Big Al is Loaded!

It seems like it's been an eternity since our last reduction firing. That's how it goes when you've got a beast like Big Al, though. Big Al is the nickname given to MCG's large Alpine HF60 updraft kiln. With a kiln this big, you've got to make a lot of work to fill it. Thankfully the summer program students did their best, and Bill Strickland has taken care of the rest with his large bowls and platters.

As for my work, this time around it's mostly small tea and sake cups—guinomi and yunomi. I did make the large bowl (bottom left) for one of the students, and the tall lamp body (top shelf, rear) while working alongside the kids one day this summer.

I'm particularly excited to see how some of the glazes I mixed will turn out, all of which came from John Britt's book. I added 3% red iron oxide to Richard Aerni's basic wood ash recipe, which I'm hoping will be interesting... I mixed up the Fake Nuka #1 recipe, and a carbon-trap Shino, too. I applied each of them to buff stoneware, dark stoneware and porcelain pieces, and placed them in various locations throughout the kiln so I can see the effects of reduction.

Watch for new photos on Flickr after we unload on Thursday.