Monday, September 28, 2015

Palimpsest pit firing

Saturday night we fired the pit
with the Palimpsest sculpture in it.
There were a few other bits in there also

I think we may have put too much timber
in and around the big sculpture.
The fire burnt quite hot before we covered it up.

It smoked it's way through the night.
We feasted on home grown lamb and vegetables


MS, experiented with cooking in clay.
We had a few camp ovens as well.
Amy made soda bread which we cooked in a camp oven
All of this was accompanied by acoustic  music.
It was a fun night.


 We agreed to meet in the morning to reveal our pots
But the fire pit was still way too hot,
So we all decided to wait till the next morning.


Finally it was cool enough to uncover.
There was still some smoke and embers
But we could wait no longer.
I had my long tongs.

Amy remebered to document all her experiments.
I think we will all benefit from this.

Some pots had been fired to stoneware 
 and found their way into the pit.
It is early morning in the billabong
The light is already becoming harsh for photography
I made some oil lamps, ran out of time
for the decoration I had planned
But I think there will be more pit firings really soon


We had to use Sasha's cardigan to create enough shadow here
for this photo. I had expected more black.....
I think the reds will glow a bit with some wax polish.

 I will polish a few of these before I take some close ups.

Once it is polished and put in the gallery
on the black cloth that it was made on I am sure
It will look good.
This exercise has inspired the club members to make and fire more.
It is all about recreating the accident,
or manipulating the good bits.
We are set for a smokey future I think.


6 comments:

Anna said...

looks like you all had a good time. Do you know about Dawn Whitehand's pit firing book? She lives near Ballarat Vic. Her book is called "Pit Firing Ceramics, Modern Methods, Ancient Traditions" and is published by Schiffer. Lots of good ideas for getting colour in a pit firing. I'm about to try some of those ideas in a sawdust firing.

Gary's third pottery blog said...

OH PIT FIRING is such fun, what a party too!

Annie said...

What excitement to uncover the treasures...go Jayne

Anonymous said...

annie is showing me how to comment. so hi. manda

Anonymous said...

I,m so pleased to see the result of the pit firing Jayne.You had some fun with that exercise I see the dogs enjoyed the company too

Sue Walker said...

Such a lot of talent at your place Jayne, looks like a lot of fun.