Pots a dryin'

I've been making larger pots lately. The oval at the right is 19" wide and the stack of ovals are 12-14" wide.

Next commission

My latest commission build. When all is said and done it will be a 10" wide oval x 3.5" deep (inside measurements). Now the slow process of drying begins, the client is very anxious to get the pot for his Bursera.

Kiln problem fixed

The issue with the kiln and the error code turned to be a stuck open relay. A technician from Clay People came out last week and replaced them all. Glad they did house calls because it would have been a big effort to transport to them. My wife fired a load of bottles yesterday and all went well. Here's her site, the Melted-Bottle.

New pots old plants

Pelargonium radicatum in a 2.5" diameter pinched oval.

Othonna euphorbioides in a 4" oval

Tylecodon pearsonii, 3" diameter cascade

Paperclay and rice

Instead of throwing out some ol' rice I mixed with some paperclay

Bad kiln

The last few loads have been my wife's glass so the kiln doesn't go over 1455deg. I did a bisque fire on Monday and got an error code "err8", the manual does not show this. Called Cress, they said it was because the temperature failed to rise, could be caused by a broken or damaged element. Tuesday I turned the kiln on and kept an eye on the temperature reading. It got 1690 and would not increase then the err8 flashed on the screen. Next I opened the kiln to see if any of the elements were out.



All the coils are glowing , so now what? I close the lid and turn it off the power, the fan stopped so I assumed it was off. Went back to the garage 3hrs later and the kiln was still hot! popped the lid and all coils still glowing. Unplugged it this time and called the manufacturer again, the tech said it was a relay causing the problem. I'll do another test today and call him back.

In the mean time I put my partially fired bisque pots into the small kiln, will take two loads to get them all.


This is half the amount. I'm experimenting with making cracked ovals, so far so good. I'll do some glazing and staining over the weekend then fire next week. Also starting a large oval tomorrow, a 22in diameter is the proposed width.

Winter staging

Pelargonium klinghardtense
Pelargonium rapaceum


Aloe plicatilis

Tylecodon reticulata