A Couple of "WOW" Bonsai Pots from the Kiln

I'd just opened the kiln from the previous post where I'd loaded it up with a hard to fit moon/cascade pot.

What a beautiful surprise.

I'd made a pot without a drainage hole for a willow that was always drying out and wouldn't perhaps survive much longer without continual access to at least some water on the bottom of the pot.(albeit through a drainage layer)

My daughters first reaction was "it looks like a pond".  It'd be almost a shame to cover up that beautiful coloured shiny glaze on the bottom.  Perhaps a few strategically placed stones above the drainage layer and some water may well create that illusion.  It will be interesting to see what happens to it.

The pot needed to have slits along the sides to enable a little water to drain out when it got to a certain height. While a small fissure type gap would have done, I think I overdid it with the slits I made on it.  However they don't look out of place in the whole scheme of things.

This is a one of a kind pot......the remains of two glazes were mixed together to make enough for this one. A little too much flux meant the glaze ran beautifully, but also ran down the outside onto the shelf.  It adds to the watery flowing nature of the pot. 

I wont hesitate to keep it if it doesn't suit the willows owner!

The other "WOW", or should I perhaps say "SIGH OF RELIEF" was from that crescent that had been tucked away on the bottom and surrounded by other conventionally shaped bonsai pots.

My worst fear was that the top would slump right down in the high glazing temperature and end up flat on the kiln shelf.   But it didn't happen........I feel the pot has a beautiful shape!

The owner to be of this crescent was very happy with it, as was I.  The challenge ahead will be to make one or two more with that same "sweep" shape. 

Overall, this firing was a success, and more importantly, I learned a little more......

Contact me on howimakebonsaipots@gmail.com, opinions and comments are most welcome.

Loading the Kiln with an Awkward Shape Bonsai Crescent

One of the challenges of loading up a kiln for a glaze firing is making sure you can fit as much as possible into it with the little space available.

This load has a larger crescent shape in it.  It takes up just over half the height of the kiln and has an overhang that doesn't really allow a kiln shelf to be placed lower down.  Well.....not normally.

Here's the sequence I loaded it in. 

A few more pots were nestled underneath the bottom curve with maybe 2 or 3cm clearance.

Here you see the awkwardness of the shape.  There was just enough space along the sides of this crescent to ease in a half shelf.  I wasn't quite happy about the clearance from the shelf edge to the side of it, but if it slumps a little in the high temperature, then at least the shelf is going to stop it a little.  The back of it is reasonably close to the side kiln elements as usually I try and keep pots about 1cm away.

Usually when you place the kiln shelves, you make sure to have an even gap around the edge to let the air/heat circulate evenly, but this was as even as I could manage to get this one.

I squeezed in 4 pots on the layer above the crescent, and another half shelf with two on it.

There is quite a bit of wasted space in this load as I would usually put another half shelf in but the top of that crescent made it too awkward.

Its all closed up now and is quite happily firing away into the night.........now comes the long wait until I can open it up and see how some of these glazes turned out........fingers crossed!

Hopefully one or two of these will end up on my Pots for sale page in the next week or two.

Contact me on howimakebonsaipots@gmail.com, any opinions or comments are most welcome.