Bowl Swap

As a member of the Etsy Mud Team (susanskiln.etsy.com) I participated in a bowl swap organized by the team and my swap partner in North Carolina mailed me this bowl. The bowl is unique in several ways. Barry Lockman, the potter,  digs and processes his own clay and most of his glazes. And another, daring, thing he does is single fire his pottery. Instead of bisque firing the dried pieces and then applying glaze, he glazes his pots when they are in the leather hard stage.  This is risky because if the temperature rises too quickly in the kiln during the firing, the water in the clay turns to steam and breaks the pot.

Barry's Etsy shop can be found at: lockmanpottery.etsy.com

This is the pot I sent Barry.

Crystalline Firing Results

I love my kiln, it performed perfectly but I'm not getting the results I want.  Some pots grew crystals, a little wimpy perhaps but crystals just the same, while others were covered with out-gassing pin holes.  At least that is what I'm calling them.  And they seem to be most prevalent in the copper carbonate green glaze. I think I will try a different firing schedule next try.