Pottery – Unloading the Kiln

It is a wonderful gift to be able to share in another’s creativity. Our potter friend Don Rice (Wild Rice Pottery) invited us over a couple of days ago to help him unload his kiln.

I was pretty excited about this because I’ve seen the progress of the pieces in his studio and believe me– there is a long, long time between the creation of a piece and its removal from the final kiln firing. There are many more steps than I realized.

Assuming one has the ability to raise a pot on the wheel in the first place, the piece has to dry properly for its first firing. This requires wrapping it with just the right dampness of cloth and plastic. If it survives the first firing, it gets decorated with coloured glazes. But the glazes look like dried corn starch on gray stone and nowhere near the beautiful earth tones that Don will get.

Other exciting things can happen in the kiln like a little air bubble in the clay can explode the whole pot! Glazes can crack up and chip off, and incorrect temperatures can ruin and completely alter the intended colour. Pieces can stick to each other and to the shelves of the kiln. This doesn’t even include the technical aspects of attaching handles to cups or raising a vase on the wheel and controlling the clay so that it doesn’t collapse.

Unloading the kiln.

In fact, there are so many things that can go wrong in the creation of a piece of pottery that it is a true celebration when the finished piece comes out of the kiln intact and with a beautiful consistent glaze.

When the kiln door opens the final big surprise is to see how the colors and the glazes have reacted to the subtle changes in the heat and to the miniscule variations in their glazing thicknesses. Here is a video of the unpacking of the kiln. Note that Don’s t-shirts on his clothesline are the very same colours as his glazes!

You can visit Don Rice at the Farmers and Artists Market in Annapolis Royal on Saturday mornings or at Don’s pottery studio in Bear River anytime to see and buy these beauties. Well, not all of them. Larry had to bring two of them home for coffee break time under our Willow tree. We’re going to derive some inspiration from them.

Wild Rice Pottery is part of the Bear River Working Artists Studio Tour.