Saturday 21 July 2012

firing The Rocket, South Wales Potters' kiln

On Friday afternoon, pallets were deconstructed
and much discussion and work under the tutelage of Stephen Mills, potter and pyromantic.  "This finger is loaded" he commented on the next photo!!
Others lit the kiln at 8am on the Saturday.
How else to potters heat water for brewing tea?!!
Stoking, Rebecca Buck and Mary Watkins of South Wales Potters.
Has it reached temperature?

Temperature reached at 5.15pm (and 1235 on the pyrometer) then damper in to "turn it off".
The kiln god worked!!..or goddess as six women fired this kiln!
and near the end of the firing, we had a visit from Frank and Janet Hamer, who are celebrating sixty years of potting together with an exhibition in August at Craft Renaissance Gallery.

10 comments:

Mr. Young said...

Great photos! May everything look outstanding when you unload the kiln!

Gardeningbren said...

I loved this!! What a great share...loved the Goddess! Art History 101.

Incredible the use of pallets nowadays (recycle) ...used to fire pots and also, stand upright to hold pots of plants.

Cro Magnon said...

This reminds me of my college days, when strange furnaces would suddenly appear, and even stranger pottery students would be seen collecting wood. The final results were always superb.

Elaine said...

That was really interesting. No doubt the tea tasted wonderful.

Relatively Retiring said...

Wonderful - what a great day. Thank you for showing it all.

Lois said...

That looks pretty incredible. And the sun was shining!

Kerry O'Gorman said...

Good to see that the basic way of doing a craft still exists.

gz said...

Sorry if some comments are missing...seems I hit the wrong button....must try harder!!

red dirt girl said...

and a fun time was had by all! love the goddess, too :)

xxx

farmlady said...

How exciting. I would imagine that the goddess was happy with the whole process and gave you great results.
Love the teapot...