I’m still coming down from my latest low fire reduction/sagger load. The level of stimulation/excitement/creative energy that I experience when unloading a firing like this last one is a bit overwhelming. This was the best of this type of firing that I have done to date in my Blaauw kiln. Those of you that have read my book, My Life as a Potter, will know that this form of experimentation was my main reason for buying the Blaauw. However , there was so much to learn about high fire reduction that my experiments took a back burner for a few years as I developed the tableware, but now that is done and I can turn my attention to what excites me the most, discovering new ways of firing in reduction.
Today I am going to start you out with showing you something that made my creative mind double in size 😁 This small chalice had been in my last raku firing, probably around 2018. It had a clear crackle glaze on the top and no glaze on the bottom. It was underwhelming when raku fired as I didn’t get enough carbonization on the bottom and no carbon in the lines of the crackle glaze. So, it sat, ever so often I would take it down off the shelf and ponder it, then back it would go. Then….finally the idea came to me, what about putting it in a small sagger packed with sawdust around it stopping where the top glazed collar began? Maybe then I would get the carbonization I was looking for on the bottom and, the big question, would I get carbonization in the lines of the crackle glaze? When I was packing the sawdust around it I decided to put a layer of seaweed at the top of the sawdust layer and finished it off with a light dusting of copper carbonate. Then the lid went on and into the kiln it went. In my prefiring photo it is in the small white pot that has another pot turned upside down to act as a lid, it was a fairly tight seal, by this I mean that there was oxygen getting in, but very little.
I am over the moon with how it turned out and all the possible roads this type of firing is going to take me down. As far as I know, no one has explored firing in this way, at least I haven’t heard anything about other people trying this. There were other test pieces in the firing that also held great promise, I look forward to showing them to you. We also did a video of me packing a sagger showing how I usually do it so that you could see the technique used for that.
The final hurrah came when I discovered that I had the perfect rock to mount this little gem in. Sarah Wilson was a great help both with packing the saggers and taking notes for me. This was her first such firing and I’m sure it was inspiring for her as well. She had two test pieces in the firing but I’ll let her tell you about those. Thanks to Patti for helping me find the rock, does anyone near to where I live know where I could find more rocks like this one? The colours are amazing.
Now, how am I going to keep myself from wearing myself out? This level of creative energy is a bit of a challenge for my body…but…I’ll take it.