It's almost two weeks since the exciting day when I returned to Shadbolt Centre to collect my sixteen pots from the latest soda firing. By the time I arrived almost all of the pots had been claimed and my pieces were arranged on a separate table for me. Safety precautions are important so we were given specific time slots to be there. I wore…
It takes me about a month to make enough pots to justify firing my kiln. When I had Raiders here I could be firing more often but, even with some exciting new work to see finished, I had to keep making. Finally I actually filled the bisque kiln. This last weekend the kiln with all the work, glazed, finally cooled enough for me to see…
One of the jugbirds I took to England in September was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. They are native to England, not North America. As soon as she saw it on Facebook, local Port Moody artist Maggie White asked for one too. Like me, Maggie grew up in England so was probably feeling nostalgic. My most recent flock of birds included her GS Woodpecker and today…
My title sounds a bit like a risqué petticoat, but no, it refers to the special, very liquid slips that are sprayed onto bone dry or bisqued stoneware pieces prior to a soda or salt or wood firing. They react to the surrounding flames and will lend a delicious opaque colour, often red-brown, orange or blue, or will encourage orange peeling. There's so much to…
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…