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Cheers! Always feels opulent using a pot you’ve

Cheers! Always feels opulent using a pot you’ve made that you really like and really ought to sell (but won’t 😉). If you’re on my ugly mug, swipe to see full colour #shino

Tea bowl with shino, iron brush strokes and lovely

Tea bowl with shino, iron brush strokes and lovely lustrous highlights from the firing #shino #teabowl

Brushes at breakfast! The kids just go with it, ad

Brushes at breakfast! The kids just go with it, adults have to learn to let go 🤣. Sepia ink made from walnut husks - goes a long way. Dagger brush seems to be a favourite

That’s probably more than I need for the first f

That’s probably more than I need for the first firing of the new kiln so I’ll call it a day there. Still waiting for the pyro and thermocouple to arrive and to make plugs for the spy holes and we are ready for 🔥

Slip is a fabulous thing. Applied in this way, to

Slip is a fabulous thing. Applied in this way, to me, it demonstrates the fluidity, freedom and motion of the wheel and the interaction with it. I’m hooked.

Back to a little making, got to have a few for fir

Back to a little making, got to have a few for first firing - see post before 🔥

Steels in, flue complete, floor sealed in, spy hol

Steels in, flue complete, floor sealed in, spy holes drilled. Still a few jobs to do but very nearly there now. If you want in on my first firing you are welcome, send me a bisque pot about 15x15cm it will be stoneware fired, I can glaze if you want me to. UK only please (sorry if you are ex UK). No fees, I’ll pay return postage. Be aware first firing can be unpredictable! DM me for address. I’m also documenting this build, will publish webpage with all details soon

Enjoying the kiln build, things are really taking

Enjoying the kiln build, things are really taking shape. The roof above the kilns is done and the floor and channels for the gasses (in these pics) have had the angle grinder treatment. Burner port holes and the steels to go (and probably a bunch of other tasks I’ve forgotten!) If you’re a local potter mate of mine throw a few for me for firing no 1, I’m behind on making pots due to making kilns! (If you’re not a local mate of mine mail me a bisque pot and I’ll put it in 👍)

Love this little lidded pot, ash, carbon trapping

Love this little lidded pot, ash, carbon trapping soda ash

Feels like quick progress, and it is, but there’

Feels like quick progress, and it is, but there’s lots to do still before first firing. Lovely to have such crisp bricks and the luxury to do it just the way I want (with all the wrinkles that will bring!) #kilnbuilding

Enjoying the rim on this one, it also has spots of

Enjoying the rim on this one, it also has spots of lustre over it #shinoglaze

Firing over the weekend in a kiln I’ve fired wel

Firing over the weekend in a kiln I’ve fired well over 100 times and yet, surprisingly, it struggled to get to temperature. Finally got there with fine tuning of gas air ratio although a reconfiguration of shelf layout is the likely cause of the problem. Lovely shino glaze rewarded the persistence and a touch of carbon trapping on the rims an added bonus. #pintmug #shinoglazes #gasfiredpottery

Testing out the design options around the exit flu

Testing out the design options around the exit flue and figuring out if the volume of gases leaving the kiln will have the space to do so. Olsen’s rule of thumb is 2.5 square inches per cubic foot volume. So I need about 17in squared. At the smallest dimension I have 27 so there’s plenty to dampen down or open up if the Olsen estimation has some error in it. #kilnbuilding

Boring plastic wrapped pallet? I see 10 years of d

Boring plastic wrapped pallet? I see 10 years of downdraft gas firings, excitement, creativity, education, conversation and community. Watch this space! #diygaskiln

#shinoglaze #chawan

#shinoglaze #chawan

Faceted bottle vase. #shinoglaze gas fired to cone

Faceted bottle vase. #shinoglaze gas fired to cone 10

New belt for the kick wheel, fitted tonight. Serio

New belt for the kick wheel, fitted tonight. Seriously challenging to get it in position as most bolts have 50+ years of corrosion and dirt holding them fast. Hoping this prevents the wheel head slipping 🤞 thanks @imogen_charleston_ceramics for the encouragement

Kiln design in the universal language of Lego. Thi

Kiln design in the universal language of Lego. This is part of my planning process and is to scale (ish). Using this approach I can determine internal dimensions of width: 46 height: 55 length: 69 so just over 6 cubic feet volume and plan the gas flow and floor/shelf construction. I can also work out I would need 164 bricks to build this. Thank you Lego 👍 and thanks to @roxdelaroque for invaluable insights and generosity in sharing experience.

Leucanthemum enrich the garden with bold drifts of

Leucanthemum enrich the garden with bold drifts of blooms June-Sept, I love them. Quiet subtleties of this #shino vase are stunning. Feint peachy tones, iron breaks around the top from iron oxide sourced from Perpignan, France, and spots of a silvery lustre. Gas fired to cone 10.

A warm glow in there and in me 😃 Starting a fir

A warm glow in there and in me 😃 Starting a firing is the best feeling

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Iain Shield

Abingdon, Oxfordshire

07818 430173

Iain@ShieldStudioPottery.com

Shield Studio Pottery would love to hear from you! We often attend local art events and Art Weeks when it’s on. You might find us firing local anagama kilns, or sourcing local clay. If you cant find us out and about we are probably on the wheel!

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