Dean,
I Don't want to drift off topic too much, but the picture you posted of your nieces vase is nice. I believe that this piece was Raku fired. This is a process where the clazed piece is fired to temp. and then removed at temp and then placed in a trash can with straw, hay, papers and other organtic materials. It creates a wonderful effect.
There is also an old Native american method called pit firing which is just the bare unglazed clay that is buried in a pit with a fire in other organic mateirals. And left to smolder for days. That process is very unpredictable, but can sometimes yield some great colors.
I was a Ceramic arts major in college. So it is a subject that I am familar with.
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B. Dudley
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