Reduccion and Ger

Yesterday, the studio was busy, as many were prepping pieces to add to the gas kiln firing that evening. Greg, the glazing master was even around and gave some wisdom. I prepped 12 tumblers (one is really a creamer). All have shino glazes on them and a few, a bit of tenmoku as a design. The first six:The ones in the background are John's. He seemed to have an endless supply of pieces to glaze. He was at it way longer than I (then again he's been a potter for longer too!). Lately, the shino glazes have produced great results for me. I remain hopeful. Here are the rest:

Here they are, on the shelf, awaiting their final fate. They're all about the same size.

Julie and Ro loaded the kiln, decked out in warm clothes and winter hats. Wine and beer helped also. Julie really gets into it when she loads the kiln. Even while wearing the lucky clogs, she got inside. Becky helped a bit too as you can see here.Greg brought a couple pieces too. Here he's explaining which glazes went onto this pot. Does he ever put just one glaze on one piece? With his results, you can see why.

A close-up. That's Joe's mini blue glass pieces on the top. I want to buy and use some of those... Gotta get a pic of how this one turns out. Half of mine ended up on the bottom shelf in the front left of the kiln. Evidently where they are sometimes matters. Will see.... As we waited and watched the kiln loading, Becky and I made kiln 'gods'. Hence, Ger (short for Gin'ger'bread (my creation) and Reduccion (Becky's creation- a bird of course!) were born. :) Here they are. I think I need lots of practice with handbuilding and that I'm better off at the wheel. Right before the kiln door was shut, Ger and Reduccion joined the other kiln gods at keeping watch above the kiln. They are now way warmer than it is outside. Here they are with some of the others. They're in good company.A shot of some of my pieces on the bottom left shelf as the kiln was candling. See the flame on the left. Check out Susan's penguins!

Finally, a shot of the inside of the kiln just before the door closed. Wednesday afternoon, the door will open and we'll see what's inside!