The last step in creating a lasting clay vessel is firing. Firing is done in two stages: bisque and glaze firing. After the piece is trimmed and everything was added or carved, the vessel is left to air dry completely before being bisque-fired. The bone-dried pieces are loaded onto a kiln, arranged on shelves that are stacked using posts and shelves. To conserve energy, we load the bisque kiln as packed as possible, and fire it to a temperature that will take away the water still left in the vessel, making it ready to receive glaze. Glazes are a liquid substance that carries different minerals that can be applied by dipping, brushing, or pouring. Glazes give vessels their color and make the vessels food safe when the kiln is fired to a temperature that allows the minerals to combine, creating a glass-like surface that will not allow the vessel to absorb liquids or leak. A vessel that will be used for food or drink has to be glazed because otherwise any liquid that comes in contact with clay without a glaze will make it a perfect ground for bacteria.
After bisque-firing the vessel is hard enough to withstand some handling, to take on glaze but not completely ready. I sand the pot (a process I do outside because the dust of the clay can be damaging to one’s lungs) apply wax to the part of the vessel that will come in touch with the kiln shelf as well as a quarter inch up the side of the vessel, and then apply the glaze. Some glazes and glaze combinations can run, dripping onto the kiln shelf and destroying the pot (and potentially the kiln shelf). I find that the more I enjoy a glaze combination, the more probability it has to be a “runny” one, so I try to thin it out at the bottom of the pot to avoid problems. After glaze firing, I will sand where there are sharp edges, and then the vessel is ready.
Firing is a ruthless judge of a vessel. In firing all the mistakes that I might have made in creating the vessel are revealed: if I used too much water, or the vessel did not dry completely before being fired, or if I allowed for uneven widths between the walls and the bottom of the pot, firing will produce cracks in the vessel and render it unusable. If I weren’t careful with the glaze the vessel will glue to the kiln shelf and it will be unusable, or I can get an ugly color or pinpricks. This is the reason why most potters try not to re-fire vessels – the potential for disaster is huge. Yet, there are times that we need to re-fire certain vessels. According to Jewish law, vessels that came in contact with something that is a mixture of meat and milk, or with some kind of food that is not to be consumed according to Jewish law cannot be used anymore. Earthenware vessels, even those that are glazed cannot be made kosher unless they are fired at a high temperature in the kiln again. After going through the process of making these vessels out of earthenware, having them rendered unusable is heartbreaking. Re-firing a vessel is tempting disaster.
The solution to this impasse is to remember that we, human beings, are created from this imperfect material, from clay, and there are things that we can change and things that we cannot. Accepting the fragility of earthenware vessels is a lesson in accepting human frailty.
Earthenware vessels may break and not be able to be used in the same way they were used before. Earthenware vessels are fleetingly beautiful, and so are our lives. We can live fully, enjoying what is beautiful, accepting and celebrating our frailty and affirming that the things that are beyond our control will not determine the outcome of our lives.