Everyone
is quick these days to use the phrase; "you need to think outside the
box", but from my perspective, every time I start a new cycle, it is just
as important to think inside the box. In this case, the box is the space and
volume of the kiln and how do I fill it to maximize its potential. Obviously,
it is important to first plan out any orders or commissions, next comes the
fill in the blank portion of planning a kiln load. In this cycle, I threw a
group of large covered jars where they are widest at about the top 1/3 of the
form, so I planned out a group of vases that would be at their widest at the
bottom 1/3 of the pot to fit a vase between each pair of jars.
This
particular time I decided to throw double gourd form bottles which I had not
thrown in quite a while. Illustrated is a picture of four of the bottle/vases,
the tallest just under 14", the two with hakeme slip will be glazed in the
iron yellow saffron glaze and the other two will be glazed in my temmoku and
iron red glazes. The one plain white slipped bottle was simply about giving me
some flexibility in decoration and glazing, even though I am likely to use the
temmoku/iron red combo none the less. Good to keep your options open when
thinking inside of the box while being a bit out of my gourd as another week
commences full tilt.
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