My first wood ash glaze results…

Today started off with massive excitement… I open the kiln and get my first wood ash glaze results back. It soon turns to disappointed – the wood ash hasn’t formed a glaze but has just turned into a fine grey. I wonder if my kiln isn’t firing to the correct temperature? On closer inspection, where just a thin layer of wood ash was applied there is a small patch of greenish glaze. Yes! I’m hopeful that my collected ash will make a glaze if my kiln is working properly! I move on to practical tasks – bat making! I’ve been using the back of plaster moulds to dry out the refined clay as a temporary measure, but today is the day to make a proper plaster bat. I try and avoid plaster as much as I possibly can – I never get the quantities right, it’s very messy and I’m scared of getting plaster in the clay (which makes it explode in the kiln). I want the bat to be large and strong so someone kindly made a wire mesh frame for me. This will sit inside the plaster to provide extra strength. Arghh!! What a mess! However, I now have a lovely bat to use which will save me time and stress. Hopefully I’ll get to use it tomorrow…