Paul Haigh, 1st post, kiln opening tonight

[JeffBrown]

People just don't realize what we actually do.

People at shows say "This must be so relaxing"- thinking we meditate at the wheel all day. In fact there's meditation in loading hour after hour without gloves in December, managing wood, chiseling broken pots off the floor, dealing with failures, getting burns.

Wouldn't trade it for the world, my friend.

>>>I think that a few videos of grinding pots, and second smashing sessions would be fitting right about now.

[JBaymore]

People just don't realize what we actually do.

People at shows say "This must be so relaxing"- thinking we meditate at the wheel all day. In fact there's meditation in loading hour after hour without gloves in December, managing wood, chiseling broken pots off the floor, dealing with failures, getting burns.

Wouldn't trade it for the world, my friend.

>>>I think that a few videos of grinding pots, and second smashing sessions would be fitting right about now.

How about the dynamic and fast paced sessions of gluing balls of wadding onto the feet of pieces and sticking them under the lids too ?

best,

..............john

[paul haigh]

New shtuff: Yunomis: second firing? Third? I dunno. They were BLASTED previously, and this time were fired on their sides in a cooler part of the kiln to melt down some of the dangerous crusties. The next pic shows how the green glass pooled on the inside in this process- that was what I was going for.

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Glass inside yunmoi

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I'll try to get pics of the rest of the chawan from this fire- some good results! That boulder looking one just keeps getting fired. This makes 3 times. The glass is spilling out of it from side firing. I'll be happy when the whole thing is fluxed into a puddle I suppose.

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[paul haigh]

The outside of this yunomi is unglazed- just some slip flowers that faded in the fire, but a nice metallic natural ash blast on the outside. This is what I call a "fast ash" effect; the fire racing by the pot does this, as opposed to the soft ash falling on top of pots seen in many larger kilns (such as anagama). Occasionally I get pots with both effects (from different times in the firing) which is even better, but the fast flow blows off a lot of the ash. This fast ash effect really is a signature of my kiln, and I love it.

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Second firing for these cups- this nuka recreation glaze only works in the hottest part of the kiln. In person these are pretty spectacular, IMO- they're exactly what I was going for.

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[paul haigh]

Example of celadon on porcelain. I believe that my porcelain supplier stopped making clay, which is a bummer. This porcelain really blushed up very nicely with peach and salmon colors.

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The classic nuka over tenmoku effect. The tenmoku here is just 75% red clay I dug up in SC, and 25% woodstove ash. The nuka is just silica, woodstove ash, and feldspar.

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Flasks- I like to create illusions with some work- construction with screws, appearance of metal or leather. It gives me a chuckle at least.

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[iannon]

Second firing for these cups- this nuka recreation glaze only works in the hottest part of the kiln. In person these are pretty spectacular, IMO- they're exactly what I was going for.

Love they way those cups turned out paul! They remind me of Karatsu which i really like obviously.

[Chip]

Pretty amazing works, Paul. It is interesting how you refire several times. Anytime I think I start to understand, I am reminded how little I know.

[paul haigh]

Thanks all. Potters doing wood fire will show pics of their best work- for good reason. There are pots in every firing, however, that need a little more lovin'.

In some firings there may be lots- especially when starting out with a new kiln, experimenting with a new way to stack, or any other major change, and it's easy for some to get discouraged.

My new motto is "accentuate the positive, refire the negative" This last firing had the best all around results of any firing yet. I hope that I don't fool myself into thinking that I have it all figured out.

[JBaymore]

Potters doing wood fire will show pics of their best work- for good reason. There are pots in every firing, however, that need a little more lovin'.

Speak for yourself! Mine are 100 % perfect in every firing.

best,

.............john

[paul haigh]

Ya, look at me telling the secrets in this thread- I'm like the Penn and Teller of pottery

[AdamMY]

Been meaning to say this for awhile, but those Nuka Recreation Glaze yunomi are great. Remind me of some of the glazes a Karatsu artist in Artist focus section of Artistic Nippon uses. Though hers tend to be a bit more yellow, but still a great look!

[paul haigh]

Thanks Adam! I screw around with the wood ash that I use, as well as the amount of silica (ground quartz) and get a variety of colors. I had some that were fairly yellowed in this last fire.

This pot was up front and has the nuka over another glaze, and the clay has a lot of iron

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In closeup

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The one on the right shows the effect of being really blasted off there

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[paul haigh]

I was a full time chemist and part time potter. I swapped those (with the help and encouragement of my sugar mama).

Other news- I finally invested in a reasonable photo setup

https://www.etsy.com/listing/119390503/ ... i-tea-cups

Pair

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https://www.etsy.com/listing/119476164/ ... v1_other_2

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[MountainEd]

I was a full time chemist and part time potter. I swapped those (with the help and encouragement of my sugar mama).

Other news- I finally invested in a reasonable photo setup


https://www.etsy.com/listing/119476164/ ... v1_other_2

teachatcup.jpg

Don't look for this one on Etsy. I snagged it, looks great Paul.

[paul haigh]

Thanks, Ed! So glad that you like it