Process
Once all the work is glazes and ready to load into the kiln, I'll wad the feet of the small pieces as if I was loading them into a soda kiln. Tis serves two basic functions. I fire my work on advancer shelves, which are an incredible luxury. hey are extremely lightweight, and dripped glaze scrapes off them like teflon after the firing. Due to their nature, however, vitrified clay bodies, particularly Porcelain like the one that I use, can tend to slightly stick to the shelves during the firing process, tearing small chunks off the bottom of the pots when unloading. To avoid this, I wad my pieces, so that they don't come directly into contact with the kiln shelves. For larger pieces that are difficult to wad, I will paint a thin coat of kiln was onto the bottom of the pieces themselves This protects the pieces from sticking during the firing, and can be cleanly polished of after unloading the ware.
