Choices… and the Vagaries of Firing Pottery

Plunging your hands into clay, wedging it, working it, and making an object or vessel can be so all consuming that considering surface treatment at of the end of this process can easily be forgotten. Whenever working the clay, and most especially when pursuing a different direction, this dilemma is constantly on my mind as I consider possibilities and make decisions. Shall I glaze it? Shall I use an alternate naked raku technique? Certainly, when functional ware is being considered, most of the time, it is best to opt for glazing so the pottery is sealed and food safe. So, then, which glaze treatment? Colours? Should they be natural ones to reflect the nature and intent of this hand building and carving cups out of lumps of clay? Does that mean they have to be earthy colours?

I have a particular fondness for blue and white tableware so I then went on to rationalise that both blue and white are found in the natural world, and that it is possible to produce both glaze colours from natural indredients. Armed with this thought, for my first pieces I chose a shino glaze painted with a cobalt carbonate wash. Instead of blue and white, the fired pots have blue details highlighted with black, purple and pink . I am rather pleased with these unexpected results for this firing. Whether I’ll be able to replicate them remains to be seen. So many factors are at play within the kiln chamber during the firing process, it is difficult to know what caused the cobalt wash to produce this result.

Sometimes I can take an educated, or not so educated guess.  In this instance, I am aware that the elements on my kiln are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. In order to keep them going, I used a slow program provided by the kiln manufacturer for failing elements. I can’t help wondering if these lovely variations of colour are due to an extra eight hours in the kiln, or may have occurred because the wash I made was too concentrated. At this point I have no idea. One thing is certain. There was a good response at the Mission Beach Markets with a number of pieces sold. This has encouraged me to play with the shino and cobalt wash some more.