Barrel and Raku Day, Part 1

Yesterday was a busy one. This was how the barrel looked as the pieces were cooling. First though, here's some pics of how we got to that point.

We spent the morning prepping for the barrel and doing odds and ends kinda things. Cindy worked on a wall piece, Becky prepared birds, and Elaine worked on a bowl she's making.

Becky prepping birds... She used shells, coil scrubbies, aluminum foil (for the saggar firing) and other things.... like a seashell.

Cindy worked on her wall piece-- painting color onto a piece.

All the while, several birds (bellies up!) and cups awaited to be glazed. They waited a LONG while (several hours).

I put some raku glaze on a few pieces-- some pendants, three vases, and two slabs with writing on them.

In time, we took our barrel fired pieces outside. Here are some of my pieces and Minke's sculpture women.

When all ready, we put some pieces in the bowl and added sawdust little by little.

A few more pieces and more sawdust.

More sawdust and more pieces.

Becky and Minke added the sawdust little by little to the Model T barrel.

Then the barrel was lit. It was finicky and needed lots of attention as it went out several times and wasn't the hottest at first. Patience was much needed, so having lunch helped us in the waiting. Lots of good cheese and wine! I think our makeshift tables (carts) were quite creative.

In time when the raku kiln was hot enough, we put our first round of pieces in. For me, that meant the pendants on top and two slabs with writing. In the front are cats... Cindy's cats. Becky's birds to the right.

Results from the barrel and raku in the next post. Until then, here are the saggar firing results. More color on the saggar than the pieces! Hmmm What a day it was.