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First round of test tiles are in the kiln!

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Porcelain test tiles. I’m in a Glaze Chemistry class at the art school I work for, and I’m trying reaaaaally hard to stay on top of my homework 😅 Sixty test tiles in stoneware, and sixty test tiles in porcelain. I’ll start dipping tests later today.

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I’m on a team this year. This is gonna be interesting 🧐

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Go Keiko go!!! 🥳

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Work in progress. This pot is only bisqued, with some black underglaze inlayed into marks. It is destined for a wood firing at the end of May. Currently is sits on my window sill to reference as I make.

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I imagine that this is the face cats make when sunbathing. Current work in progress for the upcoming wood firing in May. The clay is Starwork’s Grogeewemee stoneware.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in Tumblr…. is it rude to use lots of tags? I feel like I don’t know how to social media anymore 😅

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I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about combining plants and pots. I think the earth tones of wood firing can combine with all sorts of different plants in an aesthetically pleasing way. These two wood fired pots of mine are used to propagate succulents (aka the succ kindergarten). This wood firing season I am hand building vessels intended to house plants. I’m playing around with various forms, glazes and clay bodies in an effort to develop a body of work that elevates the planted pot as an art form.

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Grabbed a Pentel brush pen recently. Haven’t quiet mastered the perfect stroke, but I’ll get there. Practice practice practice....

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Putting pencil to paper. Chihuahuas and fancy cats. I think Finnegan O’Malley the Fancy Cat needs to make an appearance more often....

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We started loading the now rebuilt wood kiln this weekend. Loading kilns of this size take a bit of care and consideration, so our group allots about 5 or 6 days to complete the job. Day 1 is unpacking all of the work and glueing tiny clay balls to the bottoms of pots. These balls are called wads, and act as little temporary feet, elevating the pots off the shelves to prevent them from fusing to it during the firing. The shelves will get a protective layer, known as kiln wash, to help prevent pots from sticking. Wood firing is an atmospheric firing, meaning the material that glazes the pots will be flying around the inside of the kiln coating everything in a layer of essentially molten glass.

Day 2 was a day of carefully choosing which pots would be best for the back of the kiln. In the past, the back of the kiln fires a little cooler and can have cold spots, with less wood ash reaching the pots. Pots that are fully glazed will do their best in the back, where their glazes should melt and not need to rely on heavy ash build up to look nice. At least, that is what we hope for. On each stack the largest pots are placed first, staggering smaller pots around it to help break up the path of the flame. Wood fire potter Justin Lambert once advised to think of pots like rocks in a creek, and the flame as water. We want the flame to flow and wrap around every pots as it travels from the front to the back of the kiln. It can feel like a puzzle!

On days 3-6 we will continue stacking. We hope to be bricking up the door this coming Sunday, and starting the fire on Monday. Wish us luck!

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the dead mouse sculpture is coming together... in this pic flanked by two super tall John Reinking vessels. eleven days til we 🔥

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Working on the next batch of spirit cups. Can’t wait to see how this cup turns out after the woodfire. Two weeks and counting!!! 🔥😤🔥

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Working on the next batch of spirit cups. Can’t wait to see how this cup turns out after the woodfire. Two weeks and counting!!! 🔥😤🔥 (at New Jersey)

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Recent plates.

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a strange little blue bird hung out in one of my dreams this morning.