What came out of the Raku Kiln and the Barrel?

Here's one of the small cans that raku pieces were put in. Look closely; one of the sides of the raku vase can be seen. Why a raku can? After the pieces are heated up in the raku kiln, they're transferred oh so carefully into a barrel, where they cool and get more color.... a lid is placed on the can and once or twice, the lid is lifted to burp the can. The can initially catches on fire because there is newspaper lined on the walls of the can and when the red hot piece touches the newspaper, there is FIRE!

Second blog post of the day. Here is what the raku kiln and barrel firing gave. Gosh, that was a long day and more pieces than ever cracked or broke while in the barrel. Hmmm This is all just a mystery at times. Above is a pic of the barrel as it is cooling down, before anything is unloaded.

One of my raku pieces. Glaze is blue green raku glaze with superstition on the rim.

Another raku piece; white crackle glaze (I inadvertently put the wrong glaze for this raku kiln temp; and turquoise luster at the rim). Still beautiful in my world.

Some of the barrel firing pieces. More pieces than ever broke or cracked in this firing, including the arm of the woman who is lying down in the front of the pic. Notice Elaine's bottles and Minke's sculptured women.

My barrel fired piece; what's inside?

It's one of Becky's birds! It was frustrating to learn that this raku vase piece of mine did have a crack in it; a first for me. :( Still can display this as the crack is not very visible.

Barrel fired pendants; not much color---- they were way deep in the sawdust, I guess? (we'll never know!) There's an ongoing mystery to barrel firings. Maybe these will have a bit more color when cleaned.

Becky's birds: some barrel fired, two are raku fired. As always, the barrel firing produces unpredictable results.

A closeup of my big barrel fired piece.

I spent most of the evening glazing 20+ pieces. All have spotted shino glaze as a base and alfred's blue and, red iron oxide, and rick's shino. Some are sprinkled with soda ash.

Some have a bit of alfred's blue glaze on the interior. I'm hoping the shino produces some good color in the gas kiln.

And last, but certainly not least, here are two more raku pics. The above one is a pendant in the raku barrel and one of the plaques. Thanks, John for the tips about firing plaques in a raku kiln. (Always fire them on an angle, not flat on the kiln). After the pieces get really hot in the kiln, they're transferred to cans, which accounts for the first pic in this blog post.

Not the best pic; I like the concept. Will try something like this again soon. All in all, a good day. How could it not be a good day when one spends 11 or so hours in the pottery studio?

Goblets/Chalices in the Making

Before I do a post about the barrel and raku firing results, there's today. I finished these five goblets/chalices. Gosh, they take alot of time to make and I can be such a perfectionist! (not good always for artists or anyone, for that matter). All are phoenix stoneware clay and they look shorter than they are in this pic, but I'm pleased. Some of you have asked about them... since they have not been bisque fired yet, and they also need to be glazed, they will not be ready until the end of May, since the gas kiln is only fired once a month or so. I'll make plates that can accompany them, for those who are interested in them as communion ware. They'll be glazed in the same glaze colors as the cups at the top of this blog... spotted shino with blue accents.
When I arrived at the studio today, I saw these. They're handmade vases, made by some Clayworks artists plus some who are a part of the Urban Ministry Center for a benefit in the fall. In all, a bunch-- about 100 will be made. All are different--- unique.

A couple in a closer pic.

Chris also showed me this tool that she uses in handbuilding. I'm gonna make one of these for myself.... it makes great lines--- in the saucers, one's fingers go in the indentations and then the piece is rolled over the clay.

Spent a few minutes adding some Rick's Shino glaze to some yunomi cups that will be fired tomorrow. Wanted some more variation in the Shino glazes.

A few more yunomis waiting to enter the gas kiln tomorrow. 25 in all. :)

These are the brushes I used... recently purchased from Kent McLaughlin. They are amazing! Great lines and variation in thickness with them.

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.

Full

My shelf at the studio is full. Made yunomis, a plant pot, a big bowl, and trimmed a bunch of yunomis today. Forgot to take pictures of everything until the end.

Tomorrow I have much to do! The shelf will be bare at the end of Saturday night.