Woodfired Earthenware?

















I've finally been in the studio after catching up on the outdoor chores...they say to make hay while the sun shines...so I've been making pots while the moon shines.

I'm almost ready to fire up the wood kiln with an earthenware salt glaze firing! I'll fire somwhere between 1800 to 2000 degrees...I was inspired to try this technique over the summer while helping Ron Meyers with his workshop at Penland. Ron fires a wood kiln down in Georgia to earthenware temps. I think there are some subtle colors that will show up nicely in this temperature range.
During second session at Penland, I worked with Ayumie Horie who also uses earthenware. I loved her clay body and brought some home with me. I've taken to combining Ayumie and Ron Meyers clay together, about half and half, both of which were mixed by Highwater Clays in Asheville, NC, and using this mix to make the large planters shown above. The planters shown above were made using Daniel Johnstons Thai style construction technique. They'll be stacked rim to rim in the kiln. The sizes range from 12 inches in height to 18 inches across the top rims. These are some of the largest pots I've made...
I'm making a few cups and some other functional pieces and hope to test some glazes and slips in this firing. I ought to be ready to fire sometime soon! I am really excited to try something new! It keeps things fresh!

If you're interested in helping or just seeing the wood fire process, just let me know!

Here are a few recipes I'll be using for this firing...Thank you Ayumi
Modified Clay c/02 ---3 o’clock
OM 4 Ball Clay 10
Redart               70
Goldart              20
Frit 3124             3
Barium                0.25
Bent                    2
Kyanite (fine)      5

White Slip c/02
OM4 Ball Clay   36.1
EPK                   18.1
Neph Sy               3.8
Frit 3124            25.8
Zircopax             13.8
Buttercup #6406   1.4
Gray #6572          0.24
I'll post Ron's clay body and liner glaze as soon as I find it...

Let the Pastoral begin...


How do, everybody? I'm sitting on the porch at the clay studio here in lovely Penland, having my first cup of coffee and enjoying a little rain. Things will be cranking tomorrow, so we takes it easy today!
Tonight I get to meet Chuck Hindes and Ron Meyers, instructors for the class I'm assisting with my friend Peter Olsen. What a great 2 weeks this will be! Peter is executive director of Seward Park Clay Studio, in Seattle,WA. He knows how to put on a workshop and I'm grateful to be able to work with him!

Let the pastoral begin! High on the mountain, with time to think a little harder about what and why I do this...no doubts, just discoveries...I will be here for 6 amazing weeks. Keep in touch!
PS- Happy Birthday, Bob!:
This is from the writers almanac today:
It's the birthday of the man who just released his 33rd studio album, Together Through Life: Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota (1941). He grew up in the declining mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota. He was a quiet kid, raised by Jewish parents, who loved listening to the Grand Ole Opry. But after he heard Little Richard on the radio, he wanted to play rock and roll, so his dad bought him an electric guitar and he formed a rock band at his high school, The Golden Chords. Then he went to the University of Minnesota, and as soon as he got to Minneapolis and heard a record by the folk singer Odetta, he went and traded in his electric guitar for an acoustic one. He said, "A person is a success if they get up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."