Saturday, January 23, 2010

A bump in the road.


I unloaded my first earthenware reduction firing of the year. This was intended as a test for a partial reduction firing that ended in oxidation. I wasn't sure I would be able to reduce the body and trap the black iron oxide under the terra sigillata during the late oxidation stage. The thickness of the terra sig has a large impact on the reduction retention. The next stage will be applying a maiolica glaze and firing the pieces in an electric kiln. The piece in the photograph below was broken as I was moving the ware cart from the kiln pad to the kiln room. I thought I would be able to make it past the bump in the floor without breaking anything. Unfortunately I was wrong. I will blog about this later after I photograph the pieces before the maiolica firing on Monday.