Glazing and Kiln Loading

This morning, my Sensei, Dai, and I glazed all of our ceramics which just came out from the bisque firing, and then set them up in the kiln for the glaze firing.

This is the liquid form of an Irabo glaze I had used on a few of my pieces. It will fire to a semi-glossy deep brown color.

The Bizen-ware and Shigaraki-ware composite clays were given the charcoal firing treatment. It is a way to replicate a traditional wood bizen firing in an automated kiln. It requires a bit of experimentation to figure out the best outcomes, so I am not to sure what to expect when we open the kiln on Monday! The technique is actually quite simple, just surround the ceramic pieces with chunks of charcoal. What should happen is where the charcoal touched the pieces, they should be a deeper red/black hue.

Pretty sure I haven't touched charcoal since RISD Foundation Year drawing class...

The kiln shelves all loaded up and ready to go!

Locked up tight until Monday morning at 9:00am!