Friday, October 30, 2009

One more firing this fall

Well, we are going to do one more pit fire this fall. We are planning on Monday 11/2. The weather looks to cooperate, with only a slight chance of rain on Sunday. We were thinking about Saturday, but it rained almost all of Thursday, overnight, and chance of snow on Friday. That may make it a little damp to get into the pasture. We may even have help on Monday. A fellow potter from Luverne, MN is wanting to pit fire a couple pieces and we were happy to oblige. She may even venture out and partake in the fun. I guess you can say she is the guinea pig for a pit-firing seminar we are supposed to do next year. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Well, here are the results of the recent wood firing. We reached cone 10 in about 9 hrs and maintained temp for another 12 or so. We had a great amount of ash on the pieces as you can see on the face cups. The sides are bare, there is a rutile wash over the face area. The vase is one of my favorite shinos, although it did not perform as normal, but still turned out okay. The house numbers did not get as much ash as i would have hoped, but it gives them a nice rustic look.




Friday, October 16, 2009

Wood Fire

Well it is that time of year again. About once a year We decide to play with some high fire work, I use the same clay body, but I do play with glazes. This year it is a wood fire, I participated in about 6-8 of these, various degrees of success. This year I am doing "snot cups" again, typically I have finished them in the gas kiln, but timing is right for the wood fire. I also have new house number tiles, and I did throw in one vase with a glaze i really like. Tomorrow it will be lit, and it will be my responsibility to watch it overnight. If things turn out I may post a couple pics in a few days.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Bemidji Community Arts Center

Well, spent between 12-13 hours in the minivan on Friday for a trip to Bemidji, MN. We went up to deliver some fresh pieces to the art center. It was really a beautiful drive and encourage anyone to hasn't driven there. We didn't spend much time there just straight up to the gallery and back, with a brief stop in Fargo for some Christmas shopping, and then back home. Yes Christmas shopping. Anyway here is the link to the art center in Bemidji.... www.bcac.wordpress.com