Kiln God?
 

Hey everyone :-)

I want to make myself a kiln god. From the very limited information my
searches came up with, I read that the Japanese believe you must sacrifice
something to the kiln god in each firing. My idea is then to purposely make
a big air pocket in a little sculpture, and then fire it in the kiln.

Trouble with that idea is glaze kilns, as the bits can get into the glaze on
pieces.

Anyway, I am interested in more information on what a kiln god is. I have
seen many making dragons, but is that the only type of kiln god? What do
they mean? What do they embody? Ideas for mine?

Looking forward to input :-)

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

I really, really don't think having a pot blow up in the kiln is in anyway a
good sacrifice - in fact, I would consider it an insult to the gods. I
piece of cookie I could understand...

I have seen every sort of kiln god you can imagine. One of the studio's is
a fat naked lady with a big grin on her face. Mine is a dragon - a rather
tiny one but I like him.

I have never seen or heard of a sacrifice being made other than pouring a
bit of plum wine on the god during a group potluck firing and I'm not all
that sure the pour was intended as a sacrifice...

You might find this fun -

http://www.skutt.com/peepholeplug/pe...ggallery2.html

Donna

"Bubbles/Marianne" wrote in message
...
Hey everyone :-)

I want to make myself a kiln god. From the very limited information my
searches came up with, I read that the Japanese believe you must sacrifice
something to the kiln god in each firing. My idea is then to purposely
make a big air pocket in a little sculpture, and then fire it in the kiln.

Trouble with that idea is glaze kilns, as the bits can get into the glaze
on pieces.

Anyway, I am interested in more information on what a kiln god is. I have
seen many making dragons, but is that the only type of kiln god? What do
they mean? What do they embody? Ideas for mine?

Looking forward to input :-)

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

Hi Donna!

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
I really, really don't think having a pot blow up in the kiln is in anyway
a good sacrifice - in fact, I would consider it an insult to the gods. I
piece of cookie I could understand...

Yeah - I think you are right about exploding pots. I wasn't thinking very
straight.

I have seen every sort of kiln god you can imagine. One of the studio's
is a fat naked lady with a big grin on her face. Mine is a dragon - a
rather tiny one but I like him.

Do you put the god in the kiln or on top of it during firing?

I have never seen or heard of a sacrifice being made other than pouring a
bit of plum wine on the god during a group potluck firing and I'm not all
that sure the pour was intended as a sacrifice...

Hehe! A splash of alchohol is more a baptism than a sacrifice, maybe.

You might find this fun -

http://www.skutt.com/peepholeplug/pe...ggallery2.html

That was really cool! Sadly, I now have a kiln where I am not supposed to
close the peep-hole! Still .- if the god can be on the outside of the kiln,
I could make one that sits on the edge of the lid.

Now to get some ideas! :-D

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

Kiln god goes outside of the kiln on top or near the door (door guard?).
You want it where it is not in the flame/rain(outdoor gas/wood)/direct heat
but you want it visible - you treat the kiln god as you want you pots to be
treated. But hell Marianne - you're talking to someone that used to walk
around the chair and tell the computer what a good girl she was when she had
inexplicable program crashes...

"Bubbles/Marianne" wrote in message
...
Hi Donna!

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
I really, really don't think having a pot blow up in the kiln is in anyway
a good sacrifice - in fact, I would consider it an insult to the gods. I
piece of cookie I could understand...

Yeah - I think you are right about exploding pots. I wasn't thinking very
straight.

I have seen every sort of kiln god you can imagine. One of the studio's
is a fat naked lady with a big grin on her face. Mine is a dragon - a
rather tiny one but I like him.

Do you put the god in the kiln or on top of it during firing?

I have never seen or heard of a sacrifice being made other than pouring a
bit of plum wine on the god during a group potluck firing and I'm not all
that sure the pour was intended as a sacrifice...

Hehe! A splash of alchohol is more a baptism than a sacrifice, maybe.

You might find this fun -

http://www.skutt.com/peepholeplug/pe...ggallery2.html

That was really cool! Sadly, I now have a kiln where I am not supposed to
close the peep-hole! Still .- if the god can be on the outside of the
kiln, I could make one that sits on the edge of the lid.

Now to get some ideas! :-D

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
Kiln god goes outside of the kiln on top or near the door (door guard?).
You want it where it is not in the flame/rain(outdoor gas/wood)/direct
heat but you want it visible - you treat the kiln god as you want you pots
to be treated. But hell Marianne - you're talking to someone that used to
walk around the chair and tell the computer what a good girl she was when
she had inexplicable program crashes...

Shoot! I still pat my computers on the top of the screen and tell them to be
good!

LOL!

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

I actually have had my big kiln god under wraps for months now. I'm afraid
to unwrap it since I can't do anything with it if it needs it. Probably I
should at least put a damp sponge in one of the layers and hope that keeps
it workable.

It strikes me that a kiln god should incorporate the 4 elements - earth of
course, fire, water and air. A dragon clearly covers earth, fire and air.
I can think of nothing that represents all 4 (unless water dragons fly...).
Hmmmm a dragon fly would work perfectly if only we could get them to breathe
fire ;)

Donna


"Bubbles/Marianne" wrote in message
...

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
Kiln god goes outside of the kiln on top or near the door (door guard?).
You want it where it is not in the flame/rain(outdoor gas/wood)/direct
heat but you want it visible - you treat the kiln god as you want you
pots to be treated. But hell Marianne - you're talking to someone that
used to walk around the chair and tell the computer what a good girl she
was when she had inexplicable program crashes...

Shoot! I still pat my computers on the top of the screen and tell them to
be good!

LOL!

Marianne

Kiln God?
 

In message , D Kat
writes
I actually have had my big kiln god under wraps for months now. I'm afraid
to unwrap it since I can't do anything with it if it needs it. Probably I
should at least put a damp sponge in one of the layers and hope that keeps
it workable.

It strikes me that a kiln god should incorporate the 4 elements - earth of
course, fire, water and air. A dragon clearly covers earth, fire and air.
I can think of nothing that represents all 4 (unless water dragons fly...).
Hmmmm a dragon fly would work perfectly if only we could get them to breathe
fire ;)

Donna


"Bubbles/Marianne" wrote in message
...

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
Kiln god goes outside of the kiln on top or near the door (door guard?).
You want it where it is not in the flame/rain(outdoor gas/wood)/direct
heat but you want it visible - you treat the kiln god as you want you
pots to be treated. But hell Marianne - you're talking to someone that
used to walk around the chair and tell the computer what a good girl she
was when she had inexplicable program crashes...

Shoot! I still pat my computers on the top of the screen and tell them to
be good!

LOL!

Marianne


Hello Donna

Having made dragons for years, I don't think that they would make
reliable kiln gods. I don't know what goes on inside the kiln at high
temperature when I've got dragons in there, but often they come out in a
different shape to the one I intended - I guess that the clay must flex,
slump, distort and the dragons take advantage of it to give me
surprises. Whiskers move around, claws twitch and tails snake around in
unexpected ways. So, if it's surprises you're after, go for dragons.

I've always had the urge to make a fiery dragon with a sort of cigarette
lighter ignition system to bring flames out of its mouth. Just how to
do this has escaped me so far - any ideas anybody?

There's even one dragon which is invisible, because it's shy and doesn't
want to be seen - I have a chart with pictures of many kinds of Chinese
dragon on it. This one is listed but there isn't any illustration!

Of course, dragons eat organic dragonflies, don't they? Once upon a long
time ago I made a dragon in the act of catching a dragonfly, but it all
turned out to be just too fragile for words. Mind you, the lustres on
all the scales and wings really sparkled and looked great. Sorry to say
that it got broken almost as soon as it was finished.

As for kiln gods, I have a routine. After packing and starting the kiln
running, as I leave the workshop I blow the kiln a kiss. Silly things
we do, don't we?

As you can tell, I'm back at work and feeling better

Susie


--
Susie Thompson
If you can't stand the heat, don't tickle the dragon
to email me replace "deadspam" with my name