What I Learned

Remember my kiln shelves beautifully covered with a new coat of kiln wash? I showed them to you in a post a couple weeks ago. Well… here is why I love that kiln wash so much.


These are glass like pools of glaze fused to my shelves. What happened???

Apparently the dance I did for the kiln gods was in some way insufficient to garner me their favor for a successful firing. But, I learned so much about refiring the pieces that had been in my kiln when the elements failed. Mostly I learned not to chance refiring them, but I did get some fun, funky looking pieces from this “learning experience”. Check out this lidded jar.



This like so many other times, I am incredibly grateful for my roadie, studio assistant and hard working husband Kevin to help me scrape the glaze puddles off the shelves. Without the kiln wash the glaze would be permanently attached to the shelves and they'd be in a landfill by the end of the day. Kiln wash saves having to replace very expensive shelves when "learning experiences don't go so well.

Notice the disgusted look on his face and the gesture from his scraping hand.