Firing Machine-- Set Free

Here is a quick comic that I came up with while procrastinating a geology assignment:

Normal people probably don't get much of a laugh out of it, but for those of us who work with clay, there are funny things to think about a bag or a chunk of clay saying or doing. I was just thinking about how people use their weight as a conversation topic and decided it would be funny to have a couple of self-conscious bags of clay talking to each other.
Anyway, on to the real stuff...
I had a dilemma today whether or not to go to the studio after work. I knew that Megan was planning on loading a bisque firing, but I already put my stuff on a shelf in the back where she could find it, so I wasn't too worried about it. It took me a lot of arguing back and forth in my mind as to what would be the point of going there. I wasn't in the middle of any projects and it seemed too late to start anything new-- except for the fact that our class is planning on firing the soda kiln at the end of the semester, and I don't have anything to put in it. **(didn't)   I thought about that more, but I knew that I didn't really feel like throwing today. I remembered that I had a lot of paper clay left that isn't any good for throwing, and I also thought about how all of my cups were ruined by the evil glaze. I came up with the most logical decision-- I would make some more hand built cups out of paper clay to satisfy the assignment requirement of making multiples of a form. I really wanted to go to the studio because I didn't want to go from work to my dorm at 5:00pm. I am honestly getting sick of my roommate, and the more time I spend in the studio or with other friends at their places, the less time I spend at the dorm. I didn't really make plans tonight, so I stayed in the studio until about 8:20pm. It was nice because I actually felt like I got a lot done today. Hand building goes pretty fast compared to throwing on some days... I made about 15 or so soft slab cups and was able to add the bottom on each open cylinder in that time frame-- plus I loaded my own work into the bisque kiln since I was there anyway. I hope that my big pot made it into the bisque. There were a lot of big pots to try to fit into the kiln, and I didn't stay to load mine, but I did mention it to Megan. I guess it's not the end of the world if the pot isn't bisqued, but it would give me some peace of mind about it being less likely to crack in the wood kiln.
After I loaded my pots into the kiln I was back to working on my cups again. Megan was walking past, and I asked her if it would be totally crazy if I said I wanted to fire another kiln on my own. She didn't seem surprised or phased at all, which was good. I just have to check the gas kiln schedule... that's the hard part. I forgot to look at it before I left tonight, but I will look at it first thing tomorrow when I get there. I want to fire a slightly bigger kiln if it is open on the schedule. I could probably fit my mugs into a test kiln, but I want to fire a few other things too. Besides, firing a test kiln seems almost too easy to be able to compare it to a normal firing. I just loved how my pots turned out the first time when I fired them, and I want to do it again. Firing my own pots is a satisfying feeling. It's another step to becoming an independent ceramic artist-- and taking advantage of my privilege as a BFA student to be able to fire a kiln without supervision or asking permission (although I will still probably have a few questions here and there). It has been a good semester, but it is going by so fast that I'm not quite ready for it to end yet. I am ready for my other classes to be over, but my mind is running a-mock with new ideas for ceramic work. There are new glazes that I want to try mixing, kilns I want to learn how to run (besides gas), different clay bodies that I want to try, I want to learn how to operate the smaller clay mixer, I want more time. More time would be the best thing. Next semester I guess I will get what I am asking for-- what with three studio classes. I'm already pumped for it ;)