The idea for this firing came from a chance conversation I had with Teresa Watson at the opening of the Waiclay exhibition in 2017. From that brief chat the idea was born, and earlier this year the booking was made and workshops planned. I visited the Ceramic College students in their Bayswater studio in mid April to explain clay, slip and glaze choices and how to get the most from my kiln. Then last Saturday they arrived down to Rahu Road Studio to load the kiln. First up was a quick glazing session to liner glaze their work, then onto wad making, pot stacking and all the other jobs around the kiln loading. By 5pm the wicket was up and job done. Luckily my neighbour was away for the weekend, and allowed us to rent her house for the weekend, which meant an easy place to stay for the students. The at about 8am the kiln was lit and the 12 hours of stoking and wood hauling began. The weather was kind to us and didn’t rain, the kiln chugged along, following the schedule and before we knew it it was time to get the soda sprayer out and start squirting. This Sunday all will be revealed…
For more about Ceramic College follow this link: http://www.ceramiccollege.co.nz/
