At the heart of the ceramic process are the firings which turn the working material into a permanent artifact. A piece of work begins wet as it’s thrown or sculpted into a desired shape. As it dries, it progresses through various stages which permit attaching elements, carving details, and other design opportunities. Then it must fully dry, which is essential before it can be safely fired.
It’s common for two firings to be applied to each piece of work: First, the “bisque” firing makes the sculpted shape permanent like stone, then the “glaze” or “finish” firing bakes on a glass coating which adds a smooth, and often colorful, leak-proof surface.
Each firing (bisque or finish) requires many hours to raise the temperature of the works to around 2000℉ and cool them back down over a specific period of time. During that time it’s impossible to access the works, make adjustments, or even monitor the status with any detail. Practically, a kiln can fire at most about once a day, and of course the larger the kiln, the more works can be fired at a time. One of our large kilns consumes more electricity per firing than a typical home consumes in a week. Each firing requires a skilled handling effort to load each piece, then unload and distribute them out to each artist. It’s not uncommon for mistakes made in the design of the works to result in delays and extra costs in the process, and in some rare cases, works can cause damage to others’ works, so it’s important that we’re picky about what we fire and careful about how we do it.
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We perform bisque firings to Cone 04 with a time-to-temp of __ hours and no hold time at temp. Cool down is unconstrained down to 250℉, which generally takes about __ hours. We generally stack works for bisque firings and they are allowed to touch each other in the kiln.
We perform finish firings to Cone 5 with a time-to-temp of __ hours and a 30 minute hold at temp. Cool down is unconstrained down to 250℉, which generally takes about __ hours. We carefully avoid works from touching each other in our finish loads. Artists should take care to prevent glaze from running.
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Loading a kiln is a complex art in itself, requiring a creative approach to 3-dimensional layout and a good understanding of the dynamics of ceramics under heat. After a firing has started, it is not possible to correct the configuration of the works inside until the many-hours-long cycle is complete. Artists should be aware of our rules & policies designed to maximize the best outcomes from our firings.
Our kiln operators are staff members who have received special training for the purpose. No others are allowed to load, operate, or unload the kilns. Only employees are allowed in the kiln equipment area of the studio.
Only properly prepared pieces may be fired. Those which don’t meet these standards will be rejected from being loaded.
We price firings (of works which aren’t included with courses, classes, group sessions, and special events) as quantified by the “tray”.
A customer may submit a standard-sized tray for a bisque or glaze firing for a single standard price per firing. Trays today are 8” x 16” and works placed on them may not exceed 12” in height.
