Village of clay huts by the students in my after school clay class
to forgive my kiln over-firing debacle from last Monday – the kids took it well. It may have helped that I promised to make them each a special “I’m sorry” cup to make amends. It was a good learning moment for them – firing a kiln is still a mystery for them – how hot is 1800ºF anyway? They don’t quite understand the whole concept of turning wet clay into permanent fired pottery since all they see is that I take their creations home with me and bring them back fired like magic! The repairs to fix some of the over firing issues with Jean’s jewelry box didn’t work. Jean took it well and I’m ready to try again. But, that will be a job for another day….
Meanwhile, I spent all day reading lazily on the sofa – the newspaper, back issues of magazines, books and yes, even a bit of internet reading. We have three lap tops in our home and all of them are starting to show their age. I’ve been reading up on other operating systems and have decided to install Ubuntu, a FREE Linux open source operating system on one of the oldest computers, and will delete Windows XP completely. If it doesn’t work, then no big deal – but if it does, it will extend the life of our computers and hopefully make them faster.
Open source software and hardware is a really cool turn of advents. Now, it’s nothing new – Linux is released under GNU or General Public License since 1994. GNU is an interesting business model – people are able to modify and even benefit financially from someone else’s intellectual work as long as attribution is defined. Wired Magazine (one of my new faves) touches on open source in quite a few issues. Companies that are closed and proprietary, like Microsoft, have quite a market share and frankly are afraid of open source because it is a threat to their long term viability. Reading about companies, such as Arduino, an Italian group that manufactures open source electronics platforms for a variety of uses. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
Anyway, it’s a little more work on my part to do the research and homework to install a Linux based system – after all Windows has @ 88% of market share. On the other hand, there are a number of free software applications that can replace everything that I currently have installed on my computer such as Open Office (replaces Microsoft Office Suite), Gimp (Photoshop), Archimedes (AutoCad) – along with a slew of any other kind of free software programming anyone could ever need. I was reading about how many open source contributers consider their efforts to be good old fashioned community barn raising. I like to think of my humble little pottery blog in the same light – I share what I learn, good bad and down right ugly because I enjoy learning from others in the field and I love receiving emails from folks who try making some of the techniques I have posted, including improvements or alternatives.
So, thanks for humoring me and for continuing to read & comment on my blog! 
~Cynthia
Okay, hate is a really harsh word, but that’s what I was screaming yesterday afternoon when I opened my kiln! I messed up – royally. I freaking over fired my kiln *again*. I say that in a whisper, because after I over fired one of my kilns about 2 years ago, I swore I’d never do it again. Same dang mistake too – something touching kiln sitter so it didn’t drop when it reached temp – cone 05. Instead, it turned off when the cone in the sitter was completely burned to a crisp. Who knows how hot the temperature reached inside my ancient Paragon kiln. I use this one to bisque fire work and while I think it’s rated to ^9 roughly 2300° F. So – did it fire to ^ 9? Quite possibly. What was in the kiln – mostly my student’s work from my after school clay class, but I also squeezed some of my work in there including Jean’s custom jewelry box. 
On first glance it doesn't look too bad...
After my discovery, I was banging around, cussing – I think every expletive known to humans escaped from my lips. Luckily, no tender ears were around to hear, save for those of my dogs. Then I got really mad – mad at myself, at the pottery gods, at clay and I actually said I HATE Clay out loud! 9&%$J K &*jy6% %HMK< – you get the picture. I don’t know of any other medium (save maybe glass or jewelry) that what you see isn’t what you always get. That stinks.
So then, after unloading work and salvaging what I could, I started to work on my shelves. Clay & glaze melt from the low fire earthenware my students made littered the bottom shelves. I had my hammer and chisel out banging away at my shelves all the while glancing at the custom box, ready to take the hammer to it as well. But, something stopped me and I went over to look at it again. I mean really look at it – turn it over, inspecting for major issues, besides being a fully vitrified clay object with bubbles.
Can you see the bubbled slip?
The biggest issue is that the slip bubbled on the side that was next to the elements and not really any place else. I’m sorry I didn’t take a photo of the before – but by the time I started taking photos of the piece, I had already taken a grinder to the box and popped most of the bubbles out of curiosity.
I sort of like how the sanded bubbles give the piece another dimension
Then I started asking the clay gods what I was supposed to learn out of this situation…. I’m not sure s/he answered me or not, but I really got to work sanding even more – exposing all the bubbles. I have decided to play around with this piece some more. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen or how it will turn out, but I wouldn’t do this intentionally, so who knows? I’ve already sent an email to Jean with my profuse apologies – she’s so nice and still wants a covered box from me – albeit not for her sister’s birthday. My experiment might turn out to be total crap – but I don’t have anything else to lose except time, do I? So, this is back in the kiln this morning with some paper clay repairs – along with a few other pieces from the archives that had “issues” during firing.
These 3 little boxes were also in the doomed kiln.
I’m pretty sure that I can’t glaze these boxes anymore – and they are pretty nice in their nakedness. I could probably play around with some cold surface decoration techniques for these boxes since they’re not intended for food. Both the ^6 porcelain and white stoneware I use fared okay at a higher temperature, unlike the low fire red earthenware clay.
low fire red earthenware house
Ever want to know what low fire red earthenware clay looks like at ^7-9+ ? It’s a nice toasty chocolate brown color and it’s sort of self glazing with a nice sheen on the surface. But, the lid is now attached to the base – and the clay deformed/melted ever so slightly during firing. These will be perfect for the garden or an aquarium setting.
Big sigh…. Note to self – pay better attention when loading the kiln.
~Cynthia
Eat Crow decal side view
This is one of those processes that I have been dying to try, I don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier. I think it may be because it seemed so complicated and to be honest, it required the purchase of a laser printer. This bowl has been waiting ever so patiently on a shelf in my studio for at least 2 months now for bit of embellishment. Last Thursday, I decided to do the test firing because I plan to add decals to Jean’s custom box and I don’t want to screw it up.
Why “eat crow“? I’m eating a piece of my own humble pie right now and, well, I think a lot of people can identify with the phrase. Haven’t we all made mistakes in our lifetimes that we’d rather forget? This is a not so subtle reminder not to make those same mistakes again.
Eat Crow decal on interior of bowl
There’s always a bit of planning and research (for me at least) before I can jump into a project. I always get frustrated with my husband because he doesn’t read the instructions and then gets irritated and grumpy when things aren’t working. But, I found a ton of great information on ceramic decal firing including from Paul Wandless’ book, Image Transfer on Clay, Justin Rothshank’s website, Linda Arbuckle’s website and also fellow Etsy Mud Team member, Keith Phillip’s blog.
Colorado Art Studio Bar Code decal
So, after reading and reading and reading some more, I did it. I finally took the time to print a page of decals and used a few pots for test firings. I found that the simpler image of the “Eat Crow” decal printed clearer than the water lily or bar code. The bar code began to disintegrate a bit in places, so I’m not sure it will actually scan. It is on the bottom of the pot and was fired upside down – not sure if that makes sense or a difference.
Here are some photos of “how to apply a decal”:
So, I took everyone’s advice and fired the kiln slow at ^04 since I the glazes are ^6. Here are a few highlights from my firing log – wish I had taken photos (maybe next time). I used a small manual AIM 88T test kiln with kiln sitter – the temperature goes from low 1-8 to high. I followed the firing instructions on Linda Arbuckle’s ceramic decal handout available on her site – she recommends leaving the lid cracked until the kiln reaches red heat and I left the peep open for the entire firing.
- 6:30 am started the firing on low, lid cracked.
- 8:30 am lid cracked, moved temp to 2 – decal is beginning to burn off and it’s turning brown around the edges.
- 10:30 am lid cracked, moved temp to 4
- 11:30 am I couldn’t help peeking an hour early – the decal is completely black and I can barely see the image – a slight panic sets in
- 12:30 pm moved temp to 6 and closed the lid – the kiln is glowing red – the decal cover coat must be almost burned off, I can see the image clearly and the black is practically not visible anymore.
- 1:30 pm moved temp to 8 – just waiting…
- 2:30 pm – eek – the kiln is off and the electricity to my garage is off – the circuit breaker must have blown. That’s never happened during a firing before. The Aim kiln is a 120 volt and I had my space heater plugged into the same outlet – doh. Unplugged heater, reset circuit breaker. Luckily the kiln is pretty hot – so I just turned it back on at the temp where it was before.
- 3:30 pm moved temp to High.
- Kiln turned off around 4:30 pm. Normally the kiln wouldn’t take quite as long, but the tripped breaker added some time.
- Next morning at 6:00 am, I opened the cool to the touch kiln and smiled a big smile!
I’ve tried scratching the decals off – the iron oxide decal is truly fused to the glaze. I haven’t run these through the dishwasher yet, but it’s on my agenda.
So, there you have it in a nutshell. I have a full day today and must run – I’m going to a in house plate/platter workshop at the Colorado Potters Guild and am taking my daughter to see Coraline this afternoon. Forgive my typos – no time to edit….
Have a good Sunday,
~Cynthia
This is the continuation of part 1 and part 2 of a custom project that I am making for Texas based artist, Jean. It’s always a pleasure and an honor when another creative person commissions pottery from me – Thanks Jean!
Stoneware jewelry box with butterflies and bunny knob
My original plans for today did not call for posting part 3 of this ongoing series, however after tossing and turning for an hour at an ungodly time of o-dark-hundred, I finally decided to get up at 5am to begin my day with a cup of coffee and some blogging before heading to school to substitute teach. I finished the construction of the box yesterday and brought the box inside so that it can begin drying in preparation for bisque firing. I hope to squeeze it in with my student’s work on Sunday afternoon.
When Jean initially asked me to combine butterflies and a rabbit for a special birthday gift for her sister, I wasn’t sure how the 2 images would work together without being too saccharine. After sculpting the bunny knob, I think it works. What do you think? Granted, the box isn’t finished – it still has to undergo separate bisque and glaze firings – and I’m going to be adding ceramic laser toner butterfly decals to the respective shapes before calling it done.
I took a lot of photos to document the project – if you’re interested take a look at the gallery images below.
Meanwhile, I did my first laser toner decal firing yesterday and lo and behold, it works!! More on the process later – I took notes during the firing.
Tea bag saucer with water lily decal
You may remember this sketch of my water lily painting from this post. I took the image into Photoshop and resized it appropriately for this decal test firing and printed it out at 300 dpi onto decal paper. It’s not terribly apparent from the photo, but the image is a nice dark sepia tone which I think will work nicely on Jean’s jewelry box.
I'm attempting to dry the box evenly by adding rubber bands on each end to keep the lid from distorting.
I encountered a slight design challenge – after I cut the lid off of the box, the ends started drying at different rates and began lifting. As an experiment – I am drying the box with the rubber bands in place. I’m tempted to bisque the box with the rubber bands in place – they’ll burn off fairly quickly. Maybe not though, the rubber might leave a discoloration.
So, what’s my news? I received an email from the Landscape Architecture department at the University of Colorado and I’ve been re-admitted to the graduate program starting this fall. I’m super excited – but haven’t received the official letter yet. I was going to hold out, but you know me, I can’t. 
Have a great weekend everyone,
~Cynthia
