Paul Chenoweth

Wrapping up a semester in the clay lab is much like any other college course.  There is a rush to get projects and papers completed and preparation to do for final exams.  Clay, however, tends to have a mind of its own and doesn’t lend itself well to last minute crunches to dry, bisque fire, glaze, and glaze fire.  For relatively simple shapes and pieces that do not include a lot of assembled pieces, a faster drying cycle isn’t a huge risk.  Generally, a very slow ramp up of the bisque firing takes care of any moisture that would otherwise be disastrous in a faster firing cycle.  Complicated pieces like the one shown here include many slip-slurried connections and numerous variations in clay thickness.  Out of an abundance of caution, I often wrap complex pieces up and allow them to dry slowly over several week’s time.  This one was finished just a few days ago and is headed for the kiln in less than a week…needless to say, I am a bit anxious.  Should disaster strike and the kiln gods frown upon my rush, at least I will have a few images for the memorial. *sigh*