Cone 10 Firing, New Forms, Heavy Metal Poisoning?

Hey Guys,

Just got home from finishing up a cone 10 firing. . After some profanity, and screaming at the aging kiln, it finally crawled up to temp. Now two slow days of waiting and ill have some nice tasty art fresh out the oven! I have a few vases, some cups, and a good amount of those eggs (their for sure eggs now) in the kiln. While you die of anticipation for the kiln opening (which i know you are). ill show you some works in progress. and move your eyes to the right... now! Viola! Some new forms in progress of firing and building. On the top is a very infant piece. It was a study of slab work in my handbuilding class at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I didnt give much detail into the forms because of my obsession with surface and oxides lately. i wanted the surface to be the focal point of the piece rather than the form. Now, its older, smaller brother below him, is one firing through a series of 3+ firings, the first layer of the piece is mostly Black Copper Oxide, Red Iron Oxide, and a top coat of Manganese Dioxide, each chemical is mixed in with Terra Sigillata which acts as a bonding agent between the porcelain and the oxides. With all this talk about chemicals and such I must throw in the safety bit, Please, please please, do not work with metal oxides without wearing proper safety equipment! I had a small swelling of the throat and a pretty awful feeling day from not using a respirator. Well, thats all for now. Ill post some photos of the firings when they finally come out!

All Good Things,


Michael Cimino

Some new surfaces and forms..

After my show at the 410 Project in August I took a step back from my work to look at what I was doing wrong. I felt that I was using glazes to cheat texture. I would make the glaze then let the kiln do the work to texture it. There was no real craftsmanship in the process. So for most of the next year, the work I will be putting out will not have glaze. I feel it covers up the true beauty of porcelain as well. This piece (the first of my capsule series) is high fire porcelain with a Terra Sigillatta/Black Copper Oxide mix burnished over the surface. As to the form, im not completely sure as to what their meaning is yet. i have been using them as figures of Attraction, Love, Separation and Divorce. We will see what they end up becoming. I love the feeling of a new body of work. The ideas are in such an infant form in my head. I have what I think is a set idea in my head and then 10 minutes later a new form or idea pops in my head that changes the entire vision of it all. well, I'll talk to you soon.

All Good Things,

Mike Cimino

waiting for the kilns to cool.

hey stragglers that accidentally fall upon my blog, thank you for stopping by! this is the first post of many throughout this next year of preparing for my show. right now is a slow couple of hours at my apartment, waiting for my kiln to cool enough for me to unload it. i should have a few photos up in the next few hours.