A short description of "saggar" methods...

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Historically, saggars have been used to protect pottery from flying ash, and unwanted fumes..Contempory saggar firing transposes the concept of protection, and is used to expose the work to combustibles and volatile materials, while protecting the kiln.  Saggar firing has proved to be the solution for me, for producing the kind of natural coloring, ethereal blushes of blues, pinks, greens, and all the soft shades in between...plus dramatic marks and lines..add the creative effect I want for my pieces that I title "Gifts From The Sea" .

My Current  Method ---I   start with a cone 5 porcelian body..from Laguna or Aardvark. I have also used the paper clay product from Ind. Minerals, or earthenware . When the piece is bone dry I brush on a layer of terra sigillata, burnish with a soft cloth, and bisque to cone 07.. I sometimes has bisqued from 022 to 07 ,but I find the lower temps create a more fragile piece, even though they are porous enough to give great color. Using terra sigillata on a piece brings out almost twice the color than the plain clay.  Use colored slips to trail over the piece in patterns, or use a resist medium to get patterns.  I have used silk screens that I made from black and white photos with great results.  Somehow the colored terra siggalatas that I have used are coarse and do not leave the sheen that I want.  Perhaps I cannot "ball mill" them enough, by mixing by hand.   I must add here that I saggar my pieces in an electric kiln...a large Cress kiln that has been fired with a saggar inside 30-40 times. ....BUT   I cannot recommend this for all  ceramic artists!!   People tell me that I have been very lucky not to burn out the elements.!!!! This kiln has never been fired over cone l...perhaps the answer.

The ceramic piece is then placed in the saggar, on a bed of chopped charcoal (just a small layer), which has been covered with layer of wood chips which have been soaked in salt water (somewhat dried)...and perhaps some copper carbonate in the salt solution.    The saggar is made of K2300 bricks..I don't worry too much about space between bricks, but I try to keep them a secure as possible, and pack the saggar as close as possible..top it with a kiln lid.  The firing is taken slowly to cone 06....010..the temp varies according to the clay used, and the kiln size.  I find when I fire in a different smaller kiln, I must lower the temperature...or get ash.           Other  saggar containers could be flower  pots, perhaps inverted on each other (I find they don't last long), or make a saggar container out of a strong  stoneware clay .  I found that these containers cracked after some use.

Other ideas for achieving color are: copper wire wrap, copper mesh ( the kind used for kitchen scrubbing), steel wool, banana peels, rabbit food, cow paddies, flowers, leaves...you name it!  It is fun to experiment!  Many potters use sulfates..but I find them too toxic for my work in an electric kiln with the fan only for removing fumes.   Try soaking wood pieces in salt water, or other wet/dry plants ...if you are not near the seaweed supply.  Surely there are ways to duplicate what seaweed does. Some ceramic artists use vermiculite soaked with the chemical salts, packed around the vessel..some use wood chips and seaweed, but I have seen some good results with just the vermiculite and seaweed.             Some of the stuff I am trying....wrapping the pieces in paper clay after  using a glue gun to hold pieces of copper, leaves, "chore boy",  crab shells, shrimp shells,  egg shells, red onion skins, marigold (and other flowers that could be used as dyes).

Paper Clay information:  I will include my source and advantages of using this clay medium soon. I have had great luck with it on "saggar " pieces...which have been primed with terra siggalata. The clay has many advantages..such as FAST drying.   The original source of the paper clay is:Industrial Minerals Co. Sacramento, Ca.    916-3832811.  They can tell you the distributor in your area. In the Los Angeles area..Aardvark Clay supply now carries the paper clau.