Although it is only early November, this will be the last wood firing for the year as I’m going to be busy on a kiln project for the next 6 weeks. So it was nice to finish on a high. The new dry Shino glaze got a good workout in this firing – applied in different ways on different clays and in different spots throughout the kiln. It was also great to top up stocks of bowls, mugs, beakers and bakers before Christmas.

The kiln itself is slowly melting, each firing now melts more of the wall bricks into a glaze that runs across the floor. Each firing I’m having to do more maintenance – chipping off this flood of glaze from the floor and throat zones – otherwise it can soak up through the wadding and glue your pot to a floor brick.

Next firing I’m experimenting with a couple of new ideas around flashing slips and also trying a new clay mix out as one of the clays I currently use is no longer available. These constant experiments are some of the most exciting parts of unloading the kiln as they are the unknown, the next step forward and the next learning curve to understand.