Clay Always Finds a Way to Humble You

Last week’s soda firing yielded some not so great results. However, even through failure, I learned a lot of about the materials.

1. I may have added too much grog to my Hawthorn Stoneware (~10% by mass)

   • This resulted in very brittle bone dry pots that were not conducive to slip application. Microcracks must have formed that were not visible to the naked eye or was subsequently covered by another layer of slip before it fully developed. These cracks then expanded during the final soda firing.

2. Bone dry application of slip

   • Applying slip at the bone dry stage is great for getting an even coating across the entire pot. However, you risk cracks forming due to the clay reabsorbing water from the slip. The sandy white stoneware was able to withstand this more aggressive slip application while the hawthorn stoneware was not. The kaolin content may have helped, but this is pure speculation.

3. 4:30 or risk hooking

   • The rule of thumb for teapot spouts is to attached the spout angled off to 4:30 (7:30 for clockwise throwers) to compensate for shrinkage twisting. The rule was knocking around in the back of my head and I just did not take it seriously - all of my previous spouts never showed signs of this phenomena. However, this round of teapots I had longer spouts and thinner walls.

4. Don’t fire faster than your angel can fly

   • I am unsure how much this played a role in this round of disappointing, yet insightful, pots…but I can assure it didn’t help the situation. I really pushed this firing and finished it within 19 hours, a whole 5 hours faster than usual. Goes to show that firing a kiln is just as much a skill as making that pot that goes in them.

Now, I do not want to come across as a Debbie Downer because there were some quite moments of beauty from the firing. However, one cannot improve without revaluating their process and correcting them. I may have ran this past month to try to chase that muse, but I tripped along the way…but that is okay, I am picking myself up and am starting to walk again.