Deborah Thuman on wed 11 nov 09
I think learning to fire the kiln should be part of the student's
experience in undergrad. If said student is going to have her/his own
studio, she/he is going to have to know how to fire the kiln.
Why did I learn to fire the kiln? Because I didn't like what I saw
coming out of the kilns fired by the grad students. Jim the Clay
Monster is about to learn how to fire a kiln because he's really not
liking what's happening to his work when fired by the grad students.
For ^04 clay, the glaze firing is: rapid fire to ^03 and let the kiln
shut off. Jim's getting bubbles in commercial glazes (which are to be
fired to ^05). He's getting slip chipping off and doing weird things
to the glaze. He's getting pieces that warp. BTW, that firing schedule
is set by the ceramic artist who runs the clay studio. Why? Because
the color of the red clay is garish and firing too hot turns the clay
brown. Personally, my solution would be to change the clay NOT the
firing schedule. In fact, I started buying my own clay because I
didn't like the class clay. I could make my own clay with my own
recipe, but I'd have to buy the raw materials. For me, buying the clay
is easier, faster, and doesn't give me a back ache.
I've been firing the electric kilns at slow speed. This last firing, I
programmed a 30 minute hold at ^05 then a natural cool. Commercial
glazes came out great on all but three pieces. I had flat cabochons on
the bottom shelf (which was on tiny posts to keep it off the bottom of
the kiln). The work in the middle of that bottom shelf didn't get hot
enough so I'll need to fire those pieces again. I'll also know to put
medium sized work on the bottom, put the flat things around the larger
pieces and if I need a whole shelf of flat stuff to put it towards the
middle of the kiln.
In two weeks, I fire the fully manual gas kiln. Whooo hooooo! Can't
wait to learn how that baby fires and be able to control it. I've got
some large sculptures that need to be fired and I have to fire them
slowly and remember to put sand on the shelves.
All this was written while sipping hot tea from a lidded mug I ordered
from a friend who is a gifted potter. I told her to surprise me with
the design - and I dearly love what she made. So nice to have a hot
mug of tea with the tea hot from start to finish.
Deb Thuman
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3D5888059
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deb-Thumans-Art-Page/167529715986
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