13 October 2008

Perfection

I got a late start today after 2 meetings in the morning at LibertyTown. Didn't make it out to the studio until mid-afternoon, but I've been eager to get underway with loading the kiln and it felt good to make a dent. My title today refers to the weather...when I dreamed of building this kiln in the middle of the woods, this is exactly how I thought it should be. Perfect autumn weather that is supposed to last for days and days. This first photo is the view out of the kiln shed.


Here's a layer by layer photo series of today's progress in the wood chamber. I am meticulous and pokey about loading, and I still put too many pots in (I know that they need space, but it's hard to overcome greed and the habits of packing a gas kiln for 25 years).

It's really the beginning of the firing, since I start to imagine the flame as it passes over the pots, thinking about where I want that flame to come in closest contact.

The first layer is mostly planters with no glaze inside so I can fire another pot inside. I want to make lids one day and turn them into saggers.





5 comments:

John Tilton said...

Those planters could have a little flange on the inside and you could make another planter with an unglazed rim that would fit and you would have a saggar. Do they have a hole in the bottom? A little disk of clay could cover that.

It's a nice idea -- maybe some copper reds? Oilspots?

John

klineola said...

Why the big space at the bottom? I'm assuming it's cool there...

Ron said...

I like all the glaze pours.

Joe and Christy said...

I'm curious about the space at the bottom as well. From the pictures it looks like the bagwall doesn't even have openings down low... maybe my eyes aren't so good... quite a large space. Looks good though.
Joe

Hollis Engley said...

It's good to see all those beautiful pots starting to flow into the kiln, Daniel. And the weather continues here on the Cape as it is along the Rappahannock.
Keep us updated on the progress of the firing.
Hollis