I took pictures of some of the pots in the front of the anagama kiln from the Golden Week firing, 2011.
These two pots were right up against the embers. With the new grate system and door I built we had a good, even reduction through the coals, allowing the ash to build up a range of colors on the pots. I think the shorter (only about 40 cm and now lengthened to 100 cm) grate we had before created uneven burning in the coals. With the old design as the wood clumped togther it choked out parts of the fire, sometimes filling up the fire box to the point where they were pulling coals out of the kiln. While there were some great pots coming out of the kiln with the old way of firing, the results were irregular at best, and often led to flat, uninteresting ash build-up on many of the pots.

So in terms of depth of color this firing produced a a broad range of effects on pots in the front, with strong blues, purples, green and gold in the natural ash deposit. (none of the pots were glazed this time) We did have a problem with glossy pots throughout the anagama kiln but I think that is due to the temperature dropping too quickly during cooling. This is partially my fault since the new door and grate design can let in more air and the old way of closing wasn’t adequate. (chiaki also forgot to buy clay to fill in the cracks) Next time when we close the kiln I need to make sure those areas are packed with bricks to slow cooling. We also did a light stoke at the end of the firing and I think this may have had an effect on glossiness as well.
Overall I'm really pleased with the results and looking forward to the next firing... I have a lot of ideas I want to try out.