August 15, 2010

Stellar!



It seems as though our luck with the first full firing ever of this new kiln has coincided with the current meteor shower above our heads. What an absolutely incredible experience. We had a lot riding on this firing, probably not thinking the clearest when we decided to hold a sale right after firing a kiln that had never before reached the temperatures we were going to bring it to. I guess nobody knows that the roller coaster is secure unless someone rides on it first. There's only so many safety precautions you can take, but if it malfunctions, well.....we won't talk about it.



We'll start with some photos showing the unfired pottery and the process of how it is stacked in the kiln:

Shown: Unfired planters


Shown: Unfired big pots

Next, a video showing just a bit of the firing process, the first part showing the guys in action while stoking the kiln and the second part showing the intensity of the end of the firing, where stoking and salting of the pots are happening simultaneously. At about two minutes, a promo pops up so just hang on for a few seconds and the video will continue:




Then, a few shots of the guys and the real stars of the show, the pots!







Pictured: Alex Matisse

Pictured: Mark Hewitt



Pictured: Alex Matisse, Mark Hewitt, Seth Guzovsky, Brad Lail, Joseph Sand

Finally, we have some photos of the unloading of the kiln. Truly spectacular firing!



Shown: Dave Stumpfle

This is the after shot of the loading photo seen above.

Shown: Levi Mahan and Joseph carrying a big pot from the kiln up to the workshop.


With the expertise of Mark Hewitt and Alex Matisse, along with the many crucial helpers (Andy McMahan, Spencer Johnson, Dave York, Beverly Fox, Seth Guzovsky, Brad Lail, Levi Mahan, Lara and Jim O'Keefe, Dave Stumpfle, and Mark and Mike Allred), the kiln fired beautifully.

Thanks for all your help!



10 comments:

  1. Stunning!
    Congratulations on the kiln and the work.

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  2. Beautiful fire and i know a lot of those helpers! Great folks you could not ask for better help!

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  3. Congratulations, Joseph. Wish I could have been there, but these darn footbowls....

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  4. Nice work. I'm glad it went well. Good luck with the sale.

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  5. Ha! The foot bowls again :)
    Joseph congrats on a FANTASTIC firing. I've cleaned those pots many times in the past but these were some of the finest I have seen!!!!
    and so much easier to clean, how'd you do that?
    Beautiful work, hope you sell them all. Thanks for having me over this weekend, much fun, love my teapot! My first teapot from your first firing, how cool.

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  6. Blimey! They are some lovely looking pots. Congratulations.
    hannah

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  7. Absolutely stunning Joseph! Bravo!

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  8. Thank you all for the kind words!!!
    Busy getting ready this week to send them out to their future homes.

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  9. Everything looks great, Joseph!!! Hope we can get out their soon and check it all out. You really had a great first firing. It is wonderful when all the stars align and something special happens at that given moment. Good luck with the preparation for your first show. We hope you send them all away to happy homes.

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