Surprising Salt Fire

As is often true the first time I try something new, there were some good and some not so good surprises in the salt fire that I participated in a few weeks ago.   I have not included many pictures of the disappointing pieces.  (I actually thought that I should start sharing the things that don't go well, but when I sat down to do this post, I found that I didn't have any pictures of the pieces that I didn't like.  Interesting.)  

The biggest surprise was that several of my things ended up being just white (and boring).   I should learn to ask questions I guess.  I assumed that all clay bodies would end up with the cool brown, kind of speckled surface that I associate with a salt or soda fire.  Not so. Clays with a lot of porcelain in them are just white.  The mugs below are examples.  The blue glaze at the top of these saved them I think.  I would like to point out that all 4 mugs have the same glaze on them, but they were located in different places in the kiln.  

Here are the pieces that did what I expected them to do.  My favorite is the cookie jar in the back.  

Close ups of the cookie jar: the glaze on the outside and inside are the same.  Inside the jar didn't have as much exposure to the salt.  The white spots around the rim are where the wadding was placed to keep the lid and jar separated so they didn't fuse together.  (I might have to keep this piece...)

Napkin Holders: a couple of these twisted in the heat (although it is not obvious in this picture). I don't mind that so much.  I think it makes them more interesting and doesn't affect their usefulness.  

 Close up of a small lidded bowl.

And another small lidded bowl.  This one is made out of the white clay, so the outside is white except for where it is glazed.  And the inside is kind of tan.  Weird.  

We are discussing the possibility of doing another salt fire in August or September and I hope that we do.  I have learned a lot about what to do and not do and I would like another shot.  I'd also like to be there to glaze and help load the kiln.  I was on vacation when all this wonderfulness happened.  I owe Allen Griffin big time for being willing to take care of transporting and glazing my work while I was gone.  To fully understand what a HUGE favor that was you must understand that Allen HATES glazing.  I've offered to glaze his pieces next time.  I wonder if he will take me up on it...