You have heard the expression, "never wake a sleeping baby?'That is how I feel when the big kiln is cooling.
We tend to walk around it the first 24 hours, tip toeing around, slipping past it's radiating heat with out so much as a glance in it's direction.
In other words, we ignore it completely for the first 24 hours.
I remember the early days when we would melt flashlights trying to see the results almost as soon as the burners were turned off.
We would look in the kiln with such anticipation and expectations.
Then we learned not to rush things. To give the kiln the time it takes to work a bit of magic on the glazes.
I am like the ball player who wears the same socks or shirt all season.
If we wait, it will all be good.
If we don't take any bricks out too fast...
You know the drill.
It is as if we have some control over the firing after it is done.
We all know that what is done is done.
The good will be good, the bad , bad and the so so - well so -so.
But tomorrow is day two.
The flashlights will come out.
Mark will sneak over and take a look and so will I.
Sometimes we find ourselves both at the kiln, flashlights in hand, pulling a brick for a little look.
Fingers and toes crossed.
Tomorrow we peek.
10 comments:
What's the best flashlight for peaking, I wonder? Maybe one of those Maglights where you can screw down the sleeve around the bulb to concentrate the beam. Mary and I were at Lowes yesterday afternoon looking a those hollow luan doors for our display, and I kept wanting to buy a Maglight so I could get a good peak this morning.
Here's to hoping it's all good for all the potters.
Yes! maglites rule. 4"d" cell police model that doubles as a truncheon.
great post... you know when you think about it, what other occupations contain such a regular period of intense anticipation. one of things i love about being a potter
Patience is a virtue they say, when we were in baja a couple of years ago, you should have seen the federales eyeing our big maglight, if they could have confiscated it for a reason they would have, but we gave them no reason. I'm in anticipation too. Great tiles, what are the blue sticks behind the tiles, are they holders or something?
What a beautiful and poetic post about the art of patience that all potters must learn. The art of patience is more difficult to learn than the art of creation, but in pottery both are too closely linked...you can't have one without the other. Sometimes I am jealous of artists in other mediums, the ones who get "instant gratification." In pottery, the gratification is tenuous, it comes in stages.
But it is always worth it.
Thanks all!
We have looked and moved a few bricks aside to let some heat leak out.
More tomorrow as we take out, the good the bad and sometimes the ugly.
Oh- the tiles- it is just a tile holder which I turned over to lean these two against.
One of my "not for publication" shots. Or look away if you are offended.
Later!
M
Oh, goody, goody...(jumping up and down and rubbing hands together in anticipation). It's just like Christmas morning. Let the unbricking begin!
HA! I had to pee at 3:26 am and realized I could open my fired kiln, and it was good and I was so excited I never got back to sleep. Then I am talking to my buddy Tom, telling him this, and he tells me that at 4am he awoke and went and peeked into his kiln and he also was too excited to go back to sleep.........
POTTERS eh? :)
Wishing wonderful sights to greet your peeking!
time to go unload- back with pictures later!
Post a Comment