This week I continued to work on my mug project. I continued to experiment with different mug sizes and styles as well as different styles of handles. I also prepared a few pieces to put in the wood kiln which we began firing on Thursday. I spent most of the class period on Wednesday, under glazing and glazing three pieces for the wood kiln. I decided I wanted to use bright underglaze colors for the inside of the cup and mug and use clear glaze only on the outside. I am hoping the wood firing creates interesting effects on the outside of the pieces. I also added a tiny bowl like dish that I underglazed as well. I’m hoping all of my pieces survived the firing. I was very excited to help during the firing. On Thursday night I worked the 8p-12a shift and spent that shift learning the ropes. We added wood every few minutes but only to the front bottom of the kiln. I came back Friday morning for the 8a-12p shift and spent most of the morning trying to keep a close eye on the wind direction of the smoke we were creating. At this point we had begun loading wood in the sides and front opening of the kiln. I came back to help out at the 4am-8am shift on Saturday morning. That was a very busy shift of constantly stoking the wood and restocking our wood buckets. I came back for one last shift later that day when I got off work. I got there around 2:30 and they were starting to wrap up the stoking. Once we did the final stoke we sealed up all opening with news paper dipped in door slip. The entire experience was really interesting and fun to be involved in. This is my last semester so I’m glad I got to be a part of this firing. I still have lots to do to complete my current project and will begin the under glazing on Monday.
Amy Shearer 