PROCESS

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PROCESS

MAKING POTS: I hand-build or 'throw' clay on a potters wheel. Altering a wheel-thrown pot & layering clays in hand-built pieces are but a couple of the techniques I play with.

CLAY: I like porcelain for functional serving and kitchenware. Stoneware is used for raku-fired ware and larger pieces. I have dug clay in the creek near my house. By mixing my local dug clay with commercial clay, I found I can use it for many items. I'm still experimenting, but like it for planters and garden art.

GLAZE: I mix my glazes from scratch. Which means I keep many raw materials in the studio and mix up glazes from a collection of recipes. Sometimes I 'invent' a recipe, sometimes I follow the recipe, and sometimes I alter a recipe to change the color or feel. There is much trial and error, and I am always testing recipes and combinations.

Glaze is usually applied by dipping the ceramic piece in a bucket of liquid, raw glaze. Larger pieces have their glaze sprayed on. I spray all my raku glazes on those pieces.

FIRING: After forming, the clay pieces are allowed to completely dry. Then they are 'biscuit-fired' to approximately 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. In this process the clay undergoes an irreversible chemical and physical change, yet is still very porous.

The final glaze firing is determined by the desired finished product.

Raku firing is relatively quick - as short as 30 minutes in a preheated kiln. I like to start my raku kiln early in the morning, and many firings are done in a day. One to five pieces can be fired at a time.

My new High-Fire wood & propane fueled kiln holds about 30 cubic feet of pots, and fires in approximately 24 hours to at least 2300 degrees Fahrenheit (cone 10). It then cools for at least 2 days. Fueling with wood yields many unique finished traits on the pots. With each addition of wood to the kiln, the temperature drops then slowly climbs up. The theory is the kiln increases temperature like the 'bunny hop': one step back then two steps forward. The reality is it takes many hours, but the effects on clay & glaze are incredibly wonderful & unique - well worth the time spent. By using different clays, and a much smaller palette of glazes than for my previous kiln, I know I can achieve a variety of colors & finishes.

This photo is my old high-fire kiln after a glaze firing.

Certain colors turn out better in a specific part of the kiln.

For example: the bottom shelf fires a touch cooler, so I have glazes that are used just on the bottom shelf.