This past week was not the best one to be packing a kiln as the weather was wretched! Everyday it was rain, hail, snow and wind in any order or combination. As the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change." So for all of you who thought I was taking it easy in the sun and daffodils, it's actually really cold and damp here. I think the worst part is that so many lambs were born; we humans go in our nice warm houses but the sheep just stand there and get soaked. They are not the brightest animals. The ewes stand with their newborn lambs in the absolute middle of the field where there is no protection from the wind. Although they a bit dim they are such lovely creatures. On Tuesday the weather was really bad and the farmer came to check on the sheep. He had to take a few lambs and ewes home as the ewes were not feeding their lambs properly. The farmer held the ewe and Lynne and I had to catch the lambs. I got to carry them across the field in the driving rain. I felt bad for them because they didn't know what was going on but they were so cute and nice to hold! One of them I was holding kept bleating, then its mom would bleat then the lamb would do it again. They did it the whole time until they were both together again. I hope they all get strong and healthy (although I know once they do they will be lamp chops...sadness.)
This week was spent loading the wood kiln and glazing pots. We are still not done loading the kiln; it takes a long time. The main reason why many potters like wood firing is because it gets so hot inside the kiln the wood ash flies around, lands on the pots and melts, making a glaze. Because of this each pot has to sit on something refractory so it does not stick to the shelf. Most potters use wads which are little balls made of of refractory material. It takes a long time to load because each pot needs several wads stuck to the bottom. If the pot has a lid, wads need to be placed on the lid seat so the lid does not stick. It does take a long time to roll all the wads and stick them on the pots but Phil has a little shortcut. He had me make little biscuits out of the refractory material. Each flattened biscuit has three raised lines that radiate from the center. The pot sits on these raised lines and does not stick to the shelf. Instead of having to roll three or more little wads you can just set the pot on the alumina biscuit. It cuts down on the time and you can re-use them over and over. It is a trick he picked up in Japan.
Phil's wood kiln has three chambers meaning there are three rooms if you will, that contain the pots. Each chamber is a little higher than the last which helps draw the flame and heat through the kiln. We have been loading one chamber at a time starting with the biggest main chamber. That chamber will get plenty of wood ash and flashing. Flashing is markings on the pot created by flame. Next, we loaded the firebox. As you can guess, this is where the majority of the wood goes. Pots that go in the firebox usually have a lot of ash on them and they can be pretty chunky and rough. Phil did not have good results from the last firebox pots but I am trying to be positive and hopeful that this lot will come out better. He knows what he needs to do to make them better, let's just hope the kiln cooperates! The last part to load is the salt chamber. We started loading today (Monday). The difference is that when a certain temperature is reached packets of salt are dropped into the chamber. It is so hot inside the kiln, the salt turns into a vapor and covers the pots with a certain sheen and texture you don't get from an ordinary gas kiln. These pots will look distinctly different from those in the other two chambers. Phil is most well-known for salt glazing as he has done it nearly all thirty years he has been a potter. He wrote a book on the process called Salt Glazing that is very good. Salt glazing is not new; it was probably started in 13th century Germany. Salt glazed pots look very similar to soda glazed pots. Soda glazing is a newer technique that was started because it was thought to be more environmentally friendly. It is debatable which is better for the environment but they both remain popular firing methods. Phil has also had trouble getting the right results from the salt chamber. Again, he knows what he needs to do; let's just hope the kiln cooperates!
Phil hopes to have the kiln loaded by Wednesday so we can light a small fire on Thursday. This will warm the kiln up and we will probably start the regular firing on Friday. It usually takes 36 hours to fire the wood kiln. All kilns are different; some Japanese kilns fire for seven days or more! Others are much shorter and can finish in 4 hours. It all depends what results you are looking for and how simple or complex you want to firing to be. On Wednesday, Margite and Tomas are coming from Estonia. Margite was Phil's assistant before me and Tomas is her boyfriend. They will be helping during the firing. As you can imagine, it takes a team of people to conduct a 36 hour firing. Phil and I have been coming up with new definitions for pottery vocabulary. This is Phil's favorite definition at the moment- "Firing- the opportunity to wreck a lot of pots all in one go." Although it can be that, it can also be an opportunity to get a bunch of good pots in one go. We're bound to have pots we don't like but let's hope they are not all hopeless. In the mean time, I'm sure Phil's body is protesting as he has to squeeze his 6' 5" frame into each chamber to load all the pots in. They shelves are pretty heavy too.
I had a nice Easter. Phil's dad Ray came from Newport for a visit. Lynne got Phil and me big chocolate eggs. Cadbury chocolate started in Britain somewhere so there are always lots of their products in the shops. I went to the Easter service at the Protestant chapel and experienced something new- singing the traditional hymns while an accordion played the music. It was like an Easter polka or something. Although it was cold and windy at least the sun was out. Phil and I had a day off even though I know Phil wanted to keep loading the kiln. Instead, we watched one of Phil's favorite movies, The Great Escape that is apparently on every holiday. It is based on a true story where a bunch of POW's try and escape from a German camp. Also, Lynne and I made hot cross buns, something I had heard of but never actually tried. They were nice with a cup of tea.
Well, its down to the wire with kiln loading. It will be an early start tomorrow so we can finish loading the salt chamber by Wednesday. Also, I realized I can put short video clips on my web albums. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!
Take care,
Kari
www.kariinwales.blogspot.com
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