Thirty

"Rella" snugglin while the kiln is cookin'

Thirty.

That is the round about time frame it took to fire up a sugar bowl, a creamer and four napkin holders at cone 6 in my small kiln. That and five days out of the week. :/ A larger kiln would render a finish in 6-8 hours with a ton of other wares cooking at the same time. If ever there was a good reason to get a new (BIGGER) kiln, this would be it. Of course, I could stop making pottery....

Ok, that was weird to say. Now to think about a proposal to those that need to approve such a beast coming to live in this house. Not sure how to proceed except to say..."CHECK THIS OUT...ISN'T IT COOL? LET'S GET IT!!!!!!"

ACHA-CHA!!!!

Cool Morning Hot Kiln

Lids fresh from the kiln

Brr!
The morning brought a chill into the house. Days like this make us want to stay indoors and cuddle up in front of the TV with a good movie on like Monsters, Inc. or Nemo while homemade chicken soup simmers on the stove. Chicken soup is definitely on the menu today as are some type of yummy tasting and smelling cookies. So comforting.

The kiln will also be on today. I haven't decided which items will go in to cook. Perhaps I'll finish the horsehair porcelain pieces. Or maybe I can get my tea pot to the bisque state. The tea cups that went along with the pot both cracked which put a damper on that project. I do need to finish it though as I am donating it to support our annual church fall outing. It will be the first time I will be presenting my pottery work in person to the public. I'm rather nervous and excited about this new adventure.

Little ones around a bracelet

So, with much enthusiasm and energy I head on off into the soothing morning sun to grocery shop. A necessary evil of a household. Afterwards, I'll make my soup and then settle into my thoughts on which items get to visit the kiln.
Perhaps I'll just finish adding some critters to the porcelain bracelet I forgot I had in my storage closet. Wearable critters! I love the idea!

Enjoy the fall sun!

Firin' Friday

Wares glazed and waitin' for some heat

It's a dreary, chilly day here. Perfect for firin' up the kiln!

I glazed a few vessels this week. I was happy to find that they were dry and ready for the kiln this morning. Nine o'clock sharp they went into the kiln. Today is a bit of an experimental day. I bought a new collar which raised my kiln up by about 4". I ran a test fire a few weeks ago but it took many, many hours to reach <04.

Kiln at its normal size

New collar raising the kiln height

Of course, I had a shelf placed in the kiln that was much larger than the one I am using this morning. I believe that shelf prevented the upper portion of the kiln to get the proper amount of heat, so this smaller shelf should work much better. My rice bowl sits perfectly in the spot too!

I'm trying every which way to deal with the fact that I really need a larger kiln. I'm not sure this solution works, but there are definitely some advantages to having the higher collar. I can now fire a few of the larger vases I threw on the wheel and I can finally fire my bisque Pixie without worrying about her head frying to a crisp! LOL