Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone!

I'm starting 2013 with a firing of the electric kiln to cone 10..it was pretty chilly at 5.30am when I went out to switch it on. I'm trying out a few new clay-glaze combinations so they are mostly small pieces of work and some test tiles. Also firing a couple of cups in individual saggars, using a combination of charcoal and banana skins (a lot more banana skins this time so hoping for different effects). Firing with saggars can be very frustrating, but I keep doing it because I love the excitement of opening the lid and seeing what kind of alchemical magic has taken place inside. The results are almost always a surprise.

This sculptural piece was fired in a saggar back in 2011. The heavy reduction turned the shino glaze a wonderful, lustrous gold colour, which I think may be due to the creation of a form of Pyrite (FeS2) , the stuff they call Fool's Gold.

Approx 4 inches tall

Update: the firing was quite successful, apart from one saggar which had too much combustible material and the glaze flaked off in places. Cone ten was down after about 18 hours..I took it up quite slowly at first as I had a few raw-clay test samples in there.

The cup in the other saggar was over-reduced too, but the result was more acceptable. Actually, the inside walls of the saggar turned a beautiful shade of pinky purple..I'll upload a pic in my next post. This little sake cup was especially pleasing as I'd used a new oribe glaze recipe. It has pinholed slightly but in a very pleasant way..the glaze had been put on rather thickly, hence the lovely, deep drips flowing over the base.

It was fired on clam shells which have left their mark, as well as effectively salt-firing the underside. Not sure I will do this very often as it may damage the kiln elements. Anyway, I'll post some photos of other pots from this firing soon, thanks for reading.