Our little group finally got together for our first 2012 barrel firing. As it turned out, the scant rain Southern California got this winter mostly fell on our scheduled week-ends. So we cashed in all our weather karma points for a gorgeous first week-end of May !
At this point, we all are barrel firing veterans. Within two hours pots were prepped and barrels were loaded, ready for Rose to officiate the Lighting. We fed the fire for two hours, using oak wood in the second hour. It was a mellow afternoon, under the shade of a big tree. By the time embers covered the top of the barrels, we had broken into a light dinner, picnic-style. Rose and Bill covered the top with sawdust in the evening for a slow cooling overnight.
The next day was filled with oohs and aahs. Interestingly one of the barrels did not fire as hot as the other. We could tell from the intact aluminum foil of some of the saggars at the bottom of the barrel. We surmised the embers did not fall all the way down to surround the bottom pots. It can happen if the loading at the top is too constrained.
But overall the firing yielded some beautiful marks on the pots.
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| The Stacking |
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| The Lighting by Rose |
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| The Feeding |
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| The Feeding - Part 2 ! |
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| The Smoldering |
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| The Pieces |
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