Everything I Need To Know About Life, I Learned From My Kiln. Part 1 - Candling

Back about February 2013, my husband and I bought my daughter a used kiln off of Craigslist.  I know that the kiln is older than 20 years because the sticker for the kiln repair service still had an old area code that changed back in 1998.  Exactly how old the kiln is is anyone's guess.  I call it stone age.  It's a manual kiln, so it took a lot of guess work to figure out exactly what we were doing when we fired the old gal. 

I started working in clay in November of 2015, and up until the point kiln hadn't been fired much by us.

I guess in my head I didn't think there could be that much to firing a kiln.  You shove the pieces in the kiln, and you follow the instructions on the side of the kiln, right?   Nope.

Rachel has been working in pottery for 10 years, 4 of those at the college level.  But even she had not really learned how to run a kiln, at least one like ours.  So we were flying by the seat of our pants.  And that caused a couple of oops moments, especially during bisque firing. 

Just a quick course about firing for folks who've never done pottery.  Once a piece is finished, it needs to dry. At this stage, it's called greenware. Then it goes through what is called a bisque fire.  Once the firing is complete, the piece is easier to handle (won't break) but is still vitreous.  This vitreous state is necessary for glazing.  The glaze can still soak into the piece, but the piece is hard enough to handle without falling apart.

Greenware Prior to Bisque Firing

The problem comes when you live in a place like Florida where the humidity is 300%.  They don't call it the sub-tropics for nothin'.  So getting a piece to dry before going through a bisque firing can be a major issue.  If the piece is not completely dry, and the clay still contains water, there is a distinct possibility that it will explode in the kiln.  The reason for this is that at 212°F degrees water turns into steam. The pressure from the steam, and nowhere for it to escape, causes the piece to explode. If there’s too much moisture in greenware, especially moisture inside hollow air pockets within the clay, you run the risk of having your greenware explode.

So, our greenware... especially MY greenware kept exploding.  *&^%$#*&#*!  That's what I have to say about that!  Rachel mentioned that maybe we should try candling.

~blink~

What the heck was candling?!?  And why didn't she tell me about it before!?! 

So what exactly is candling?  Candling is when clay pieces that might not be exactly dry after being throw or handbuilt are loaded in the kiln.  The kiln then fires on the lowest setting possible (manual kilns) or by setting a digital kiln to 200 degrees F.  I candle at 300 degrees F because that is the lowest my kiln will fire.  Please note that the kiln lid and peep holes must be left open during this process. If you have a vent, you can run it during candling. 

There are varying schools of thought on how long to candle.  Some people suggest candling overnight.  My personal opinion is that this taxes the kilns elements,  thermocouples, and relays.  Elements and thermocouples can be expensive.  They are only easy to replace when you have a husband who happens to know wiring, and is good with that kind of stuff.  Otherwise you have to call a kiln repairman.  For this reason, I limit my candling to about three hours, unless I think the clay is no where near dry enough, then maybe I'll go four.

There are also varying schools of thought on whether or not to let your pottery cool down after candling before going directly into a bisque fire.  I go directly into a bisque fire.  Keep in mind that if you use a kiln sitter, you'll have to use a cone while candling.  After candling is finished changed the cone!

Are there other ways to get your clay to dry out?  Lakeside Pottery makes these suggestions:

Air Drying

Wet clay contains a large amount of water, a minimum of 25% water. When clay starts to dry, water evaporates from it. As this happens, the particles of clay are drawn closer together resulting in shrinkage. Many problems with clay are formed by uneven rates of drying, which create stresses in the clay. Sometimes these stress show up right away as cracks or warpage, other times not until during or even after firing. So it is important to ensure drying is even. This is done by ensuring uniform thicknesses throughout the piece, drying slowly, and even slowing down the drying of certain parts.

Clays which have very fine particle sizes will shrink more than clays with larger particle sizes. Porcelain clay has very fine particle sizes which makes it very plastic and also shrinks the most. These bodies have the most strength in the dry state. Groggy clays such as sculpture bodies shrink the least. (Grog is clay which as already been fired and then ground to various particle sizes.) These bodies shrink less because they have lower water content to start with, and also provide channels through which moisture can escape toward the surface. These are called "open bodies".


When the water has evaporated form between the clay particles, and all the remaining clay particles are in contact, drying shrinkage is complete. This is called the leather hard stage. The particles themselves are still damp, but their drying will not cause any additional shrinkage.


Expediting Drying

If pots are *damp or slightly wet, sometimes it is ok to expedite the drying by using a fan, warm kiln room or candling in the kiln. Generally, when candling in a computerized kiln going from ambient room temperature to 180 degree F, the temperature rise is slow and it takes approximately 2 hours to get there allowing the last minimal shrinkage and evaporation of the remaining water to occur gradually and slowly.


If *damp pots are placed in the kiln room when the room is not too hot and the kiln room temperature rise is slow, it will have a similar beneficial effect as candling. However, if you place damp pots in the kiln room when the room is already hot, the rapid temperature change will cause rapid drying and shrinkage which can place your pots at risk of cracking.


Using a fan to move some air in the drying area where you have *damp pots can work if the air movement is not too strong and not aimed directly on the pots. It is beneficial if pots are repositioned every so often to make sure that all sides are drying evenly.

 "Damp" is referred to when the clay is almost dry but has slight signs of wetness. At this stage, most of the drying shrinkage has occurred and the clay does not have much remaining movement. Thus, it makes it relatively safe to expedite completion of the last bit of drying. The only exceptions are large forms, in particular flat forms, and pots with walls that are thicker than 1/2".

I've read about candling in a kitchen oven, and actually tried it once.  Here is my thought on it.  The less I have to move my items while in the greenware state, the better.  And the drier the piece is the more chance that I'll break it.  I'm like a bull in a china shop sometimes.  Candling in the kiln means that the pieces are there to stay until they go through the bisque firing, at which point my clumsy self can't cause the pieces too much harm, other than knocking them over with my butt. 

Since I started candling, I have had no more mishaps in the kiln where exploding clay is concerned.  No more Ozzy Osbourne moments like chicken heads exploding off their bodies, or women's faces blowing in two. 

Happy firing! 

Grand Opening ~ Rivermist Clay Etsy Shop

Slow but surely we are listing items on our Etsy shop ~ Rivermist Enterprises .  It's actually harder than it seems.  My husband, Ken purchased a book as a Christmas gift this past year which explains how to make Etsy profitable, and there is so much more to it than just throwing a listing out there.  First comes the photography, which is why I built the DIY light box.

I want my photography to stand out, plus I want to show every detail that makes our ceramics and pottery unique.  This means taking several photos of each item, picking out the three to five best photos.  Then comes editing in Adobe Lightroom to make certain that the piece is represented in true colors.

Each mug has to be measure for fluid ounces, then comes the listing.

Coming up with a catchy title, description, and tags takes some brain power.  I want to make sure that the person looking for a Lord of the Rings mug will find mine! 

Then comes shipping.  As someone who has fiddled with selling items on Ebay, I know what it is like to sell an item only to realize that I hadn't charged enough for shipping. Just recently I sold and antique collector's book written in 1781 on Ebay.  For whatever reason, Ebay limited the amount I could charge for shipping to $8.  The actual shipping cost when I added signature required came to $11.50, so I ended up eating the rest.  I've tried to guestimate what these items will cost to ship, but I'm not so sure I'm in the right ball park, which means I need to go to USPS.com and try to figure out what the cost of shipping will be, which is also time consuming.

Next came the decision to ship internationally or not.  I recently joined an eCommerce Facebook group, so asked some of the seasoned veterans what they think about international ship.  I've heard horror stories about chargebacks due to a customer claiming they hadn't received an item.  The consensus was pretty clear that shipping to Canada, Great Britain, most of Western Europe, and Australia was pretty safe.  I was surprised at the advice to stay away from South America, but not surprised about avoiding selling to places with unrest.  At this time, just to make things simple, I'm only shipping to the U.S. until I can get a good picture of shipping costs to other countries. 

We sold four items yesterday after I announced on Facebook that the store is open.  So then the question arose between my daughter an I about reproducing our best sellers.  Here is the deal.  This is handmade ceramics and pottery.  When you purchase ceramics made in a manufacturing plant, every item is pretty much identical.  The reason for this is that the items are made in a mold.  More than likely a machine glazes the piece.  While the item is pretty, what it is missing is the artistic quality that makes a piece unique.  When you purchase from Rivermist Clay, no two pieces are exactly alike.  So yes, we can make recreate a piece similar to what is shown in a photo, but there will always be variations.   Rachel and I decided that yes, we will recreate pieces but in our listing we will make it perfectly clear that the product will have some variation from what is pictured.

Then came the question of whether or not we wanted to offer a customer a choice of colors.  We are still tossed on that one, and haven't come to a conclusion.

Like I stated, this is a time consuming endeavor. 

In any case, the store is now open and here are a few of our listings.  Check out the entire store for more!

Triquerta Trinity Celtic Knot Mug

 

 

Gypsy Soul Mug

 

Wild Heart ~ Gypsy Soul Mug 

How the Masked Lady Came to Be

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I am new to ceramics.  My daughter has been working in clay for 10+ years, so I've watched her learn and grow, but until last November, I'd not so much as picked up a clump of clay, let alone manipulate tools.  After Rachel left college, she no longer had access to many of the amenities she had when she was learning and working in the studio.  My husband I purchased a used kiln for her about a year ago, she'd already purchased a traveling wheel, but life being what it is (paying bills by working 40 hours a week)  didn't bode well for her pottery hobby/busienss.

This past October, Rachel dragged her wheel out to the back patio and began throwing pieces.  I've always loved photography, and purchased a medium grade D-SLR this past year for an upcoming trip to Scotland and Ireland.  While she created her pieces, I photographed.  And, that started a conversation about me working in clay.

I'm the kind of person who will try about anything, but for some reason I had this idea that I would be an abysmal failure if I tried throwing on the wheel.  Rachel makes it look sooooooo easy.  But, she also surrounds her wheel like a monkey clinging to a limb.  Her legs are bent up around her ears, her upper body is  contorted downward.   She puts her whole body into it.  Watching her makes me ache all over.  Oye vey!

Rachel suggested I start with hand building.  I kind of stuck my finger in my ear and rolled it around and asked, "What's that?"

I won't go into detail other than to state that I took to hand building like a pig to mud.  Some of my first attempts were failures, but some were great successes.  I found myself awake at night staring at the ceiling thinking of what I could make next.  In the meantime, she was still working 40 hours a week, so I was left to my own devices.  But, I learned enough of the basics from her that I felt comfortable experimenting.

There is a catch 22 to experimenting.  The downside is that clay is not free, and I'm definitely don't have a money tree growing in my backyard.  So if something fails, that is money out of my pocket.  The upside is that I do not have some instructor telling what I have to make, and standing over my shoulder telling me how to make it.  This means I've learned from my mistakes and try not to repeat them, and I've learned to trust my instincts and go out on a limb.

Which brings me to the Lady.

I had this idea of making a wall hanging of a woman's face from a mold, and adding large maple leaves for her hair.  I wish I had a photo of it, but we were on crunch time to get ready for a vendor event, so I was more interested in bisque firing than taking a photo.  I loved that piece.  I would go out into our garage studio and stare at that piece.  She was stunning, and I spent an enormous amount of time making her.  When I opened the kiln after the firing, I was heartbroken that she'd shattered.  More precisely put, the leaves cracked off her head leaving behind a macabre phantom of the opera kind of face.

My first instinct was to shovel the mess into the garbage can.  I was angry, disappointed, and questioning the clay gods, "Why?  Why this piece?  Why not one of the other pieces?"  My daughter and husband came out to the garage and saw the remains of my masterpiece and tsk, tsked the disaster.  My daughter said that the remaining face was kind of interesting, but I knew she was leaving off, "In a weird kind of way." 

So that got me to thinking what I could salvage the leftovers.

I come from the business world where if a project you are working on fails with plan A, always make sure you have a plan B in place.  Sometimes you have to go to plan C, D, or E.  Morphing the plan to make it  work until completion is key.

My lady deserved to have a second chance.  So, I thought. And, I thought.  And, I thought.  And I thought some more how to create something out of that broken mess.

Did I mention I'm a writer?  When I'm working on a written piece, I go over scenarios in my head 24/7.  I imagine things and day dream and pretty much drive every one around me crazy because my head is in the clouds.

What I envisioned in my head for my lady is a piece of art that had fallen to ruin and rested on the ground, hidden in the garden.  Her beauty was not diminished, just hidden.   So I went to the garage and looked around for scraps of stuff we'd bisque fired.  I found leaves, and lady bugs, and a dragonfly, a Japanese coin. And I started to play.  She was already macabre.  There was no fixing that.  So how could I arrange these items to accentuate her bizarre looks?

I decided to glaze her in two colors.  The part of her face that remained intact received a mild green glaze that I wanted to replicate the patina of a metal sculpture.  The side that was broken received an earthy cream toned glaze.  I spread the love over the leaves, dragonfly, beetles.

Close up

Held in my hand, this gives an idea of the size.

The finished product.  She's kind of weird in and artsy sort of way.  She rose from the ashes of a complete disaster, and became something beautiful and unique.  My husband rolls his eyes at her, only because she doesn't represent any art form he could appreciate.  Me, I think she is special and will find a good home.

 Display options are many.  She can be hung from the back, place on an easel, or laid flat.

Another Close Up

Side View

  

Ceramics Meets Light Box

One of the greatest challenges I've run into while photographing a finished ceramics piece is how to photograph it.

This may seem simple on the outside, but is actually a difficult process. First off is that the glaze used on pottery is generally made of silica, or in other words glass. At cone 6, the temperature in the kiln is around 2,200 F. The silica melts in the firing process and adheres to the clay body. What is left is pretty much colored glass coating a piece of clay.

So how to photograph a shiny surface can be daunting, especially when one is working on a budget. I wanted to stick this stuff out on Etsy, but I didn't want huge, glaring light reflections.

I was amazed at the people who told me to turn my flash off. I'm sorry... I may seem like I just fell off a turnip truck, but honestly, I'm not that stupid. I tried different lighting situations; inside lights dimmed, outside shade, outside sunlight, outside..... grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Nothing seemed to work. What was so annoying to me is that my forte in the photography realm is still life. I had never run into a problem like this before!

That is when I decided it was time to invest in a light box. However, I did not want to BUY a light box. So what could be the cheapo way to make a light box? The internet is rife with information on DIY building a light box, and I opted for one in particular because it seemed fairly simple.

Materials:

1. One 10 x 10 inch or 12 x 12 inch box. I order a lot of stuff from Amazon.com because I'm a prime member, and because my daughter and I are planning on selling on Etsy, I do not get rid of boxes.

2. One or two white garbage bags. This is used for the differed lighting. I thought about using tissue paper, but figured the garbage bags would hold up to several shootings better.

3. Duct tape. I made the mistake of buying white duct tape. It wasn't uber expensive, but I could have just used the regular, old, every day duct tape.

4. Scissors and box cutter.  I rifled through my husband's tool box to find the box cutter.

5. One piece of white cardboard (this can be switched out for colored fabric, or whatever floats your boat.

6. Light source.  This is where any real expense will come in.  If you have some lamps sitting around the house, try using those.  I recommend three hand held, clamp on shop lights with LED lighting.  The reason for the LED lights as opposed to incandescent is that they do not get hot.  I use 60 watt bulbs.  The clamp light runs around $10 at Home Depot, and the LED bulbs run around $4 to $8 depending on where you buy them.

How to do it:

On my 10 x 10 box, I measured off on three sides one inch in from the side of the box all the way around square, and cut a window on three sides of the box  with the box cutter. I considered cutting off the flaps of the box, but decided to see how the photography went before I made that cut.

Cover the three windows with a double layer of white, plastic garbage bags using the duct tape to tape the edges to the box.

Cut a piece of 

These are pretty cut and dry pics of the final outcome.

Inside of the box.  Note that I cut out a piece of white cardboard and taped it to the inside, leaving a slope so that my background would appear seamless.



Outside of the box

I used two lights for my box. One is a regular light bulb in the lamp. The other bulb was an LED light I used in a shop light.  With the light shining down from the top, my bottom shadow is greatly reduced.



You'll note in this photo, I'm only using two lights.  This is because I only had two lights.  I plan on purchasing two more hand held, clamp on lights. However, when you start to play with your light box, you may find that one or two lights creates different effects.  Try moving your lights around, further away or closer to the box.

I've come to the conclusion that all light bulbs are not the same. I started with one LED bulb on the top window, which turned my subject and background a funky yellow.  Just changing out one LED light for another made a huge difference. While I don't want to spend a ton of money, I think investing in  more blue toned  LED light bulbs will greatly influence the outcome.  The cost would be around $8, and LED lights last forever - - - well in relation to incandescents.  In the meantime.  I'm still editing my photos in Adobe Lightroom, but I'm achieving a much better photo without reflective light.

Here are the photos of my weird masked lady.  How I ended up with her is a story for another time.