IRON & ORIBE

The actual firing from Wednesday seemed to go off without a hitch but as any potter will tell you, there is no certainties until the kiln is open and unloaded. I cracked the kiln Thursday morning around 10am and had it unloaded by about 4pm, overall the results were pretty good with the very bottom being just a bit cooler than normal and a slight snafu with the ash glaze that lead to pieces having very little of the flow effects that I prefer. I spent the evening packing up 3 orders which by the time I post this, should have all gone out the door. I decided to post pictures of a few pieces that were done just to do them, the henko vase form and an iron and Oribe water jar and teabowl. The teabowl was given a fairly even but thin coat of an iron glaze over the whole bowl to darken and enrich the surface while the henko and water jar both had the glaze applied in varying thicknesses to promote a lot of movement and flow about the surfaces. Where the iron was especially thick on the henko around the neck and shoulder the glaze became particularly active creating a strong visual highlight. On the water jar the glaze was applied to create enough flow to accent the shoulder and top of the form without obscuring the texture. Another kiln firing completed, a few days of down time while I sort out a group of tests and some "experiments" with glaze and then on to the next cycle.