A year on

It's been a year since finishing my MA, and I've been taking time - both to continue making and also to focus on what I want to do going forward. I feel the need to register as a business, but first find a way to describe myself and my story in a succinct, understandable, short …

Exhibition

Final stage - setting up the exhibition.  Walcot Chapel, Bath.

Final stack

I brought the palette home so I could practice the final stack in my spare room, so the background to the images are slightly cluttered. I had to redo the stack a few times to get the herringbone pattern tight. I think this is the final stack that I dismantled in order and boxed up …

Holiday raku firing

Well I have around 40 raku-fired peat slices, fired in the garden over the last couple of weeks. Some adjustments had to be made to increase the carbon intake as some firings came out of the reduction bins too light, however, theses have added texture and contrast to the final stack. Each peat slice was …

Last bisque firing

I fired the final 18 peat slices in Jeff, at 1000 degrees on Wednesday. He was around 300 today and cooling so I’ll empty tomorrow and load more boxes of bisque fired peat slices into the car for firing over the holiday. My porch is crammed with bags of burning peat, a raku kiln, Tongs, …

Raku firing

I raku fired 10 peat slices today, 5 fitted at a time in the raku kiln. I used a mixture of peat ash and glaze medium to brush over them, the same as the text tile. The mixture was added in thin layers with some sprinkled on top. I didn't sieve the ash but left …

This week’s studio

I worked all weekend to get as many peat slices finished to dry in time for the kiln I've booked on Thursday, Jeff.  I enjoyed presenting Kate's work on Monday via Skype, and getting to know what she is doing and why. And vice versa, hearing about my work from another view point. Kate would …

Week of studio

The first 13 peat slicers came out of Jeff (the kiln) successfully for the bisque firing. I've made the photos black and white to help me look at the patterns of the stack and the light and shade. I'm hoping now to be able to work out how I want to stack and how much …

Press mould and glaze tests

I press moulded slabs of crank, this one took up 3/4 of a full 12.5kg bag of clay. I rolled the slabs onto some dried heather and bog cotton from the Moss and plan to keep the clay raw. I worry that since cutting the plaster slab into 2 (as I couldn't lift the whole …

Firing using peat

Aparently Netholithic pottery was fired in Orkney using a mixture of peat, animal dung, straw and seaweed. The seaweed or wet animal dung was used a dome for the firing. Some peat firing: http://orkneypottery.co.uk/prehistoric-pottery/neolithic-pottery-firings/ http://blogs.brad.ac.uk/tracing-the-lines/2017/05/30/how-were-neolithic-pots-made/ Smoke firing http://www.stefaniesmithceramics.com/process-smoke.html I noticed it is also referred to as black firing. I think the best method to utilise …