My First Solo Raku Firing

Before the Firing

The high winds of a spring in New Mexico kept me from firing until this past weekend. We had gusts around 50 mph on Saturday, but I took my chances with an open flame on Sunday morning when the winds were a little calmer.  I was feeling rather conservative with the flame, so the firing ended up taking more than twice as long as I expected.  Monday morning I was feeling more confident and corrected this fault, although I feel like one of the glazes responded to the slower firing in a more appealing manner.

I built my kiln out of a metal trash can modeled after my friend Miya's kiln, which you can see in an earlier post from the raku workshop I did back in December.  The one difference is that I am using one burner where she is using two.  I used newspaper and straw for my post-firing reduction material, but I'll be experimenting with sawdust once I get some from a handy woodworker here in town.  I mixed up four glazes and applied them in varying thicknesses for an interesting mix of textures.  I had the clay holding a cone explode in my second firing, which also added to the texture on a few of the pieces.  Unintentional catastrophes can sometimes offer an interesting effect.

I have posted pictures of my favorite pieces down at the bottom.  All of these are available at my studio, and I am happy to ship if you can't make it out here to Dixon, NM.

Adding the pots to newspaper for the post-firing reduction

New Items for the Los Alamos Spring Arts Fair

     I have been working furiously for the past few weeks to get ready for the Los Alamos Spring Arts Fair.  This will be my first outdoor show, so I have been learning the ropes of what to expect there and how to prepare for the spring winds of northern New Mexico.  I fired the kiln up three times this week and pulled out a few rather large disappointments, but some great ones as well. I have been experimenting with a number of slab pieces and having a lot of fun with it.  I made several very large slab vases which took up a considerable amount of room in my kiln and none of which will ever be seen by the public.  The three pictures I have posted here are all of slab pieces that I feel pretty good about.  The large square platter is not a flat piece, but one that curves upward at each corner.  The mask below is one that I put up in a earlier post when it was still greenware.  I love this mask.  Although I will take it to the fair, I wouldn't mind if it doesn't sell because I know exactly where I will hang it if it doesn't sell.  The business card holder is one of those items that I made because I needed one myself.  I am fond of putting these textured buttons on my slab pieces, and I like the way it looks on this piece.  One of these buttons graced each of my slab vases, but I'm still trying to let those go.

     So, if you are free on Saturday, please come up to Los Alamos and check out the Spring Art Fair .  It will be going on from 9am until 4pm on the Fuller Lodge lawn.  The weather has been beautiful and I hear there will be lots of great artists showing their work.   I will have all of these pieces for sale, as well as all of my wheel-thrown work.  I pulled out lots of salt cellars and butter dishes which seem to go quickly.  Please stop by and say, "Hi!"