Twice a year if I’m lucky, is how often I have the special pleasure of helping to unload a kiln full of soda-fired pots. Last Tuesday was one of those days. Alan needed the car so, for for the first time, I Ubered both ways. What a treat! There’s no way Cheryl will tolerate late-comers!
I had helped to load the front shelves on the previous Thursday so you can see how it looked then versus the colourful results we found when the big new door opened yesterday. It was my kind of firing, with apparently lots of soda introduced at the end of the firing last Friday, not too much grey carbon-trapping and lots of consistent orange peel.
As usual we formed a line from the kiln to tables set up outside, each of us taking the time to consider the result of each piece and exchanging information. There’s always a special liner glaze, a different clay or an unusual form to admire.
We were so busy that I didn’t have time to get to know the other participants in this firing. It was good to reconnect with David Lloyd and Glenn Lewis, and discuss the work with all of them. Perhaps I shall meet up with some of the others in future soda firings. After we’d unloaded all the front shelves our job was to scrape off all the glass from them, wipe off the dust and apply a new coat of kiln wash. Then we could discover what the back shelves had produced for us.
Then it was time to get all the remaining shelves cleaned and kiln-washed and in no time the pots were packed up and folks left.
Our local Leach apprentice, 90-yr-old Glenn Lewis, was testing samples of a new dark clay, sharing a kiln space with Julia. I didn’t mind at all when he remarked that my vase with a hole is reminiscent of Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture!
Here are my newly-fired pots. I’m very happy with the soda results and am most grateful to technicians Cheryl and Jay. The two round pots in the photo above have delicious orange peel or rich ‘Blair’s Red’ slip colour all over. Now I mustn’t forget to register next week to join another soda firing in the Fall.
Now I have some busy days ahead but I have already taken ‘professional’ photos of all the new pots, so will try to post a blog to show you them very soon. Meanwhile I shall try to get to JigSpace, a new-to-me gallery in Vancouver where five Taiwanese clay artists have a group show with four local clay people on until June 3rd. I attended their presentation at Shadbolt Centre last Saturday and must see their work in person!
Thanks, Gillian
Great Report!