life near gjoa haven

a community of learners

vessels in the kiln

I have been firing since last week. This is the last bit of the kindergartens' fairy tale characters (peeking out from under the 1/2 shelf), and the first of the grade 6 vessels. They are an akward size to fire. Often I place them on their sides, but without any pressure on the handle. When the kiln is loaded, the pieces are in their most fragile (green) state. And the handles are extemely vulnerable to damage. The bisque fire at cone 04, leaves them a rich terra cotta earthenware.

batik studio with clay projects

In between classes.
The newspaper accumulates. One table has been turned into the ironing station for wax removal. The newspapers, saturated with the wax, accumulate under the table over the course of the day - as long as the irons are being used. At the end of the day, we stack the papers and put them in the trash. But most of the newspapers are recylced.
And I've finally started firing the Grade 6 vessels.

batik- removing the wax

drying the fabric

batik - waxing and dyeing

Batik tables are covered in newspaper first then paper off the roll from the paper cart. Batiks are pegged to drying lines strung underneath.There are two tables set up in the studio with two electric frying pans each. The wax is an even split of bees wax and parrafin melted to about 250 degrees fahrenheit.

This is the second waxing. Areas of color are preserved in wax before the next dye bath. The fabric darkens when the wax penetrates it properly. We use only primary colours, but a wide variety of colour combinations are possible. Analogous colour schemes are encouraged.


Complementary colours need to be painted on. THis design calls for green grass as well.