Any time you fire with flame rather than predictable electricity you are going to have surprises. Whether your work is in a reduction-firing in a gas kiln, in a wood kiln or a salt or soda firing you can never be sure how things will work out. There are sometimes serendipitous happenings and other times when the surfaces are flat, rough, crunchy or the wrong…
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…
Last year the TriCity Potters decided to ask for a group soda firing at Shadbolt Centre and we were given a slot for this April. To get prepared we invited Fredi Rahn, who teaches there and who has lots of experience with soda firing, to give us a presentation in January. She discussed which clays to use and explained that the outsides of the pots…
It's time to post the results of my part of the recent soda firing at Shadbolt Centre. Just today Al took photos of the latest earthenware, electric-fired jugbirds so those will appear very soon, but I like to keep my notes chronological. Since I got to see the new salty-like pots we have…
Last Wednesday Al and I went on a long-awaited getaway to Whistler but first there was the soda kiln unloading. He had to wait for me to do the important stuff! When I arrived at the kilns Linda had already unloaded the Blaauw kiln and reloaded it with another batch of cone 10 reduction student work. By 10am most of the soda firing group…