Merrie Boerner on fri 6 aug 04
Hi Chris and friends of Hog Chain woodfiring,
When I think back of how I bragged about getting cone 13 down and all
the drippy, glossy ash on the pottery fired here, I wonder why somebody
didn't say, "Hey stupid, calm down!" Well, maybe they did say that, but I
just didn't listen.
At a Jack Troy demo in Lack Charles, LA this winter, he said something
like this....
" Heat is like music. Louder doesn't necessarily mean better." This sunk
in. When we unloaded the kiln down there, I saw the beauty in "subtle" in
stead of "active" ash and flash on the wares. This awakening was kind of
like when I first realized the beauty in a smooth surface over heavy
throwing rings fired in a woodburner.
So.....when we fired my kiln in May......we fired longer and cooler. We
put lots of glazed ware in the back of the kiln, where we settled for a good
cone 10. Unglazed pieces in the front, where we had cone 12 moving over, got
plenty of ash....and it didn't run off the bottom of nearly as many pots as
in the past Really, we still burned up about 3 cords of split oak in
46 hours.........but the music was not nearly as loud as in the past. We
were very pleased with the results.
I have always said that I started woodfiring because it satisfied my
mid-life-crisis desire for something new, exciting, and unpredictable.
People attending the first dozen firings must have thought we were hell bent
on destruction ! Hmm.....we lived through it, didn't we Lowell !?!
Mother is showing her age and the wear and tear after 23 firings of used
hard brick.......OH, but lessons we learned ! We can't decide whether we
will rebuild the arch, or the whole enchilada.....but, we are not in a rush.
Merrie
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Merrie Boerner on sun 8 aug 04
Hi Craig,
We had a sandy bottom up until about firing #20. It was cool,
comfortable, and easy to clean. I took out the sand and put in another layer
of bricks, thinking that would give us more stacking freedom. We still
stacked the same on brick. We shouldn't have messed with a good thing.
Thank you for your suggestion to "hear your own voice". Some of my more
creative and satisfying years were early on when I spent most of my time
alone, working in clay to please myself. What a hard balancing act....... to
learn from other's advice, praise, critique, and to please yourself......AND
sell your work. Good grief....is it possible ?!?
In the past, a shipment of clay stacked in my studio has set my soul on
fire........I'll order some tomorrow. When it arrives, I'll take the phone
off the hook...... put a "gone fishing" sign on my door.....and make
whatever comes to mind.
That's the ticket.
Merrie
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Craig Edwards on sun 8 aug 04
Hello Merrie: I'm really glad that you are getting pots out of your kiln
that you like. Please yourself, not me or Tony or Lee or Jack
or.....whoever. Make your pots. Sounds easy, but can be very hard to
hear your voice over the clamor of society.
The other day a potter came into my studio and was admiring some of my
larger pots and said that if I put glaze on them instead of letting the
kiln glaze them they would sell better. I realized that it hadn't
occured to me that I should make these pots to please anyone else, so
that they would sell better. Made me smile, usually those thoughts creep
in, even if I don't act on them. I mean, what a selfish bastard, making
pots that pleased me, with total disregard to anyone else!
I make drippy ash pots a the present, not nasty, probably more in the
gnarly vein, no one can do nasty like Tony in the past my wood fired
pots were more of what I would call a suburban woodfire look. Something
that the general public could understand a little easier. I liked them
and they were what struck that chord in me that rang true.
Because I make drippy ash pots now doesn't mean that I will make them
next year. I've been looking at old Korean Celadons and thinking that
they are the work of heaven. They are wood fired in saggers with
absolutely no ash.
Hmmmm anyway..... here are some things that I do that might help on
stacking and finishing your firebox pots.
Like Lee; I use seashells to stack in front, scallop shells, the deeps
not the flats. If there is ash that drips down onto the shell it will
take on the shell pattern. The shell will desolve in water. Many time I
will stack the pots on their side, this will leave the shell pattern on
the side and the bottom will be nice and smooth.
A good wadding that I use is
50% hawthorn bond fireclay
20% alumina
30% silica sand
I got this formula from Richard Bresnahan. pops off real nice and is
easy to put on. I've used Tony's formula and that works well also.
When I was at the Koryo kiln sites south of Gangjin they stacked mainly
in saggers. They put the pots on quartz chips not wadding. They had clay
floors in their kilns.
I have a silica sand floor in my latest kiln. I put some pots right on
the sand, but they have to be bisque first, green ware will almost
always crack. I like the sand floor. If I have pots that are just a
little to tall I can scoop out some of the sand and adjust the height.
I'll also put some pots on top of a shells that are on a brick that I
have put in the sand. Kilns that I've had in the past with brick floors
have always been hard on the knees, sand is nice and easy. Sand is not
practical in some kilns.
Well, enough of my elastic meandering, time to make some pots.
Be peaceful,
~Craig Edwards
New London MN
Merrie Boerner wrote:
>Hi Chris and friends of Hog Chain woodfiring,
> When I think back of how I bragged about getting cone 13 down and all
>the drippy, glossy ash on the pottery fired here, I wonder why somebody
>didn't say, "Hey stupid, calm down!" Well, maybe they did say that, but I
>just didn't listen.
> At a Jack Troy demo in Lack Charles, LA this winter, he said something
>like this....
>" Heat is like music. Louder doesn't necessarily mean better." This sunk
>in. When we unloaded the kiln down there, I saw the beauty in "subtle" in
>stead of "active" ash and flash on the wares. This awakening was kind of
>like when I first realized the beauty in a smooth surface over heavy
>throwing rings fired in a woodburner.
> So.....when we fired my kiln in May......we fired longer and cooler. We
>put lots of glazed ware in the back of the kiln, where we settled for a good
>cone 10. Unglazed pieces in the front, where we had cone 12 moving over, got
>plenty of ash....and it didn't run off the bottom of nearly as many pots as
>in the past Really, we still burned up about 3 cords of split oak in
>46 hours.........but the music was not nearly as loud as in the past. We
>were very pleased with the results.
> I have always said that I started woodfiring because it satisfied my
>mid-life-crisis desire for something new, exciting, and unpredictable.
>People attending the first dozen firings must have thought we were hell bent
>on destruction ! Hmm.....we lived through it, didn't we Lowell !?!
> Mother is showing her age and the wear and tear after 23 firings of used
>hard brick.......OH, but lessons we learned ! We can't decide whether we
>will rebuild the arch, or the whole enchilada.....but, we are not in a rush.
>Merrie
>
>
>
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