After 30years+ of longing, the moment of truth has FINALLY arrived! Time to fire my first ceramic pieces! Ingredients: - 1 spankling new kiln
- "kiln furniture" aka bits and bobs on which to prop your goods in the kiln so the heat is evenly distributed
- lots of carefully placed FULLY dried pieces (any moisture in them left and they will be blown into smithereens)
- electricity
- PATIENCE (that last one becomes thinner as the firing nears the end) After what looked, felt, and certainly was, an eternity... I checked on Dante and he was still...
I was hoping all my pieces had been dry enough and would emerge intact from this first bisque firing.
Eventually.. after quite a few more hours.. it was time to lift the lid.. just a tad! And oh.. I got sooo excited! No broken pieces, just a glow of pretties staring at me. No words can come close to what I felt in that moment but let's just say that an immense feeling of peaceful content washed over me :)
This first load was a mixed batch of a variety of clays I sampled in order to find the one perfect for my needs. I settled on Valentine's millenium clay. It just feels heavenly in my hands and works perfectly for slabbuilding and pinching pots. My lovely new potter friend, Jeanette from Far Forest Ceramics, has confirmed it is equally yummy for wheel throwing purposes! Her pictures prove the point.
In the rare atypical Scottish Summer heatwave, I unloaded Dante and stood there.. looking at my freshly fired pots and vases, tears of joy filling my eyes. We're on! THIS is great fun. Let the journey begin!
Now I definitely have some glazing to do. The tiles on the left will be the first to get a colourful coat, the rest will follow. And for all of you joining me on my journey, you can have a say in what glazes work, and those that don't, which pots you like and what you would like to see more of! If you haven't already, hop over to my Facebook or Instagram page and follow me on my adventure. It's more fun in good company, don't you think?