this little guy was refired.

refire!

i had some cracks come up along the coil lines.  don’t know why since they aren’t going all the way through and i smoosh on both sides of my coils.  i don’t mind because they only come out after an atmospheric firing and i feel they are in line with the anphibian like skin.  the stress of the enviroment causing crackles and ruptures.  and they aren’t structural, i don’t think.  i’m going to experiment with bisquing a little higher and see if that helps.  one of the chicken butts had a long crack across it.  again it didn’t go through, but i didn’t like how wide it got.  too distracting.  the same peice had a big ol’ dry spot on the whole back side, so i refired it this week, again getting lots of juicy soda and carbon trapping and filling in that crack a little so it looks like a healing froggy scar.

it’s so fun firing this kiln up.  we’ve gotten the results we were after but it’s all a total learning experience and experiment to an extent.  were we firing this for the members we would have to back way off on the carbon trapping and the body reduction and also do a proper glaze reduction.  and though i was happy with the results from this load i found areas of the kiln i particularly loved so i’m going to have to work on refining the technique we’ve been using.

again, chistmas mentality took over (and the fact that j- is heading out in a few weeks) and we started scheming how we could fire it again before she leaves.  having someone to share the kiln with is good, make a little work, fire, fire, fire.  once she leaves i’ll have to put my nose to the grindstone to fill it.

j- is moving up to bowling green, ohio for grad school, which is were s- just got her bfa from, so in early august the three of us are going to head out on a short roadtrip to move j- up.  i have no connection to the area, just an extreme urge to TRAVEL.   we’re going to stop in on my friend k- in atlanta and mudfire.  from there we’ll stop in asheville, nc in hopes of checking out the highwater factory, odyssy center and maybe some local artists.