Another type of firing....

Remember in last week's blog I mentioned how some pots had not turned completely black and had variations in color? There is actually a type of firing where this is done intentionally. The Mata Ortiz potters are famous for polychrome pottery, where colored slips are painted over the burnished surface. Slip is a clay and water mixture and can have a colorant added to it also. To fire the polychrome pots, the potter uses a similar technique from what my student teacher used but leaves a hole in the tub covering the pots to allow oxygen to circulate around the pot during the firing. The pot does not turn black and the colored slips show. The Mata Ortiz potters use incredible detail in their pottery.
This is an example of the Mata Ortiz pottery.
http://www.finepueblopottery.com/MataOrtiz5.htm

These methods of firing are very risky compared to traditional methods of firing in a kiln because many pots do not survive the intense heat rise. Because of this, these pots are highly sought after by collectors.

Another type of firing is a saggar firing where a pot has materials such as pine straw, corn husks, copper wire, sugar, or salt placed on it and then it is wrapped in aluminum foil. It is then fired in the same process as the burnished pots. Many variations come out in the clay depending on what the item was that was added.
As you can see, the variations are spectacular and depend on the type of material used. I can see how it is easy to get "hooked" on this type of firing which is what my student teacher has done. This summer, I hope to try many firings of this type.