I know that sound and its usually not my work making it...silly me i needed to fire up something quickly this afternoon. Some very small backing pieces as i'm short a set for my tiles to hang from and they were bone dry but i thought hey why not put in a couple of tiles which turned into 4 that i had in the studio and well done me i blew up 3 of them!! who hoo!! My lil raku kiln is difficult to control at the bottom end of the firing and as i put in 2 slithers of wood off they took and pop...pop.... then later pop!!!! well i knew that was at least 3 so slowly went up from 200C to 300C for the next hour then 400C and slowly again to 500C and no probs after that...
It was freezing outside today and i placed the kiln in the shelter around the side of my studio on 10 slab pavers...the idea being that it would be easier on the knees and my neck loading it a little higher.. i also happened to blow up my fav piece of white on white landscape tile.. oh well i make em, i break em!!
The market was lovely yesterday i think all the rain on saturday gave us the relief for market day..
It was very cold and clothing layers are not to be understated on these wintery days..and apart from the cold lentil pie all went well...I think if it is at all possible more peeps keep turning up every month..
Tomorrow is drop off day for The SA Ceramics show and the opening is friday night and I'm very much looking forward to this show. So have a great week all, more pics later this week i hope..
I opened the kiln this morning to shards everywhere too. I blew up two little stands that I made for my houses. I blow them up every time I make them, don't know why I keep trying! They are very thick slabs and I just never wait long enough. Why do we do this!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry about the blow ups, what a bummer. One of my potter friends here was telling me about someone she knows who fires sculptures and she said sometimes they wait a year for solid - yes solid - clay sculptures to dry and then they fire them over a week or something and most of them make it. totally amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteI like those bowls you have to the side, especially the ones with the dark color inside and light outside, so often they are the reverse, but I like your combination.
Makes me think hop on pop!
ReplyDeleteWe know better and yet- we try!
oh trace noooo... its not right is it... I dont have an electric kiln at home so theres no slow firing unfortunately and this was a quick option those lil tile backing pieces worked out fine.. I dont know why we do it trace, I thought i had everything ready for this show, oh well...
ReplyDeletehey linda big ones i can believe, all my big pieces i fire on low overnight then fire from there.. ooh those bowls i like them too..
hi meredith.. we do.. and yet somehow we expect things to be different...
sorry about the pops in the kiln... lovely bowls at the market
ReplyDeleteWhy do we do it. Glad it's not just me Ang and Meredith, I do it again and again "Oh it'll be fine"...
ReplyDeleteOops.
And then I'm always a little surprised when they don't make it. Ho hum.
hx
For me, it's more like a "whoomph." I thought I heard one this morning a half-hour or so after closing the lid on my electric kiln after it reached 1,000 degrees F. I was in the next building, so it could have been something else. I peaked in and everything looks fine. Could have been my wife closing a door or something.
ReplyDeletehey jim...yeh argh! ta.. need to follow those up, after being out of throwing action for a month its time to get bck to it...
ReplyDeletehey H, ha o can get away with it in the electric if i fire slow enough but this baby just flys up!!
hi michael, yeh the big pieces make that big noise, i felt sandys piece blow through the floor! last wkd when i was standing next to the kiln...you just never can tell with those mystery sounds...hope all is ok
Hey Ang! It was good to see you the other night. Your bowls are looking good! Hope you're keeping warm. I just did some glazing and have my pieces inside by the heater... See you Friday night!
ReplyDeletehi erin yeh great show..thanks i am fires on...oh well done and yep see you then.
ReplyDeleteHowdy Ang! Sorry it's been so long since I checked in. I've been slammed. Anyway, it ALWAYS cheers me to read your posts. Love your light-hearted "I make 'em, I break 'em!".... Working in clay has to be one of the most frustrating art forms ever!... The bowls are lovely.
ReplyDeletehey patricia, life kinda gets away from you sometimes..glad you dropped by... ahh the only way to view the damage really!! its all part of the fun..cheers
ReplyDeleteHi Ang....so sorry for the blow ups....we have had some luck with putting 'not-sure-if it's-ready' stuff in a cold raku kiln and taking it up very *very* slowly....notice I said "some".
ReplyDeleteExcited and waiting with crossed toes for the kiln to be opened!!
Bummer...I used to fast fire my kid's class work - mostly with great success even though they made some door stoppers. But - I used an electric kiln - makes a diff. 'pop' is never a good sounds unless you're listening to muzak.
ReplyDeletehey smartcat quite hazardous this firing in raku kilns eh..
ReplyDeletehiya C hehe gotta love student work..