Pots For Food From Penland Workshop

After a hectic week of firing which included a salt firing, two soda firings, a salt and soda mix firing and a none vapor reduction firing all of the pots were done.  So was I.  I'm typically in bed with a good book and a warm dog by 10pm, we often did not start loading the kilns until 9 which meant a midnight or later ignition time.  It also meant round the clock kiln sitting where everyone in the class took shifts.  I understand the reasoning for such hours for the firings but I think I'm going to try to find a more reasonable schedule when I'm firing the soda kiln at Mudfire.
The salt kiln was put into reduction a bit too early (the downside of firing and unknown kiln) and the pots came out a deeper brown with no orange peel.  Looking through the kiln door at so many pots with this color was disappointing but when the pieces were separated and judged on their own my feeling was that this color looked warm and toasty.  I think they will be really enticing on the dinner table keeping your food warm.  The soda kilns produced a larger variety of coloring and that sense of having been fired in an atmospheric situation.  You could see where the vapors caressed the pots.

I only had a few pieces that made me happy but that was not the goal.  I was there to learn and stretch and grow.  These pots may not be the best I've ever made but the pieces I'll be making going  forward will reflect this growth and will make me happy.  My hope is that they find homes and make other people happy too. 
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery