Soda-Firing Process
"Atmospheric firings are time-consuming, but I love that--taking my time to carefully consider where each pot should be placed in the kiln for ideal flame path to create flashing and soda ash accumulation. Depending on kiln size, it can take a day or several days to load it with work.
The soda-firing process takes a full day, monitoring the temperature, preparing the soda burritos, and when the temperature is right, tossing those burritos into the kiln every fifteen minutes for a couple of hours. (What's a soda burrito? It's a blend of baking soda and soda ash wrapped up in paper.)
Then we let the kiln cool for several days and reverse the process (which goes much faster!), taking note of which placements and clays worked and which didn't. Sometimes things go wrong and work is lost, which is a part of the ceramics process we all begrudgingly accept. The joyful triumphs make up for the losses." - Ann Marie
The soda-firing process takes a full day, monitoring the temperature, preparing the soda burritos, and when the temperature is right, tossing those burritos into the kiln every fifteen minutes for a couple of hours. (What's a soda burrito? It's a blend of baking soda and soda ash wrapped up in paper.)
Then we let the kiln cool for several days and reverse the process (which goes much faster!), taking note of which placements and clays worked and which didn't. Sometimes things go wrong and work is lost, which is a part of the ceramics process we all begrudgingly accept. The joyful triumphs make up for the losses." - Ann Marie