Prayer for Kiln god and Fluxing god, and I forgot Crackle god!

I had lots of Christmas orders to fire, and this would be the last glaze-firing for them. Last Saturday, on the coldest day in this winter, I started the firing.

Glazing

Top Shelf

Lower shelf

While I was glazing hard, Pearl the whippet had dinner from Topaz's dish!

The result was a mixed bag. White glaze and all tapirs came out beautifully. But all clear glazes didn't flux even though they were on the top shelf. It was apparent that the temperature didn't go high enough.

All three polar bears have already gone!

All except for the goofy one are in my shop now. 

All tapirs were sucessful. This is my OUT tray on Wednesday. Clients' names on papers under the works

I decided to do next firing on Wednesday when it was forecast up to 9C. We even moved the kiln to the hallway, because it was going to be the real last firing! I can't fail! My small kiln was very heavy. We had to lift only two steps to get it into the hallway, but I was not able to recover from fatigue until next lunch time!

The kiln in the hallway

It was carefully planned and we started the firing on at seven Wednesday morning. After 1100c the kiln was obviously slowing down, and about 1200c, it stopped! We noticed it soon, and restarted quickly, even so, it had lost 200c by the time the kiln was going again.

Lower shelf

In the end, after a very long firing, it had reached the temperature and firing went well. It was about ten at night. Late afternoon next day I was able to open the kiln. Thankfully all clear glazes fluxed so well. They are all shiny and smooth! But the whippets have no crackles. If you have seen my whippets before, they usually have crackles like veins. Crackling happens when the clay body and glaze shrink at different rates. But a good and important thing is that they are absolutely beautiful!

Top Shelf

Whippet available on my Etsy shop

So, that was my last glaze-firing for the 2015 orders. New orders for 2016 have already come in. Before next glaze-firing, new kiln elements will be fitted in. Luckily customers are happy with clear glazed whippets. I am not surprised, because they look stunning. I have posted two today, a few more will be posetd on Monday. I have several whippets available for my Etsy shop. I have listed three today. So do have a look if you are looking for a present for sighthound lovers! (But do be quick if you are interested! While I was typing this, one was sold on my Etsy shop!)

Today's posting - two whippets and two birds

 

Glaze-firing and re-firing

Firing went well thankfully. Now I am able to start making larger pieces for a forthcoming exhibition in Newcastle, in September.

The first glaze-firing.

Lower shelf

Top shelf

This time hair colours went wrong. Most went to re-firing.  

Lower shelf

Top shelf

  Frida the monkey is amusing people on Social network! :D 

Glaze-firing

The bisque-firing went well. So once I have unloaded the kiln, I cleaned up all edges with sandpapers and started  preparing for glaze-firing. this is the part I don't enjoy too much! :D It is tedious and fiddly in the least!

Large tapirs became adult Malayn tapirs.

I made an espresso after a few hours of hard work. The spoon is by Eric Heblot, French artist. 

Even though my kiln is small, I make sure that those which need higher temperature go on a top shelf, and those which don't like high temperature go to a lower shelf. It is not very easy sometimes. Hence lower shelf is very crowded, and top shelf emptier! 

A dozen of tapirs hiding here.

Top shelf

Sunday morning, they came out of the kiln and had their first breakfast! :D

'Is this it?'

 Tiny teeny whippets have come beautifully!

Lots of firings!

I have had an adrenaline fuelled few days. I am doing a firing every other day. I work from early morning to late at night in the studio. That's not so unusal for me before a show, but I had only two hours sleep between 5 and 7 in the morning yesterday. I had kept working until nine in the evening. I didn't feel sleepy! :D

Bisque-firing went well, thankfully. Yesterday I did glaze-firing. Even though outisde was cold, the temperature in the kiln didn't come down quickly. So when I was able to open it, it was already lunch time. All went well except for bronze-gold glaze. That often needs a second firing to get the right finish.

They will be glaze-fired tomorrow. 

Yesterday and today I have been glazing the other bisques. A busy time for me.

Just a quick peek into the glaze-firing kiln yesterday!

Lower shelf

Top shelf

I will talk to you soon!

Preparation for glaze-firing

Today I have done the first glaze-firing of the year. Preparation for glaze-firing is a long job. First I file and grind all rough bits and then sand paper here and there. Then I wipe the dust off. This sounds quick and easy, but it usually takes a couple of hours or longer for my little kiln to be fully loaded.

We are tiny test pieces.

Then I paint oxides and underglaze. Mixing underglazes to make different colours is not easy, because the colours change so much after firing. Lots of testing will be needed. I also mix oxides and underglaze, then it's anybody's guess what colour it would be! Again more tests will be needed. I make a sample and send for firing to see the resulting colours. Next, I paint wax for the parts I don't want glaze on. It is usually tiny and delicate parts, and I am definitely cross-eyed during this work. That would be about six to eight hours. A good dog walk would be a great break, after this!

The smaller mask has wax around her face  - Lower shelf

Now it's time for glazing. I stir the glazes, and remove dust from surface of the bisques again. I stir the glaze again, to make sure that it is now homogeneous. Then glazing. I dip each one in the glaze bucket. After they are all finished, they usually need a touch-up. And then I clean up spills on the surface and wipe the bottom. About a four to six hour job.

Several test pieces on this top shelf

I finally move them to the kiln shelves and then to the kiln. Measuring the height and adjusting the positions takes about one hour!

To fire today's bisques, I have worked three days to do all these jobs. During firing in an electric kiln with a controller is an easy job. I can relax and do other works.

I truly hope that they come out nicely! : ) I will see tomorrow lunchtime.

Somehow this kitten became Yoshimoto Nara-like! :D I had to change her eyes after the photo was taken!

    

Tapirs and Anteaters wondered if firing is too hot for them!

Last night, I loaded the kiln. It took a long time for me to paint white marking on Tapir babies. I tell you it was difficult to make them look natural!

Tapir babies had their first firing and anteaters had their second.

'I heard that we will be cooked!'
'Really?'
'Will it be hot, I wonder.'

This morning, I started the kiln. My kiln is in the cold garage, The last few firings took longer than usual. The kiln had struggles to reach 1200C and beyond.

'Tapir waiting list 2015 the first half' is closed now.  If you are interested in the tapirs for 2015 summer onward, please let me know I will add you on a list.

Tomorrow I will be able to open the kiln and see the result. Fingers crossed! : )

Photos from the studio and cakes!

Hectic! I'm making, glazing, firing, packing and posting without much rest recently!

Here are some photos from the studio to share with you!

Bisque-firing went well!

All critters are fired to bisque

Ready for glaze firing!

  A pair of owls with pink cheeks! : )

They are in my shop!

Before glazing, I wax the bottoms, so that the glaze won't get on them.

Whippets

Mike brought the delicious cakes from Julien Plumart, our favourite cake shop, from Brighton! 

3 for me, and 2 for him. ; )

Now the kiln is ready for another glaze-firing! It will start tomorrow morning.

A little chicken is hiding under an anteater!

Today, I did the second glaze-firing in four days. The bisque firing went well, thankfully. I then spent the next 4 days glazing. The first glaze-firing was all white rabbits. They are relatively straight forward. But it took me 4 hours to do one shelf!

Two rabbits from left are spoken for. Others will hit midoritakaki on Etsy soon! 

They will go to the Cecilia Colman Gallery, London

In today's firing, there are two shelves.  Mysteriously the black things are bronze-gold whippets. This glaze is made of lots of metal oxides. Hence they carry a higher price tag than those with other glazes. Application is also very messy. I need to place them very carefully in the kiln so that any dust doesn't fly onto other works.

On the upper shelf, there are several refirings.

Have you noticed the anteater and chickens? The little chicken is squatting under the anteater's long mouth! :D  The kiln will be opened tomorrow morning, I hope they will come out nice! : )

Anteater, monkeys and chickens! 

The worst ever firing

I had the worst firing ever. All rabbits were ruined. All of them. A half month of work became rubbish. Sigh. 

What happened? They had a wrong glaze. How did it happen? Glaze storage manager, Mike, told me the bucket was white one. I pointed at the label saying 'clear'. He said that it was wrong. He had put the white glaze into this bucket. Never believe him. Believe the label!

Now you know why glaze ceramic artists don't become millionaires (reason 2 - the reason 1 is in the previous post). I am making loss! I was cross and disappointed. Some of them were for a gallery. I'm making more rabbits rather than packing them for delivery this weekend. 

Then, after a while, I thought about those who were in Malaysian Airline shot down over Ukraine. The firing was disappointing, but nobody was hurt. There were much worse things in the world. You have to view everything in perspective. I forgave Mike. I started making more.

Although all rabbits will go to a bin, other ones came out mostly fine, thankfully. I have already listed three pieces of works from the firing. 

As I typed this, two are already gone. : ) So chin up and smile, Midori!

Little Anteater - Sold

Monkey -Sold

 Pierre is available from my Etsy shop!

    

Pierre

 

       

A mad firing week

It has been a hectic week with glazing and firing. I am having another working weekend. Definitely a bit of madness has crept in. Last night I worked until ten, but today, I have finished by eight. I am happy!

Bisque firing of masks went well, luckily. They came out in the morning on the 20th.

Bisque fired masks

More bisque fired masks.

Then they all went to glaze-firing on the 23rd. Glaze-firing takes about 12 hours. The kiln becomes cool enough to open after 30 hours. 

Lower shelf - ready to glaze firing

Middle shelf

Top shelf

Yesterday morning I opened the kiln. Disappointing! It was under-fired. One of underglazes blisters at high temperature, I tend to set it a bit lower when using this underglaze, but it was too low. Glazes didn't flux well, and oxides look dead.  And a few masks had too strong colours. That's a shame, because I can't remove them. In ceramics, we can only add colours. Most will have to go back for another firing

But time was too tight to lament. I prepared the another glaze firing yesterday, and started the kiln in early morning today. These have been waiting for their turns for a long time. As they are tall ones, I can't have another shelf, so I had to wait until enough tall sculptures are ready.

'Oh, it has been such a long wait! My head fell!' :D

Now the kiln is cooling down.  I can open it tomorrow morning, and I will unload it and load it up again. I will start another glaze firing back to back. I just hope there won't be any more surprises.

He changed from a girl to a boy today!