the Unloading

It was last Saturday that I went up to the kiln and unloaded the pots. It was a nice day.. pretty blue and not that cold. I arrived just around 1:30 pm. The snow melted enough that I could get my car up the hill... that was nice. My digital reader for the pyrometers told me the top of the kiln was just under 300 degrees. Perfect. I started to take the bricks down one by one from the top.. and as I went further and further down something struck me as unusual- where the f**k were my tall vases? Oh dear god... no!


Yes. The vases toppled. I guess as the kiln fired and things began to shrink around the wads.. the vase near the door couldn't keep it's balance and knocked the others over like dominos. If you look closely at the middle post it's obvious that it all nearly came tumbling down. I lost the three vases, a chalice, and a couple of cups... not as bad as it could have been!





Seeing this happen never makes me feel good..and the loss made me feel as if most of the kiln wasn't as good. But since Sunday morning I've been looking over the pots that did make it and I'm happy to say that the kiln load was still, mostly a success. Lots of nice pots that came out super sweet..and a few tests that will keep me interested in pushing these new ideas and refining this style. Tonight or tomorrow morning I'll take the "portfolio" style slides and then deliver the work to the Holter. I still have a few wad marks to grind down and sand.