Firing #10

Predictability! Who would have thought! It really does amaze me,after all these years of firing these glazes in the gas kiln- and never having the slightest idea what was going to come out- to see some sort of consistency.Over the last few firings I have been playing with the program slightly- a few degrees more or less,a few minutes more or less- to see if I can spot the changes in results- which is not always the case.There are still quite a few parameters affecting even identical firing schedules- glaze thickness,number of pots per firing [affects speed of firing] and,according to the literature,age of kiln-elements.It's also clear to me that the different amounts of [different] oxides in the glazes also influence glaze melt and thus crystal growth.I think that I have learnt,also,that 'crowding' is caused,at least in part,not just by too many crystals growing in the glaze,but by allowing the crystals to grow too large.
We are just back,with son Eliav,from the wedding of Goldie [my former apprentice] and Reuven,which took place near Jerusalem...a rocket screamed overhead a few minutes ago,landing somewhere not too far away...