Hot

It's a hot day.The kiln is hot (not so hot on the bottom,but still).I'm hot- but by no means bothered,unlike my blogsister Hana over there in Darkest Alabama,who has been getting a little hot under the collar of late,even for a self-confessed Food Fascist.
My good friendSydney has started his own blog,which should prove entertaining when he hits his stride.
The Tel Hai anagama came out reasonably well: the students were delighted with their results,I was less than thrilled.The firing needed another day to get the effects of the ash more evenly distributed.
Today we are firing a glaze kiln-quite a few pots by apprentice Goldie and her students (she runs a small pottery group in my studio while I'm off teaching),some mugs for fast-disappearing stock,and some thin,tall porcelain test vases,which I glazed in blue celadon,shino and manganese/crystal.Their tallness has probably unbalanced the firing (I thought it might),causing the top to get 20-30 degrees too hot.For the last two hours,we piled on the reduction- closing the chimney drastically,causing the kiln to send jets of flame out of the burner ports (but still no smoke- I just can't get this kiln to smoke!)and gouts of turbulent orange-yellow flame from the spy-holes,which I shall attempt to photograph without melting the camera:the upshot- there's still more than a cone difference,and,meanwhile,the temperature has drifted down to 1180.Enough,already:open the flue a bit to get it to rise again,take it up to a good cone 9 at the top,and hope that the bottom managed to get enough to melt the fairly-forgiving clear glaze that I put on the bottom of the kiln for this very reason.At least I can be sure the top was 1) good and hot,and 2)well reduced.While the kiln was firing,I threw some pots to take down to Ein I'ron tomorrow for the handle workshop I am giving Hadas's students.