk Arts on Sept 12. See you there.

Luverne Art Rocks!

Up in Smoke Pottery will be at Art Rocks in Luverne, MN this Saturday from 9-4. Our booth will be somewhere on the Rock County Courthouse Square. There is a 2nd art show event downtown Luverne, that means lots of great art to look at hope to see you there!

Good News

Up in Smoke Pottery is in negotiations with a long standing gallery in Omaha. We will keep you posted as it progresses. Also don't forget Art Rocks in Luverne, MN is coming up on Aug. 22. It will be held on the courthouse lawn this year. I believe I heard there will about 22 artists on the lawn, and there is a separate show at the coffee house with a few more. Look forward to seeing you there!

Vintage Iowa Uncorked

It was a hot weekend, with 15 hours or so of live music from some great Omaha area bands. It was great to meet so many new people. We had fun and even have a picture in the Daily Nonpareil of a couple looking at our work! I'm sorry I didn't catch their names, I blame the heat. The newspaper web site is http://www.southwestiowanews.com/. I did not get a chance to sample any of the many fine wines offered but I heard great reviews of them and saw lots of wine being carted off.