I was fortunate to get in contact with Jenni Taris in Matangi near Hamilton just before she had the second firing in her new kiln.
The Pirate wants me to have one of these...so it was a good opportunity for him to see just what this entails! He joined in on the stoking and helped with the catering...and played with the dogs!!
Over half a dozen other potters came and went, as it is a shared firing- much better to share firings in each others kilns, that way you all get work finished sooner and learn more quicker.
I made half a dozen pots as a Thankyou for letting us descend upon them at short notice, on a Leach kickwheel that was sitting just waiting to be used!!!!
We'd travelled on the bus from Te Aroha leaving just before 7am (two hours after the kiln was lit) and unfortunately had to get the bus back two hours before the end of the firing.
The surprise of the day? Meeting a friend who lives only a few hundred metres up the road...we hadn't written for e few years.....and not seen each other for over thirty!! We met first in the 70s as competitors on Meadowbank track, she for Scotland, from Dunfermline, me for Wales, from Cardiff.
Good to see you again Wilma!!
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4 comments:
How wonderful that you were able to go to a wood firing (I've never been to one..., apart from those in my own kiln!!). Funny thing how you meet friends when you are on the other side of the world, same happened to us when we were in the UK in 1997. Hope you are able to get back to see the pots when they are unloaded from the kiln. What temperature do they take the kiln to?
cone 10 flat 11 half over....so well cooked!
I liked the clay they were using too- quite dark but fires pale, so obviously a dark ball clay based body...especially when you learn that the bisque needs ventilating well!!
Throws beautifully and goes toasty in a woodfiring AND takes salt well....just what I've been hunting for in the UK!!!
I haven't wood-fired in 20+ years - oh the memories - thanks for this as your post and photos are bringing back wonderful thoughts. I need to get back to my clay.
One of those good things in life, a shared wood-firing.
A place where friends meet, share work, food, and a drink, sitting through the night, dreaming in the flame-glow, splitting wood, crackling sparks, and then, the long long wait until the kiln's bounty can be revealed.
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