Smokefireing

The Smokefireing

HI it's me!

I am smearing a home made mixture of recycle highfire clay (1 part) and sand (2parts) from my sons sand box on to two halfs of already bisked (cone 05) ceramic pieces.

I had first rapped found string around it before I started smearing the mix on.

Then I let it sit and dry for a day or two.

I preheat the clay in my oven to about 200F also to get as much moisture out as possible.

Then I take it out with think work gloves and walk out into my garden where I have a old garbage can that has lost it's bottom.( found at the nearest recycle center) I have also made couple extra holes in the sides for good venting. I have an old broken clay sculpture in the bottum that I have filled up with newspaper. That way I get fire under the piece I put in the piece cerfully so I don't to loose any of the now dry smear. Then I put newspaper loosely on top (see picture). Soft brick is also good to let work stand on.

Then I lit it and put the lid on like you see here.

I will throw in more newspaper when it is nearly burner out if I see that the smear dosen't look like it smoked everywhere for that means that the string has not burned under there.

I let it cool until I could take it out and take of already peeling smear mix. I do keep that dry clay with the string and soak it in water again and run it through a thriftshop meat grinder and the mix is useable again. Just black this time :-)

It is best to have burnished the clay to a nice shine in it drying stage to get as much out of the smokefireing. I then smear some wax material (buchers wax) on the piece and polish it up to a good shine to highlight the smoke lines that have formed after the burning string.