Cone 5/6 Firing Schedules ?

More apprehension is lurking. Why? I realize I have four different clay bodies and glossy and matt glazes for the work I plan to fire tonight. What firing schedule should I use for this glaze fire?

The pieces in the two photos were fired Cone 5 with a 10 minute hold. I don't have those exact schedule right now since another potter fired them for me.


I'll split up the load into at least two, so I won't risk it all in one load. I want a slow cool down so the matt glazes will have a chance to develop. After reading and searching, I've come up with a couple of scenarios.

Schedule One

Seg-Rate-Temp-Hold
1 - 100 - 200 - 0
2 - 350 - 2000 - 0
3 - 150 - 2156 - 15
plug top peep
4 - 500 - 1900 - 0
5 - 125 - 1400 - 0
6 - freefall - 86 - open kiln

Schedule Two

Seg-Rate-Temp-Hold
1 - 60 - 212 - 60
2 - 200 - 1976 - 0
3 - 85 - 2156 - 15
plug top peep
4 - 275 - 1832 - 0
5 - 70 - 1400 - 0
6 - freefall - 86 - open kiln

What do you think? I'm leaning towards the second one, which is an adaption from Digital Fire. The first is my adaption from John and Ron's Mastering Cone 6 Glazes.

Any and all advice and reasons for your rationale are welcome. I'm aiming for cone 5.5 since a couple of the glazes are rated for Cone 5 and I don't want to over fire those. All the clays are rated for 5/6 and a few non functional pieces at Cone 8/10. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Happy Clam and Glazing

Truth be told, I was apprehensive during this bisque firing for two reasons. I wondered if lightening would cause the electricity to shut down. I was lucky and the lightening was off in the distance. The other worry was the load contained a number of experimental pieces which had a potential to fail for one reason or another.


Everything came out just fine, except one flat sprig fell off the geometric pedestal vase. It slid down beside the teapot. I figure it must have fallen off during the cool down since it didn't break when it fell. I plan on using a trick Judy told me about, thanks Judy. I will glaze the body of the piece, put some Elmer's glue where I want to attach the sprig, then glaze the sprig in place. Hopefully this trick works since I spent a long time buidling this piece.


The cake pedestal didn't droop and I fired it upright, had to because of the sprigs on the top. It leans slightly but I think it already leaned when I dried it because I dried it upside down on wads. Michele gave me the idea to dry it upside down, thanks Michele. If only I had put the sprigs on the side of the pedestal then I could dry the cake pedestal absolutely flat. Next one.

The thick heavy saguaro vase didn't blow up or crack. Even the 16 inch tall vase is OK. The shell basket legs didn't fail. The legs look so small I thought the weight of the vase would break them, but I realize clay is much stronger than I think.

I was making this work for four months. I can't believe that much time has gone by since we moved here. So many months work is tied up in the firings and so far I am a happy clam. Now that I'm more comfortable with firing this new kiln, things will be go much quicker in the future, if the weather cooperates.


I've made a pretty good dent on glazing the two bisque loads. I glaze each piece individually and brush the glaze on. Some of the taller vases I pour the inside glaze and then brush the outside. I have terra cotta test tiles decorated with slip and I'll be testing clear glazes during the first glaze firing to see which will work best for the plates, platters, and vases.

Once I get all this work fired, I plan to experiment with making and spraying glazes. I was reading one of my ceramics books and saw some dry barium glazes I think would look super on sculptures. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Cindy Shake

The Raven by Cindy Shake

Let me introduce Cindy Shake of Artmaking in the North. Besides being a great metal sculptor, Cindy is one of the most generous people I know. Nine times out of ten if you read Cindy's blog she is lending a hand to other people. Not only that but Cindy is so supportive of other artists.


Then there's Cindy's family which she always has time for and her two dogs. But, wait a minute, there's also all the wonderful metal sculptures she makes. Each one is unique, some are whimsical, some are realistic, some are abstract, some are commissioned, and each and every one is a work of art and so creative. You can see more of Cindy's art at her website here.

Gilper Fish by Cindy Shake

The other day Cindy sent me an email and asked if she could send me some supplies she is no longer using. I said sure. Gary and I happened to go to the post office together today. Lucky thing. Gary came out of the post office with one big box and said, "Can you back up to the door?" He carried out four huge boxes that Cindy sent me. Yes, four boxes. I was so surprised, it brought tears to my eyes thinking of Cindy's generosity.

Cindy Shake
(photo by Heather Thamm)

When we got home Gary and I had a little party opening up the boxes and looking at all the goodies. I am not sure how Cindy does all she does, but I am so happy to have met her via blogging. Thanks ever so much Cindy. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Impressionistic

Spent what seemed like hours making a surface on this piece, hoping to make it appear worn and faded, but it wasn't quite right. It was so faded there wasn't anything visible (shown in second photo). This piece is about 12.5 inches tall by 6 by 2.5 inches wide.

After I put the piece in the drying cabinet I looked at the photo below and decided to try improving the surface. The upper photo is what I ended up with, which is now drying in the cabinet. The piece evolved into an impressionistic look. I wanted to tone the flowers down more, but Gary, my clay advisor, said to leave it alone.


Was thinking of glazing some of the pieces made with this clay. Supposedly it can be glazed with a clear, but it would take numerous firing experiments to get it right. Remember the moon craters? I don't want moon craters for these types of pieces. Since I'd have to fire test pieces to a lower temperature than anything else I make, it's not practical to do the testing.

It's times like these when I wish I had a tiny test kiln. I keep looking, hoping to find a used one at a reasonable price. Since this piece won't have a glaze I added the interlaced top grid to discourage functional use. I'm thinking of making a sticky label for the bottom of these non functional pieces saying they're for decorative use only. I'll have to work on that.


My cat, Betty, is relaxing in one of her favorite spots, balancing on the back of the chair. Every day for the past week or so we've been having thunderstorms, and each day storms have gotten progressively worse instead of better. Tonight it's supposed to let up a little so I decided to take a risk and fire the kiln. The kiln is up to 1298 F. Please keep your fingers crossed lightening doesn't strike and the electricity doesn't go out. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

The Forgotten Coast

Can't wait to get to the beach.


Sea oats, pines, and white sand along the way.


Almost there.


Lounging on the beach.


Lots of seaweed.


All to myself, not a drop of oil.


The Forgotten Coast of Florida, a great place to visit.

Bathed In Sunlight

I'm calling this spirit jar, Bathed in Sunlight; it's about 15 inches tall. I've used yellow slip for the sun and also drizzled the slip run down the sides in columns. I inserted kanthal wire in the top for the sun's rays and put little beads at the end of each ray of the sun. In the photo it looks like there are twice as many wires and top beads due to the reflection. I couldn't move the piece for the photo because the yellow slip wasn't completely dry.


Here's a jar which I squeezed into a wavy form; it's about 11 inches tall. For the next week or so I'll be making sculptural pieces with my Cassius Basaltic clay.

Several folks requested information about Cassius Basaltic clay. It fires a rich black in the final fire. It shouldn't be fired any hotter than cone 4 to prevent blistering or bloating and little white specks coming to the surface. It does contain manganese so should be fired with proper ventilation. It also doesn't take well to glazes due to impurities in the clay, so I use it for sculptural pieces. This is supposedly the blackest firing clay available. I purchased this clay in California. It is distributed by Aardvark Clay in Los Angeles. Once I get a group of pieces made with this clay, I can fire them all together to the same temperature.

We've had severe thunderstorms and lots of lightening the last three days so I couldn't fire the kiln. Tomorrow is supposed to be a calm day, so I plan to start the kiln at noon and be done firing a little after midnight. I figured if I start firing midday when it's hottest outside, by the time the kiln is really hot it will be cooler outside and then by morning it will be cooled down. If I start firing late at night the kiln is the hottest in the morning and it has to cool down during the hottest part of the day.

I think there's a whole system to firing during the summer when a kiln is inside a garage connected to the house. Next place I'll have the kiln in a separate building away from the house. Coming up next some beach photos from the Forgotten Coast of Florida, you won't want to miss those. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Leaf Bottle and a Spider

Today I made this tall leaf bottle. It's about 16 inches tall and 3 by 4 inches wide, sort of oval in shape. I used cassius basaltic clay so it won't have a glaze, just the slipped leaves. Because this clay is so dark, it's messy and gets all over everything and is hard to clean up. But I still like it.


Earlier Gary came running in the house and said "Quick get your camera and come outside". I said, "Is it a turtle? He said, "No it's a big spider eating something behind the shed". Gary was pressure washing the shed. He lightly misted the spider and it climbed into a tree. When Gary was finished pressure washing the shed, the spider came back to his web. I think it might be a golden silk orb weaver. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Butterscotch Slip

My intention was to make an insect body shaped spirit jar and then drizzle some of that local clay slip down the sides of the black clay form. I planned to make a pedestal for it to stand on with a tray at the bottom. I am hoping a tray will catch the slip in case it runs when the pieces fired. If the slip doesn't run so much the better. Do you ever make catch basins for unknown glazes or slips to fit under the pieces you make?


Remember the big pile of clay I got the slip from? At the time I didn't think it was local dirt. There is another construction job going on a mile or two away from the original pile of clay. Guess what? There's some of this same red clay there too; maybe this is local clay. I mixed up the slip in a little dish and it looked just like the color of butterscotch pudding, so I'm calling it butterscotch slip.


It looked real creamy when I mixed it up, but when I rubbed it between my fingers it felt gritty, sandy. Well this is Florida I should have expected it to feel sandy. I decided I better screen it. Then I realized I have no idea where my screens are located. They must be packed in a box somewhere. I rummaged around in a few drawers and saw this tea strainer so I decided to use it.

Luckily I strained this stuff because I only got a small amount of the slip, the rest was all sand. It took forever to get even a small amount of strained liquid. I filled up half the strainer closed it and shook it over the bowl till the liquid came through then dumped the sand. Then I filled the strainer again and so on. Then I took the syringe and filled it with the slip and squirted it over the jar.

I think I'll make another one of these jars; I want the size and shape to be more like my sketch. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Reality Pottery

You have arrived on the front lines of reality pottery. I've got some complicated pieces to load into the kiln and there is a fair amount of trepidation involved. In the back of my mind I'm thinking there could be some mishaps. Perhaps every artist has this feeling when loading a kiln. How will my work turn out, how can I make it better, what will I do if it fails, how will it be received.

Nitty gritty sinks in. I have one vase that's almost 16.5 inches tall. I have put one kiln shelf on the bottom of the kiln with a scant one inch post, and the vase just fits in under the lid. I can fire that one myself, that's a load off my mind. I place a long level across the top of the kiln just to make sure. It has a quarter inch to spare. Is it too close, time will tell. Now for some of the others.

My saguaro vase is thick and heavy; I made it that way intentionally. I wanted a vase heavy enough to hold tall flowers without falling over. It's been drying slowly for months. I wonder if it will make it through the firing without exploding? As I carry it out to the kiln I notice a little serendipity has happened; the base has dried with the bottom arching up and creating it's own foot so air will circulate underneath and it's not tipsy. I am happy as a clam as I set it on the kiln shelf.

Then there's a vase that leans; it leans quite a bit. I made it that way on purpose; wondering how far can it lean and still stand upright? I place this one so it will lean on a shelf and not against another pot, if it fails during firing.


The shell basket with it's small feet has dried on top of two by fours and this is the first time I've taken it off. The feet now seem small; I'm hoping they hold up under the weight of the piece. I measure the length and width and height and determine it just fits in the spot I have for it. I set it in the kiln and it's OK. Whew!

I hand build all of my work and I mostly make one off pieces, so each piece is an experiment in itself. This will be the second load of three that are experiments. If they all make it, then I review, refine, re work, and make more.


I add another shelf on the left and put a platter and a covered cheese dish and some test tiles with slip deco. Then there's a cake pedestal I dried upside down on a plate with little wads holding up the top. It dried fairly flat but with little sprigs and a rim on top I decide to fire it right side up. Will it fire without drooping?


I knew one of the feet on my teapot didn't hold but when I picked it up two weren't holding. I intended to put them in the kiln and set the teapot on top of them. Later I could glaze them on. Then as I picked up the teapot a third one fell to the ground and shattered. As I held the teapot in my hand, I had to quickly launch into plan B. I decided to remove the last foot; of course it wouldn't come off. I gently set the lid of the teapot aside and ever so gently laid the teapot on it's side. I went to get my needle tool to saw off the fourth foot.


Hey, how did my hair get so dark, it used to be white blond, then dish water blond, then reddish brown, now it's almost black with a few strands of gray. Oh well, maybe I'll get it done before my trip if I have time. One of my blogging friend's, Tracey, just got all her hair cut and dyed too, something must be in the air about hair.

I'm sweating in the 95 degree heat in the garage sawing on the foot for almost ten minutes to get it to come off. I've really got to learn how to attach all the feet just like this fourth one. I'm a self taught artist and everything I've learned I've either read in books or blogs, taught myself by trial and error, or asked other potter's how to do. While I'm sawing the fourth foot off, in my mind I've developed several plans for different feet. So I decide to fire the teapot the way it is now and add feet after firing, and they might be metal.


Finally I have the whole kiln loaded. The last piece I put in is my knapsack maquette. Once it's safely placed I softly close the lid. If you click on the link you can read why I blog. I hope someone can learn from my blog posts, just like I learn from other's blog posts. It's not over yet, though. The next time I open the lid I'll raise it ever so slowly too. Then I'll have glazing to do and another firing and hopefully a few nice pots to show you.

Psychic Readings by Linda

Admittedly we're looking for the best motorhome for the least amount of money, but come on, can't you pick up your clothes and ring out the washcloth before you let us come to look. We've been madly looking for a motorhome to travel to the Clay and Blogs show in North Carolina, then up to New Hampshire to visit Gary's cousin. We have looked high and low and every one we've seen has been in pitiful shape. Gary asked one guy if the motorhome leaked, he answered very seriously, "Only when it rains".


Once we get back from our Eastern seaboard trip, we plan to use the motorhome to to to art festivals. We figured we'd have the motorhome as a place of respite where Gary and I can take turns during the shows. Since I have a bad back I can periodically take a break from the long show while Gary mans the booth and then he can do the same. We thought we found a good one and drove 2.5 hours one way to look at it today. I was glad I brought my foam mattress so I could lie down for a minute or two half way to look at the motorhome to realign my back.


The guy told us the motorhome was really clean and everything worked and gave us the address. When we got close by we drove up and down the road and couldn't find the house. Gary called him and he said it's the place that says Psychic Readings. Gary and I stared at each other with that knowing look.

We didn't want to make any judgements and had already driven all that way so we made a U turn, and went back down the road. As we pulled in we saw the sign said Psychic Readings by Linda. I started laughing hysterically saying it was either going to be a really good or really bad motorhome. A sign on their door said no photography otherwise I would have snapped a photo of the sign. We were so disgusted when we left, I forgot about taking the photo anyway. Needless to say, we're still looking.

We've come to the conclusion we sold the only two good rigs in Florida and we've been kicking ourselves ever since. We're not really sure why we sold them when we knew we planned on traveling up the Eastern seaboard this fall, somehow I don't think we were thinking clearly at the time.

The dead tree marks the spot we turned down a country lane for a pit stop. Looks a bit like the fickle finger of fate, doesn't it? Along the way I saw the really cool pedestrian tunnel. Further down the road we saw a bike rider and it looked like his dog was riding on the back. As we got closer we noticed it was a fur dangling from his hat. I think it was a real fox fur and I was pretty disgusted with that thought.


Last night the electricity went off and we had a huge storm with sheet lightening (photo courtesy of Wikipedia) that lasted literally all night long, wonder what tonight will bring? Oh well, tomorrow's another day.

Mixed Media Projects

Forest Scarab by Linda Starr

Thunder and lightening storms have held up my firing plans so I decided to tackle a few mixed media projects on my to do list. Here's a sneak peak of works in progress. The scarab is one of an entomology series I've been working on. I've surrounded the ceramic scarab with moss and acorns to see what it would look like. I'm working on the frame so it can be hung. Little pieces of moss are everywhere.

Mermaid of the Shells by Linda Starr

My mermaid will be mounted on wood, surrounded by seashells, and hung on the wall. This is one of several trial runs with the shells I have on hand. It's not right yet; I need smaller shells in various shapes and colors. My cat Betty has taken to knocking shells off the work table and batting them around on the floor.

Tea or Coffee by Linda Starr

I made lots of tiles to test slip and decided as long as I was testing I might as well practice my drawing. I like some of the test tiles so much I decided to mount them in frames. I plan on painting the frame black for the Tea or Coffee tiles.


I just received a handmade brush from Brandon Phillips. I'm sure my slip work will be much improved using this hand crafted natural bristle brush. I can't wait to try it out. Check out Brandon's blog to read all about how he makes these brushes and here is a link to Brandon's Etsy site if you would like to purchase one. Be sure to check out his salt and wood fired pottery too, there are some beautiful pieces there. Thanks Brandon.

Back to work, I've got shells and moss to clean up. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Sailing

The gulf waters are too shallow close to where we live for a sailboat, so I gave Gary the next best thing for an early birthday present. This sailboat is patterned after a real boat that's 36 feet long and still sails the waters near Clearwater, Florida. This handmade solid wood replica stands about three feet tall.


Here's Gary's late anniversary present, the Charles W. Morgan, a scale replica of a whale ship built in 1841.


Then Gary gave me a late birthday present, a replica of a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921, called Bluenose.


Lastly Gary gave me a late anniversary present, a replica of the Santa Cruz, designed by Bill Lee. This replica is made of redwood. Bill Lee is a California designer of world famous racing yachts and one of the founders of the Santa Cruz school of boat building.

Ron Kohl, the gentleman who built these is an oceanographer. He and his wife want to sell their home and aren't having much luck. Gary and I were in much the same predicament not long ago and could sympathize with them.

We only went to purchase the first sailboat, but thought it a shame to separate these handmade works of art. They aren't made from kits but are made from a solid piece of wood, designed to scale as replicas of the originals. When you're married for twenty-five years you can shop together and give presents whenever you want. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Almost Perfect

The bisque was almost perfect like this butterfly on lantana. One of his wings was half gone, but it didn't seem to matter he just kept flying around sipping nectar. There were no cracks, no blow-ups, and no sprigs fell off in the whole load.



Cone 06 melted down completely, but cone 05 and 04 are upright. Next bisque I will try 05 with a hold at the top for 10 minutes, if that doesn't do it then 20 minutes, then 04 with no hold. We shall see, every kiln is different.

The only problem was the kanthal wire handles on the basket and the tall vase. The wire leaned probably due to the beads I placed on top of the handles. The beads weighed down the handles. Not sure if I want to try bending the wire back into place. Should I try it or leave the wire wonky? Maybe I'll put these two into a barrel firing and leave the wire as is.



This lid with a topper and a short length of kanthal wire did just fine. I'll have to experiment more with this technique.

For efficiency I could fire another bisque load and while it's firing I could be glazing these. It takes two days for a bisque, for the load, the fire, the cool down, and the unload. Then while the next glaze is firing I could be glazing the second bisque and so on. Thanks everyone for all the great comments on my last post, I learned some valuable information. Comments and suggestions are welcome.