Top Shelf

You may have noticed an obscure reference to the recent firing here on Roan Mountain. It was firing number 8 and sadly not as successful as the last two. After making some adjustments to the bagwall and firing approach I had two very good firings in a row. Almost all of the really cold areas had disappeared and it felt like I was pulling nice pots out of the kiln left and right.

This time I had some casualties, a few cracks resulting from raw-glazing first attempts and a few cracks from just plain ol’ too thick. Aside from these, the bottom shelf or two on the two outside stacks showed signs of that ol’ terrible cold spot returning. To make matters worse, the whole firing ended up about one cone cooler than I have come to hope for. I’ve learned that the main conepacks tend to sit a very weird little pocket in this kiln, and that cone 9 flat is fine there as long as cone 11 is flat in the very front fireface. Although this firing seemed headed for greatness and high temperatures for a while there, in the end only cone 10 was flat on the fireface with cone 11 hanging tough. In the main packs I had only one cone 9 down and a lot of 8’s just falling. Oh well I thought, at four in the morning it was decided to call it off and see if that would be hot enough.

Before

After

Not quite hot enough. By no means was it a total disaster. Joy shared the kiln load and although she did not fare too well overall, she had a few nice ones come out. I did have a lot of nice ones come out too, some of the flashed surfaces from the last firings were still there but some of the surfaces were just shy of my expectations built up from the hotter pots of the last time round.

For the next firing I think I’ll reverse the small changes I had made in some of the settings and try to get headed back in the right direction.

For now, off to help Shane Mickey with another of his kiln building projects. He’s already got a start on it and it’s not to far away, so in a few days we’ll have it finished and fired and be headin’ home. Then I can get back in the studio and try it all again.

Photo by Joy Tanner

Recently finished up the little summer tour here in western North Carolina. After 3 “craft shows” on three straight weekends, plus a kiln firing somewhere in the middle, it was finally time to take a break. Joy and I snuck away for a quick trip into the surrounding backcountry. I am often reminded of what we take for granted right before our eyes, in this case the beautiful landscapes I live amongst. A quick trip down a country road, a few miles trek along the Appalachian Trail, and we found some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. After dinner with a sunset view Joy snapped this shot of some of the wildlife. A rare species we guess must be the mountain hermit.

All in all the retail shows could have been worse. The attendance and sales were pretty slow, but between the three I came away with a little profit. Enough to carry on until the next show anyway. When the sales are slow I try to remind myself of the tales I’ve heard of the many potters who have gone before me. It helps a little to know I am not the first one struggling to find a market for “brown” pots out on the streets.