Glaze Fire Success !!

My first kiln load of glazed pieces was also a success! I had a bit if a panic because I couldn't see my cones properly but in the end everything worked perfectly. The picture on the left is my favorite piece.

The kiln worked great and the glazes came out perfectly but I am not really all that impressed with the results. Not that there were any mistakes just the painting with a brush (versus dipping or pouring) has a very, how could I describe it, juvenile result. But I wasn't in love with any of these pieces as they were the first ones I threw on the wheel and the first ones to experiment with the glazes.

I did have some cool results where the glazes over-lapped and I will duplicate that again on future pieces. Now I really have the incentive to make my own glazes versus premixed glazes. I am just waiting for one more piece of the puzzle and I can embark on marking my own glazes very soon.

Bisque Fire Success!

I put Estrin (new kiln) through the paces of her first bisque firing yesterday. I was in the garage at 6am when it was -18C with the wind chill. She worked great and the bisque was a complete success. Not a single crack or loss! It took 10.5 hours to get her to just short of 1800 F. A little slower than it could have been but I was paranoid and I wasn't sure how fast the kiln would heat up so I was playing it safe. At 7:30am today the temp was still 300 F with the peep holes open and -10.5C outside.

The picture above is the bisque ware fresh out of the kiln ready to be glazed. Tomorrow I will load up the kiln again for a glaze firing. Cross your fingers!

Dyna (the old kiln) has found a new home at a shelter in East Vancouver. The man who picked it up repairs kilns and will be able to get her going without much cost. So everyone is happy!

Good-Bye Dyna, Hello Estrin

Dyna was supposed to be my new best friend but after much investigation it was going to cost me $200 - $300 to have her wired up and that was IF we had enough room on our electrical panel to do so and I wasn't even sure if she worked.

So welcome Estrin who is a much newer model (if you call 1978 newer). She is in perfect shape, the same size AND she will plug right into the dryer outlet so no need for creative wiring!

Online Galley & Items for Sale

It's official! Click here to check out my latest pieces plus items for sale.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SunnyDazeDesign

It is a little sparse at the moment but I will add items as they are completed so visit often!

Pottery Class

So here they are, some of the lopsided items I made in the pottery class I just took. They all dried to the bat so upon trying to remove them their bottoms got ruined and they turned out a little lopsided. But I learned a lot from the course and am now taking my second course.

I have been making lots of stuff on the wheel and hand-building by using my extruder and slab building. So as soon as the kiln is up and running I will post some more finished pieces.

Kiln

I'd like you to meet Dyna. She's old (40+ yrs), she's ugly and she's needs some work. Apparently she works and she is going to be my new best friend. Her interior is in great shape! She is an old Dyna-Kiln H-8800 from L&L Manufacturing. L&L has been around for 60 years and this is one of their oldest kilns. She needs some new wiring, shelves and a little love but I hope to have her running this coming weekend. I have a bit to learn as she is completely manual. She does have a pyrometer but I will need to get some cones to ensure she fires to the appropriate temperature for bisque and glaze firing. Needless to say, I am very excited to have my own kiln as I can be completely self-sufficient.

Tomorrow we are pulling out all of our glazed pieces at the studio where I am taking a course so I will post some of my drunk-ware (aka my lopsided pieces) shortly. If we have enough people the wheel-throwing course will commence this Thursday!