Mother Earth - Saggar Fired

Mother Earth- Saggar Fired

This piece has been hand built using the coiling process, using Ashraf Hannah clay. Ashraf Hannah clay is a beautiful white colour and highly grogged or textured, the grog is essential in the Saggar firing, adding strength to the clay to absorb the thermal shock.

After refining the form 3 coats of a fine slip called Terra Sigillata is applied, this piece has added blue to give it a lovely hue. Then burnishing starts, burnishing or polishing the clays surface.

All my work is fired in my electric kiln to 1000oC.

Combustibles are placed in a foil parcel, this piece used copper carbonate, cobalt oxide, seaweed, Himalayan rock salt and miracle gro as the heat grows in the barrel firing these combustibles burn and smoulder, the clay absorbing these in the alchemy of the firing.