After throwing the mugs and shaping the frogs - the "new hatch" is drying in the pottery.
It is always exciting to see the new jumping frogs all lined up. Peaceful now but I never know where they will jump. First, though, they need to jump into the kiln to be bisque fired.
But in this damp weather they are taking forever to dry.
Finally dry they are ready for the bisque kiln firing. Jump frogs!
Here's a little bit about that process from About.com: "The purpose of bisquing is to change the clay into ceramic material, without fully fusing it. Most pottery goes through a bisque firing before it is glazed and then fired again to melt the glaze and fuse it to the clay body. Bisque firing pottery is important. This allows the potter to do much more decorative work with stains, underglazes and glazes with a greatly reduced risk of the pot being damaged. Because the bisque firing is brought to temperature much more slowly, bisquing also reduces the chances of pots cracking or exploding in the glaze firing. Read more at
http://pottery.about.com/od/firingthekiln/tp/bisqfire.htm.
Then out they jump when the bisque kiln firing is complete! And what a nice bisque color you have become. Not quite like tanning on the beach though. Maybe I need to take them to the beach sometime and see how they like that!
Stay in line now, stay still and get ready for glazing.
More about glazing from About.com: "Ceramic glazes each have a temperature range that they should be fired to. If the glazes are fired at too low a temperature, the glaze will not mature. If the temperature goes too high, the glaze will become too melted and run off the surface of the pottery. For success, a potter must know their glazes' temperature ranges at which they become mature." Read more at http://pottery.about.com/od/temperatureandmaturatio1/tp/glazerange.htm
As you can see the way the glaze coat looks before firing does not reflect the final color. That will be the work of the kiln Gods. Will they look favorably on this hatch?
Don't be embarrassed little frogs. Wait until you see what happens. But frogs are shy creatures.
And they love to tease.
Almost ready to jump over to the kiln for Glaze firing.
Great care goes into loading the kiln. Especially with the frogs wiggling all around.
In you go little guy...
31 hours and 2,200 degrees later... The firing takes 7 hours and then there's 24 hours of cool down.
They are ready to hop to your house or in this case today to the Norfolk Farmers Market in Norfolk, Connecticut about ten minutes from my studio in Canaan.
You never know where... Let us know if one jumped to your table!
It is always exciting to see the new jumping frogs all lined up. Peaceful now but I never know where they will jump. First, though, they need to jump into the kiln to be bisque fired.
But in this damp weather they are taking forever to dry.
Finally dry they are ready for the bisque kiln firing. Jump frogs!
Here's a little bit about that process from About.com: "The purpose of bisquing is to change the clay into ceramic material, without fully fusing it. Most pottery goes through a bisque firing before it is glazed and then fired again to melt the glaze and fuse it to the clay body. Bisque firing pottery is important. This allows the potter to do much more decorative work with stains, underglazes and glazes with a greatly reduced risk of the pot being damaged. Because the bisque firing is brought to temperature much more slowly, bisquing also reduces the chances of pots cracking or exploding in the glaze firing. Read more at
http://pottery.about.com/od/firingthekiln/tp/bisqfire.htm.
Then out they jump when the bisque kiln firing is complete! And what a nice bisque color you have become. Not quite like tanning on the beach though. Maybe I need to take them to the beach sometime and see how they like that!
Stay in line now, stay still and get ready for glazing.
More about glazing from About.com: "Ceramic glazes each have a temperature range that they should be fired to. If the glazes are fired at too low a temperature, the glaze will not mature. If the temperature goes too high, the glaze will become too melted and run off the surface of the pottery. For success, a potter must know their glazes' temperature ranges at which they become mature." Read more at http://pottery.about.com/od/temperatureandmaturatio1/tp/glazerange.htm
As you can see the way the glaze coat looks before firing does not reflect the final color. That will be the work of the kiln Gods. Will they look favorably on this hatch?
Don't be embarrassed little frogs. Wait until you see what happens. But frogs are shy creatures.
And they love to tease.
Almost ready to jump over to the kiln for Glaze firing.
Great care goes into loading the kiln. Especially with the frogs wiggling all around.
In you go little guy...
31 hours and 2,200 degrees later... The firing takes 7 hours and then there's 24 hours of cool down.
They are ready to hop to your house or in this case today to the Norfolk Farmers Market in Norfolk, Connecticut about ten minutes from my studio in Canaan.
You never know where... Let us know if one jumped to your table!
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