Grit in the Gears

I am the grit in the gears, the missing bolt, I am the poker of sticks into spokes. I like to know how things work, but sometimes when I take them apart and rebuild them, I have a few pieces left over. I am a man, so I tend to leave reading the instructions until after it goes wrong. And like all men I have a comprehensive mental map of the world and never need to ask directions. I never get lost, only sometimes I'm late, or end up in the wrong place entirely. It's what we do.

Sunday 28 March 2010

Into the Archives. and First Bisque Firing!!!

Up early on saturday, across town to get into my basement store before the road closes, (they're resurfacing it after the frosts destroyed it), I'm rummaging, because I know there are some unfired pieces, wrapped in newspaper, and this weekend... ta-----daaaa! I intend the ceremonial first firing of my kiln.
I thought of doing a full scale dry-fire test, but hey, let's do russian roulette, put everything in and throw caution to the winds!

No greenware in this box, but a few promising platters.

I did find them eventually, I'd totally forgotten that I had a few teapots in there.

And in particular a BIG teapot. Oh I love teapots.

Next comes the kiln packing. Awkward, as I only have the one shelf.. Damn. Next tuesday I'll get some more, but that's my first opportunity. So, stack the big things as carefully as possible, and start inserting the smaller pieces. It's like a pit-firing but without the cushioning effect of fuel. May get a few breakages.
fingers crossed, phew. Update tomorrow....

3 comments:

gz28 March 2010 at 07:29
Eagerly anticipating the next update :D
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Anonymous28 March 2010 at 08:08
soubriquet, those are some beauties. i love the glamour shot of the pots piled in the kiln and the big teapot is lovely. i also like the wavy slip trail on the plate that doesn't meet up to it's beginning.
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soubriquet29 March 2010 at 15:02
gz, Updated!

Jim, "Glamour shot" I like that!, though in reality, it's more like one of those pics in the "How to Do It" books, showing how not to.

The wavy slip trail? I'd like to pretend that not meeting up was deliberate.
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