After waiting three suspenseful days the fifteen TriCity potters who’d taken part in a first group soda firing showed up at 3pm on Tuesday afternoon to see what we’d done.
When I arrived a few tall pieces from the very top had been removed but I quickly snapped a photo of the front section of the load. With quite a few blue slip sprayed pieces the overall effect was almost like a salt firing. A line formed with the first person removing a piece which was then passed down the line to be considered and then placed on a long table. There’s much to learn.
Once the first half of the kiln was emptied we were all instructed to don our protective masks and gloves for the shelf-cleaning task. It’s an important part of the soda-firing deal! With all of us cleaning at least one shelf each the job was soon done. The sun came out unexpectedly and lit the flying glass that had accumulated on both sides and the edges of all the shelves.
We then spent quite a while with another line and much conversation about each pot being taken out. I am quite happy with my results, having used my own slips from my experience salt firing at Medalta and at Herman Venema’s. Some members weren’t so happy with the grey look of soda-melted surfaces but most enthusiastically asked Jay to book us for a repeat firing next year. One or two may not try this again. The random effects aren’t for everybody, so there’ll be room for others next time. 
Again we cleaned the remaining shelves, congratulated each other, thanked technicians Jay and Tony and packed up our loot to go home. Linda Doherty is already in Morocco on a Denys James pottery adventure. We are grateful to all three soda kiln firing team leaders and appreciate their patience and enthusiasm.
Today Alan took good photos of all my pieces so that’ll warrant another blog soon. I’m beginning to find my way with soda and appreciate its characteristics. Next time I shall use less of the strong blue and make more use of flashing slips and some underglazes. It’s silly to try for all around orange peel when we aren’t using salt. I think some members may lobby for slightly less soda and extreme heat next time so group decisions on that will prevail.
Do post your comments below, TriCity potters and others.
