I picked up my first bisque firing yesterday from Portland Pottery. Nothing was lost in firing or in transit and that's auspicious. I also bought some glazing materials and some plastic containers for mixing them in. I may have to put off the glazing for a couple of days as the shop was out of reds. I had red, brown, black in my mind for these first experiments.
Leather hard (unfired) on the left, Bisque fired on the right. The clay I am working with is an earthenware. I'm going to have to check if 'Terra Cotta' refers to anything more than the color. Earthenware clay colors vary browns and buffs. Earthenware clays are fired at relatively low temperatures, somewhere in the vicinity of 2100 ยบ F. Earthenware clays will not vitrify like higher firing clays which means that they are still rather porous after bisque firing and therefore earthenware objects must be glazed if they are intended to become functional vessels.
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