More Minis

My mini lidded pots, also known as Petite Pots, are still my favorite things to make. No two are alike and all are "sooooo cute" say my customers. I started with small pots when I was practicing fitting lids, moved onto larger lidded jars and then, overtime, came back to my little ones. I like that they get a smile out of people everytime.

From Worst to Best

Petite pots are still my favorite thing to make. I took a quick photo of this little gem when it came out of the kiln, just before it was purchased by someone in my class. The funny thing is, the lid was initially too thick and quite flat and boring. I figured I could lighten the lid and jazz it up with some simple loop tool carving. The glaze did the rest. From worst to best.

Good News and Bad News

The top photo of a pot that is only about 1 inch x 1 x 1 made it through a cone 5 firing. It's a 50/50 mix of local clay and Laguna's B-Mix with grog. Being very symmetrical with a flat bottom made for a good result. Then I made a tea cup [normal size] with a good handle with the same mix of clay. The handle pulled the cup over in the firing. I kind of like it because it is so weird but it shows me that I am pushing the temperature limits of that clay. Next test, I'm adding more B-mix and I'll see what that does. I don't want to lose the color of this clay by adding too much B-mix. The photo doesn't do it justice. The cup has a white glaze inside and clear outside; the little pot has just a clear glaze, but the best look, in my opinion is no glaze. More test pots to follow.

Playing With Local Clay

There has been a lot of construction in my neighborhood and mountains of clay have been sitting on a property nearby after they dug a huge hole for a foundation. Well I had to check it out. I got a bucket of it, soaked it, mixed it, strained out a few pebbles and roots, and let it sit on heavy cotton cloth [actually old blue jeans] in a bucket, to wick out the water. The first batch resulted in a very stiff, unplastic but clay-like substance. So in the next round, I added one to one amount of Laguna B-mix with grog slip to the Draper clay slip to make it more plastic and workable on the wheel. The next post will be my test results.

Thermocouple Replacement

 After I researched the replacement thermocouple part number for this particular kiln, I ordered 2 online [one for now and one for next time]. The front of the kiln opens like a door once you take out several short screws. Skutt supplies great diy instructions online and it is quite straight forward. The picture below is what a new thermocouple looks like and the bottom picture is the overworked one that actually broke. I will keep an eye on the number of firings and replace it way before it gets that bad.....so maybe at 150 firings not 210! I do keep a written log on the firings for such things like this. We were only down for a week.

I've Been A Bad Blogger

The Draper Arts and Crafts Festival was another success for me. Not as good as last year due to the fact that there were at least 6 more potters than there were last year. Every year there are more overall  booths...a good thing for Draper City but not necessarily a good thing for me since I am not really seeing an increase in attendance. It didn't rain but it turned suddenly cold and shoppers weren't dressed for it. Difficult to shop, it seems, when you are shivering.

After 210 firings, alternating between cone 06 and 5, one morning, the kiln had a message for me. After I did a little research, turns out the thermocouple was done for. Not even sure how I made it through the last firing.  To be continued........