Cleaning up pots, kiln and all the rest

Another day is spent doing the final cleaning of pots from the spring firing.   The very good ones are all lined up waiting to be photographed. There is a surprisingly  quite a few excellent ones and some stunners in the group. Cleaning and sorting takes a moderate amount of time. Unlike pots from electric or gas kilns, a lot of after fire finish work is required on some of the pots. This is a still time, a time to spend with the results of the making and firing. This is a time to get reacquainted with the pots, after there long journey in the kiln firing. They tell stories of living in a river of flame, of being buried completely in coals, to reemerge and perhaps be buried again. These are stories that echo of a life lived and stories of survival. Some tell stories of being in the right place at the right time, while others tell of being destroyed by a piece of poorly stoked wood, some are bland and underfired. A tale of a life not lived.

 The kiln is all cleaned of ash, a room waiting for some new arrivals.     The shelves are cleaned and washed with a fresh coat  of kiln wash, they remind me of new sheets on a bed, so clean and pristine.  Time to quit writing and get some rest.

Cheers,
Make Good Pots
~Craig