Salt Firing Ceramics

Once again a big thanks to rob hunter and his inspired ceramics in america 2014 top ten issue.

Salt firing ceramics.

Formulating your own clay body being able to mix your own clay body and glaze from native materials might seem ridiculous yet covid 19 taught us about the need for independence. The salt kiln must be prepared for the firing often involving repairs to the brick walls and arch and always extensive work preparing the refractory kiln shelves shelf props fire boxes burners door lagging clay wadding clay and clay discs to sit the pots on. Humans have been enamoured of wood fired ceramics for thousands of years. The result is a piece with an active complex surface.

Yet since the invention of electric and gas kilns wood firing was pushed aside by many. Salt firing is a vapor glazing process where salt sodium chloride is introduced into kiln firebox at high temperature. Salt glazing also adds a brilliant texture to the ceramics from the building up of layers to the running of salt vapors. Fortunately the unique beauty of wood fired pottery is again becoming a highly appreciated art form throughout the world.

Salt glaze or salt glaze pottery is pottery usually stoneware with a glaze of glossy translucent and slightly orange peel like texture which was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during the higher temperature part of the firing process. If my hit parade were to be about looks alone i might have included the creative slip applications of english mocha ware or the bizarre twisted explorations of george orr or the brilliant cobalt blues of german westerwald salt fired stoneware or the wood fired stoneware of richard. Sodium from the salt reacts with silica in the clay body to form a glassy coating of sodium silicate the glaze may be colourless or may be. We are a seattle based artist owned and artist operated ceramics studio and gallery.

The benefits of doing a salt firing. We offer classes workshops and facilities for aspiring ceramicists to call home. The japanese have always held wood fired ceramics in high. Salt and soda firings can really affect any underglazes or slips you use on your ware and the results can be very varied and interesting.

We also have the best handmade goods from seattle and the pacific northwest specializing in ceramics but supporting artists in a range of media. A firing issue in ceramics where the foot rings of vitreous ware stick to the kiln shelf. Removing them leaves sharp fragments glued to the shelf. The salt vaporizes and sodium vapor combines with silica in clay surface forming extremely hard sodium silicate glaze.

These segments are glazed by the salt during the firing process.