Brickworks Visit Number Six

Those of you who have grappled with clay and ceramics, will undoubtedly know of the perils of firing - things blowing up or warping etc. I remember as a student hearing about industry making three objects for every one they needed, to compensate for glaze imperfections and cracking brought on by the rigours of the kiln.
I've been very fortunate at the Brickworks so far with a 100% success firing rate... I guess my luck had to run out at some point! - it did so in style - all three guinea bowls -(see blog entry http://www.eastnorpottery.co.uk/blog/2009_11_01_archive.html and scroll down) ripped apart in the drying cabinet, even before they had entered the kiln.

From wet squidgy clay, to finished fired brick - the material shrinks a whopping 18-20% - that's an awful amount of movement in the piece- if there's any flaw in the body, then it's sure to manifest itself as a dirty great split in your work.