2 squared mugs

I made a batch of these squared mugs to sell at the Mississippi Market. I gave a few to the custodians at school. It is important to keep them happy. They don't like dealing with the clay. These were fired in the electric kiln at school (oxidation). We use premixed glazes from Continental Clay.

More pots

These two vases below are the same as the two on the right and left above. They were fired on their sides. The picture above shows the side of the pots that were exposed to the ashes in the kiln, the pics below show the sides that were facing down. The marks you see are from the wadding that keeps the pieces from being fused to the kiln shelves. All three are about 14" in height

this one is about 16"

pots from the wood kiln

Vase with squared base. I learned that from a Bob Briscoe workshop. That is mostly unglazed, there is a band of mamo on the top. we usually add a couple pounds of soda and salt.

some lidded jars, these also have a mamo glaze, but only on the one side, all the drips on the other side are from the ash. They are 14" in height

building the EAC wood kiln

The kiln is of the Olson fast-fire design. We left out the little hole for poking out a brick designed to reduce the size of the flue to the chimney. We miscalculated the number of bricks and ended up with a chimney that was way too short. the first time we tried to fire it we made it to cone 04 after 20 hours or so and gave up. We then added a three foot stove pipe to the top and got to cone 10 (barely) in about 20 hours. The kiln stayed like that for five or six firings, struggling to get to temp and then eventually another 3 foot section of stove pipe was added. Now we can get cone eleven flat on the bottom (if we want to) in about 18 hours.

wood kiln in use

Here is a picture of the wood kiln my students built as it nears temperature. Tony and Jake are stoking simultaniously. The kiln was built by 6of my students at Edina High school in the spring of 2004. We sold pots at a local grocery store to raise the money for materials. The store gave us a huge display area right near the cash registers and didn't make up the prices a penny. As of March 2006 it has been fired 12 times, and is starting to fall apart. The kids named her PatrISHa, with particular emphasis on the "ish". I think they were refering to the frequent usage of the suffix. An example, "Does that look straight to you? I'd say it is straitish."