The Fourth Firing

The fourth firing I did was a few weeks ago now and was the most productive so far as I managed to fire a range of wares. All but a few of these used the simple clear glaze and/or white slip decoration.

The first two pictures above, are of the casserole pot I made. I only glazed the inside, as you can see from the first pic. I did a test with it last week, making a sausage casserole, and it worked better than I expected, without exploding! (Some clays do not handle heating in an oven. The clay I use has additions which make it stronger. I was expecting it to work, but there is always a risk!). It cooks food very well; better than any other oven dish that we have!

The next picture above shows three sizes of mugs and a selection of jam jars. I like the largest mug as it feels great to drink from, my friends and neighbours tend to prefer the mid size. I guess everything is just a matter of taste (And how thirsty you are!).

                                    

Next is a collection of three utensil pots which I made for our kitchen. The jug was for my next door neighbours as they wanted a gravy jug; and the mug you've seen already in the last pic.

The photo above shows a few more usefull pots from this firing. At the top is an unglazed lidded storage jar. Unglazed jars are usefull for storing perishable foodstuffs as they absorb any moisture from the air and stop the food from going bad. This one was made to store garlic from the garden. Next down, in the picture is a small brush pot, which I made as a gift for an artist friend. Next to it is a medium bowl glazed only on the inside; which seems to work very well, I just need to test it with some cereal to see how it is to use. At the front is a salt pig (Used for storing salt!).

Finally the last things from this firing were the two large bowls, above. These turned out very well. They are quite wide at around 14" but I couldn't have made anything bigger as these are the maximum width I can get into my kiln!

All in all this firing turned out great and it was good practise for me.

I've started working on some teapots today, but will update you on my progress in the next post.