Out of the Fire



Hot pots out of the kiln ignite newspaper in the pit



In our spring of rain, the sun shone on June 12th for Bertine's annual pottery class firing of primitive, horse hair and raku pieces.  Students are anxious to see how their creations finally turn out and what with all that fire, it's a guaranteed high energy event.  Below, Mike (who gets the sweltering, dirty job of loading and unloading the kilns) takes vessels to Bertine and Jenn who lay horse hair on them while they're hot.



The Quonset is a hub of activity inside ... 

... and out!

For primitive firing, pots are placed in barrels with burning wood, sawdust and other weird stuff like food scraps.  They're left to slow cook all day; when they're done so are we and it's time for beverages and feasting!

My six pears and two pots

Inspired by my raku pieces from out-of-the-fires last spring I only made raku pottery this year.  And although I used the same glazes, the clay was different and therefore so too were the results.  I had hoped for a copper metallic finish but the Fire God obviously had other ideas!  Now to find twigs to use as stems.  And I will polish them.  I promise! 

To see the photo essay and the other types of firings please click on this link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150657212575438.686335.715295437&l=65f7bb0610