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…
After finding 'Beside the Wave' gallery at Primrose Hill I took the tube south from Chalk Farm to Tottenham Court Road. As every potter visiting Britain knows, that's the stop for the Contemporary Ceramics Centre at 63 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3BF, across from the British Museum. Thinking of taking a selfie to prove I was there, a Vancouver artist friend of Jackie Frioud (Salt glaze…
Once again I have packed jugbirds into a smaller-than-carry-on-size box ready to take to the airport with me tomorrow. I think the allowable size is now smaller so some will have to go in my hand-bag too. Good thing I only want a book and passport besides them. While I am travelling to Cambridge, Berlin briefly, London and Salisbury…