new images, new thoughts

The weather is getting colder and we in the mountains prepare for fire. November 15,16, and 17 we will be loading our anagama here at Juniata College to try and get some new wares. If you are in the area during the week feel free to swing by the studio on College Ave. off Cold Springs Road in Huntingdon Pennsylvania. Here are some new images of semi new pots; cone 10 soda fired (the set of cups are fired in the soda, a gas kiln, and the anagama). The newest stuff is getting pretty crazy though as I have been feverishly decorating my pots with slips and stains of brushwork and repeating patterns, which compaired to my old way (thrown and altered with no slips or brush work) is a huge deviation.

these pots were made around 2007. the finished piece was fired in a soda kiln to cone 11 and the other two were part of a series of 6. all six were destroyed in a rather chaotic anagama firing. the clay was formulated for wood firing and I have the recipe somewhere in storage. the handles are suspended with nickle-chromium wire. this is good stuff but it did not hold up in the wood kiln. i suspect the wood ash fluxed the metal to a point at which it could not take the temperature and the handles failed. however, i do not expect to give up on this technique and once i get back into the swing of a making cycle i will do more tests and tell you all about it.

but for now enjoy the work.

if some of the information is not clear to you reading this i will post more informational logs on 'anagama' (japanese high-fire wood kilns) firing and process as well as images as i find them in my boxes and storage and as i take them.