I recently went to Korea for a tea bowl festival. Here is a picture of Mr. Bong firing his kiln.
Make good pots.
~Craig

Sitting at a wheel in Korea

 

Somewhere in the heart of Korea. Potters are quietly making great pots.

Onngi Brew Pot

I've been working with a Korean Chef to make some Onngi pots to brew Makkoli, a rice wine in.
Fun to make some big ones again.
~Cheers,
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Yunomi from the fall firing

Here are some yumomi from the fall firing. They all have the same carbon trap glaze on them. The glaze really likes the flame and records it well. The pots tell nice tales of the fire and ash.
Make good pots,
~Craig

Slow Pots

 January go's on in it's peculiar pace that is uniquely January. Nothing happens in Minnesota this time of year and that happens very slowly.
Slow pots are fitting, no hundred mug series, just a teapot or two.  This one was made on the Lunar New Year.. so why not call it the "Water Dragon Teapot".  A simple Celadon, or Tenmoku, will do for the glaze.
Wood firing is not called by any name that resembles January. Slow pots are for now as we wait for the return of spring, when the potters return to their kiln.
Cheers,

Make Good Pots,
~Craig

Tea!

It's not wood fired, it's a cone 10 Celadon.  Somehow it seems right to think about warm tea, in a cold January.
Cheers,
Make Good Pots,
~Craig 

New Teapot

Winter finally arrived with some snow and colder temps. Somehow that got me working on a new teapot design.
Make Good Pots.
~Craig 

VOCO

Vessel oriented ceramic objects, or pots depending on how up or down market you want to sound.  Still working out the kinks with the new camera.  So here are some of the latest attempts at photographing some of  pots from the fall burn.
Cheers,
~Make good pots
~Craig

There is a puddle of green glass in this bowl. This is from the bowl being filled with ash during the firing and then melting at the end of the firing. 

These two plates were from a stack of plates. The shino and ash had some good drama as they played with each other. 

This is a teabowl from the back of the kiln. It's made of a mid fire red clay and brushed with a slip. It has a nice warm feeling.

Taylor Made me do it

Here's some lidded jar's  I've heard that some call them Ginger Jars... I usually fill them with rice.
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Reality

Pictures of pots are always nice to post.  Especially if you've had a great firing. The reality of wood firing is a  lot of cutting, splitting and stacking wood. The chainsaw, wood splitter  and wheel barrow have been in my hands this week. It has been a race with winter. Winter has held off longer than usual, but it is not timid and will make an entrance any day now.
The saw mill had some good wood for me this year and was able to get all the wood I need for next years firing.  There are two kinds of wood, the slab wood, and edgings.
The edgings are the skinny pieces that we use for sidestoking at the end of the firing.
Well must go before winter sets in.
Make Good Pots,
~Craig