Trial by Fire - Advanced Art Meets the Paragon Kiln

Artsonia ID: Audrey1446 - Grecian Myth Mask

November 16, 2010

Today, I opened the kiln at school praying that the the first round of Grecian Myth Masks would be in one piece.  Twenty-five class periods representing half of our grading cycle were lovingly poured into a project I had never done before.  Talk about pressure - nine students, nine masks in total, and our mutual trial by fire had to commence at some point.  We'd done everything humanly possible to ensure a proper firing; from consistent thickness of clay , to making sure work was completely dry.  But, a kiln sometimes brutilizes  pieces with even small errors of technique.  One of my students snapped pictures of everyone's work for the record.

To my utter relief, the first firing went off without a hitch.  Second firing tomorrow.