We unloaded the April 2 firing, watching the sunset on the
beautiful pots we laid out on the tables. The kiln fired in 18 hours, a record
time, due to the very active wind and to Bruce’s work with the drafts. Over a dozen
potters were represented in the soda firing.
At around 2000 degrees, the door started to wheeze in and
out, due to Clarence forgetting to secure the clamp, but that was soon
resolved. The soda sprayer bit the dust, so we improvised. Katie, Cindy, and
Maria watched the sunrise over the farm. Our new friends Corey and Aron also
worked under the stars, and our youngest firebug, Tzuriel, who is thirteen, arrived
at 2:00 in the morning and stayed till noon. Logan was a great help with wood
cutting and wading. As always, Bruce
keeps us moving forward. Katie made some fantastic bread. We’ve had good luck
escaping the rain so far, but Friday night and morning were fiercely windy and
cold.
We experienced a glaze flaking on a few of the pots and
wanted to note that flashing slip needs to be put on particularly thin. Katie
got a really interesting result by dipping a cup in an ash glaze, washing it off,
and dipping in Oribe. Maria’s boxes turned out wonderfully as you can see from
the photo. Even Phillip’s tall pot survived the bag wall!
Here’s a list of the Bobtown potters and fire bugs who
attended. The next firing is May 13. We always begin loading around noon on that
Friday, so if you have some cone 10 bisque-ware you can come out and experiment
with our glaze selection. We start the little campfire in the chimney around
6:00 and continue until late Saturday evening. You can always come to open
studio any Saturday and work with cone 10 clay and glazes.
Check out our website at bobtownarts.org
Cindy Cusick
Katy Doherty
Maria Deter
Clarence Hayes
Philip Wiggs
Bruce Hoefer
Kelly Hoefer
James Bonta
Aron Beck
Cory Shultz
Molly Rolin
Noah Broomfield
Tzurial Watson
Logan Davis
Frank Jenkins and friends
