After I got the kiln going on Saturday morning, all the work gloves in the soda room were holey or unpaired. So I ran up to the hardware store and bought a brand new pair of leather gloves, to be mine alone.

Batching was a little different than usual. We mixed the soda with a lot less water than usual, mixed it it by hand and very well. Texture was more doughy but still packed easily onto the angle iron. Benefit? Very fast temperature recovery. The soda distribution in the kiln didn’t seem to be affected.

Unload was Tuesday, photographed thoroughly, recorded how heavily the soda hit and from what direction. Cleaned the kiln and shelves last night. Again, cannot recommend new gloves highly enough. Brought everything from the class into the room and set it out. One person got out a bottle of wine, and we tried out the cups and tumblers another person had made. Here’s my work… about a third of the kiln, maybe more. A few very failed experiments, but more gems.

Full size image here.

I haven’t spent much time with them yet. Second firing for a couple of my new glazes and third for a couple of others. More fresh experiments as well. Applied a bunch of very thin slips to porcelain bisqueware, where I’d used them more thickly on greenware before. One slip was a new recipe, two I hadn’t used on porcelain but had on stoneware. My finger-marks from the layers of material are often lovely. This I will say of the glazes, now that I’m becoming more familiar - I picked a nice diverse cross section from the shino family and appreciate each individual. Have some great ideas for my next mini-project: at least one, and likely several, sets of thirteen.

It’s been a long night of glazing. When I prepare to glaze, I make a list of my bisqueware, look at my list of ideas recorded while working, plan out the glazing effort. Loading is tomorrow instead of the usual Friday night. Should be fun, though crowded - loading with a really nice class of advanced soda students.

Not the best photo below but it gives an idea of how I spent the last few hours. Many of these got a slip as well as a glaze. New combinations, again, as well as some known nice ones. One new form, sort of. I’ve been asked to make some full sets - that’ll be the next firing.

Thanks go to Doug Jeppesen at Waubonsee Community College for sharing the recipe. This piece was in my most recent firing.

Teabowl. 2008. Wheel thrown and altered porcelain. Cornell iron saturate glaze. Soda fired to c.10 in reduction. 3h, 4w.

Goodness. What a wonderful glaze.

This evening’s post takes a different direction. There’s something enormous to be said for being attentive to how we interact with the world around us. Earlier today I was reflecting on my interaction with one of my recent teabowls, and on my interaction with the teabowls as a group.

Today I have a teabowl at work, and have been sipping tea from it all morning. There’s a quiet intimacy in drinking from it. It would hold eight ounces easily; I pour two or three; it seems right. One hand would suffice for drinking, but two feels right. My fingers interlace, index fingers fall above the rim and pinkies sit under the foot as I tip the pale liquid to my lips.

On how many occasions have I sat with a table of these pieces, turning each over in my hands? How many hours, a friend and I interrupting our own conversation to pick up and admire some previously unnoticed detail, or to call attention to a growing appreciation or intrigue? How many moments even today, as I mulled over some detail of the drawings I’m creating, for someone else to construct? When will it be enough?

I’ll close by noting, perhaps a little ruefully, that what I write here is evidence that I’m succeeding in my undertaking. My notebook’s in the studio, so I’ll paraphrase a few things that interest me: To create pieces that hold the eye, that have a subtlety and complexity of form and surface, that long to be examined at length.