Finished Items from my First Soda Firing

I enjoyed and learned a lot at this first soda firing.  I look forward to the next opportunity, whenever that will be.

Here I am at the soda kiln, before the unloading.

So many treasures and surprises waiting inside.

Here are my pieces, with my notes so I'll remember what I did to achieve the results, even though I know I will never be able to reproduce any of them exactly.  But it's a great learning process.

1) This is one of the pieces from my collaboration with Fredi, so it is a delightfully light piece, thrown from B-Mix clay and altered.  On the outside, it was dipped in Jane Hamlyn Blue slip, and then the smooth bulgy part into Gordon's #3 slip.  Then I sprayed a bit of titanium dioxide on the Jane Hamlyn Blue, so that I would get some green.  The inside is glazed with Robin's Clear glaze.  I like how there is blue dripping inside the mouth of the vessel.  It is very shiny, almost metallic.  Not what I had imagined or planned, but I'm okay with it overall.

2) Another one of my Fredi collab pieces, this one is a sweet shape and also very light.  I stained it with "Garbage" stain (a mixture of recycled oxides or stains), and wiped it off with a sponge, so the stain was left only in the indents.  The gloss is from the soda.  It is glazed with Shadbolt Tenmoku inside and on the rim and handle.  I like the bit of brown which shows on some of the leaves, otherwise I don't find that the leaf pattern stands out enough for me.  I think I prefer the stained and unglazed look of the previous leaf imprint vessels.

3) I wasn't going to put both of my leaf imprint vessels into the soda firing, but I found out that 2 cubic feet was a bit larger than I thought, so I put them one in also.  It was stained with Black stain and wiped off, and again, it is the soda which has glazed the sides, making them smooth and glossy.  It is also glazed with Tenmoku inside and on the neck.

4) This was one of my twisty pots from back in February 2016.  I had held back a couple of them, trying to figure out different methods of glazing, staining, and otherwise finishing them.  This one was thrown from 2600 g of yellow clay, so a very dark clay (which turns a milk chocolate colour in the cone 10 firing).  I applied Goldart slip to the outside, and rubbed a bit of it off with a sponge.  The inside is glazed with John's Tenmoku.  I like the outcome, although I'm not sure I like the gloss on it.  I think a matte finish would be more suited to the rugged shape and texture of it.

5) Again, I wasn't planning to put both into the soda firing, but I had room in my allotment, so in it went.  This one was formed from 3500 g of yellow clay, with black and turquoise slips applied (although I think only the black is still visible, the turquoise is completely invisible).  I sprayed two of the twisty panels with Helmer's flashing slip, and left the other two bare (although I can't see the difference in the finished piece).  Inside is glazed with Shadbolt Tenmoku.

6) This bowl was formed from coils / chunks of red clay back in May 2016.  I dipped the whole thing in Gordon's #3 flashing slip, and then brushed it with Tesha glaze inside.  The Gordon's #3 can have a nice variation from green to brown, but I suspect my red clay was too iron-rich, and attracted lots of soda, so I ended up with this dark brooding colour.  I'm not fond of the colour or finish, but at least the bowl feels very functional.  I would have otherwise been inclined to leave it very rough on the outside, but then it would not be practical for washing.

7) This one was another of the coil-formed bowls from May 2016.  It was formed from red and recycled (which is mostly grey) clay.  I applied Black stain to highlight the texture of the seashells, but otherwise the finish is from the soda.  The inside and rim is Yellow Salt glaze, which I believe I brushed on, since I was not having particularly good success that day with pouring out glazes and not spilling or splashing all over.  I'm generally liking it, although it is a bit too dark for my tastes.

8) This is the final coil formed bowl from May 2016.  It was formed by coils of red and recycled clay.  I applied "Garbage" stain to highlight the textures , and then dipped the whole thing in Mansfield Celadon glaze.  I like that there are some variations in colour between the different coils, although not as much as I would have liked.  But overall the colour is pleasant to me.  It's a fun and funky little bowl.

9) This sweet little cup / bowl / vessel is one of my two favourites from this soda firing.  It was 800 g of P570 white clay, with a white slip-trailed pattern.  It is Malcolm Davis outside (dipped, I guess), but it doesn't really show the green to brown variation which I had hoped.  It shows a beige to brown variation.  Although that is quite pleasant, and I'm glad the texture of the slip contrasts nicely.  The inside and rim is Tesha glaze, so there is some rich rusty redness inside (couldn't get a good photo).

10) I love this little tea cup / yunomi cup.  It started as 500g of P570 white clay which I poked with a poking stick.  I glazed it with Robin's Clear glaze inside and on the portion of the outside which is above the poking pattern.  I applied the Cobra slip/shino to the area below the poking pattern.  I really love that crackly texture, with the brown of the soda showing through between.  If and when I do another soda firing, I want to experiment with Cobra a lot more.  I love the colour variations on this little piece : greys, whites, creams, reddish-browns.  It is quite light and even with the visual texture, not unpleasant to hold in the hand.

11) I quite like the effects on this little tea cup also.  I think the soda firing gave me more colour variations than I would have gotten from a regular cone 10 gas firing.  It was also formed from 500 g of P570 white clay (which is the same clay body as all my favourites).  It was textured and poked when formed.  I sprayed it with Helmer's slip on the outside, so for the most part it resisted the soda, and gave me the pleasant red-brown patches.  I think the grey ones are where the soda landed more heavily.  The inside is glazed with Yellow Salt, which is really a very beautiful glaze.  It shows quite a bit of "movement" or variations / streaks, and is quite a cheery contrast to the otherwise darker greys and browns.

This little bowl was thrown by my pottery friend Cindy, who only recently has started throwing, and it has been a pleasure for me to watch her pieces progress to more beautiful and larger each time.  I wanted to achieve a "blue" look on this one, so I glazed it with Chun's Blue (a light blue) glaze inside, and sprayed it with Jane's Blue outside.  I then sprayed stripes of titanium dioxide, which was supposed to turn the Jane's Blue into stripes of green.  But instead I seemed to get two shades of brown, with only hints of green.  I wonder if I didn't spray the Jane's Blue thick enough.  Hard to know.  So many variables in this soda firing.  But I think the outcome is still nice, and I love the blue dripping down from the rim.  We don't otherwise have any drippy glazes for our Cone 10 firing, so I love anything which looks runny or drippy.

Overall, an interesting experience, and I'm glad I participated.  On my next soda firing, I will stick to whiter clays (my favourite being P570), and play more with Cobra, a much thicker coat of Jane's Blue, a much thicker coat of Gordon's #3, and more of the cheery Yellow Salt.  And more slip-trailed and poked pieces, I think.