I recently finished a pit firing class, and both the process and results were spectacular. These are a few of my favorite items, and I will post more once I take some more photos.
1) I think my pit fired goddess was the most spectacular. She is beautiful beyond my expectations. Here are a few more views (although her shine and color show through so much better in that outdoor photo):
While I was at it, I made another clay goddess:
2) I think of her as a goddess amulet. She is tiny, but powerful.
The pit firing itself was an exciting process, one of forming the items, sometimes burnishing them with a silver spoon, drying them, brushing them with terra sigillata (a suspension of fine clay particles), burnishing them with plastic grocery bags or microfibre cloths until they shined, bisque firing them (to a temperature lower than our usual cone 06 - I think Linda say cone 010), then preparing them for a saggar firing in aluminum foil, within a bed of organic materials.
My goddesses were offered rose petals as part of their organic materials :
The larger goddess was wrapped in rose petals, copper strands, ferns, sawdust, moss, among other materials. The smaller goddess was laid in a bed of roses, with a moss blanket, among other organic materials.
Then they were tightly wrapped in the aluminum foil (2 layers), and lowered into the above-ground firing pit, and covered in sawdust, before firing them.
We returned the following week to pull our pieces out of the ashes.
These are a number of my pieces, fresh out of the pit firing, some of them waxed and polished, and others waiting to be polished, which brought out their colors and shine.
It was a truly remarkable and satisfying process. If you ever get a chance to participate in a pit firing, I would recommend the experience.
