Darn Bryo! Casting ceramics used to be my hobby too. I even turned it into a business for a few years, at Sci-Fi Cons in the PacNorWest. The mysterious chemistry of ceramics is fascinating. Colors and textures on a piece can have strange "accidents", depending on the colors/chemistry of other nearby pieces in the kiln. Of course, that's not the sort of thing that shops want to talk about.
If the shop that did your firing closed, you might consider buying a kiln of your own - new or used. The smaller ones are remarkably affordable, even including the "furniture" (shelves, posts, lifts) needed to separate and support the pieces during firing. They're remarkably energy efficient too! Even with current energy prices, I could run an equivalent model to the one I used to have, for $2-3.00 per cycle (or less) including cones. That comes out to pennies per item, instead of the dollars per item that shops charge for each firing cycle. That energy efficiency makes them safer and cooler on the outside too. I chose to work in the "shop area" in my garage. But, no special floor & less than 18" clearance was required. I could have run my kiln in the kitchen, if I'd wanted to "work" in my "living space".
If you ever catch an aligator gar, I wanna see the pics!! I've seen some pretty big Pike, but Gars get
huge, and they are
serious fighting fish! The TV show, "
River Monsters" did a great episode on the amazing gars.
