Pictures by Yahel...

...One of the more promising and complex third year students:pots waiting to be loaded into the anagama,wood scrounged from the Keren,students loading pots,part of a student's project (unfired).Much bustle today,with kiln loading for tomorrow's firing (scheduled to last 'til Friday midday) and students firing the raku kiln to test glazes/shapes.I re-introduced the 2nd and 3rd year students to porcelain:they had an unhappy first experience with some problematic quasi-porcelain last semester,and I wouldn't want them to leave Tel Hai without sampling the challenging delights of this special clay.The more I work with this Tom Coleman porcelain the more intriguing it becomes:it certainly has excellent throwing qualities,once you get the hang of it,and seems to combine the slippery silkiness of porcelain with a graininess,or tooth,that's more like stoneware.Maybe there's silica sand in it.The prospect of using it for larger crystal-glaze pieces,instead of my recalcitrant Naaman porcelain,gets the creative juices going.My shift at the anagama is from around midnight Thursday 'til,I hope,the end of the firing on Friday.I'm down on the list with four or five students,who I'm sure,and quite rightly,will want to do most of the stoking-I shall probably have to pull rank to get a look-in.Feeding a large wood-fired kiln is a peak experience-go and wheedle your way onto your nearest participating potter's shift list and try it.