Firing #2 approaches in Ireland

Filling up the shelves with new pots

We're hoping to fire the wood kiln in Ireland July 11. That gives me another two weeks to get some more pots made. My daughter Chelsea is arriving here at the end of June to help me with last minute pots, loading and firing - and then we're taking off for a few days of rest and relaxation.


You can see in the photo above that I've made four large platters. These will be in the back of the kiln flanked on either side by the tall pots you see at the left. I'm using a white clay from Cornwall, England this year, and decorating many of the pots by carving through a light coating of Irish shale I obtained from an old brick facility in Castlecomer, Ireland.

Last year was our first time firing the kiln here, and we learned a lot about clays available here. Some worked well and some did not. While the Cornwall clay is a bit more expensive, I really like the way it throws. It comes in 50-pound bags, unpugged, so I wedge a lot. The shale was a major ingredient in brick making before the plant closed a few years ago. It fires to a chocolate brown and the ash from my wood kiln reacts well with it.

Here's hoping for a successful firing. We will be taking pots to the Galway Potters' Market July 17 and 18, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

W.J.Doble clay with Irish shale, fired here in 2014