The good news is the strips held together for this wood grain serving tray and the glaze came out just like I wanted. I love the subtle sheen of the glaze on this piece.
Doesn't it look just like a wooden tray, like strips of wood were glued together? The simple organic look really appeals to me. The tray is 2 high x 13 wide x 8 wide in inches.
Now the bad news. I put the tray on a half shelf which I don't normally use just to fit it in the kiln. A big chunk of clay stuck to the shelf and several smaller pieces of clay also stuck to the shelf.
I don't think these shelves had enough kiln wash. These are shelves I got with my old kiln and I relied on the previous owners kiln wash. Big mistake. I have used the shelves before but for smaller pieces. Do you think lack of kiln wash is the whole problem? There wasn't any glaze on the bottom of the tray to stick to the shelf so I don't see why it stuck like this and a chunk came out. I did not use porcelain sand under this tray, perhaps that would have helped. I've never had this happen; what are your thoughts?
I am going to recoat my kiln shelves with kiln wash this week. If I am recoating them. Do I have to re fire them separately or can I fire them with work on them? I'll be making several more of these trays over the next several weeks. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.
