Darker & darker in the morning.
Fewer & fewer people out on the path in the morning.
Snow fencing going up along the lakefront.
And the trees are quickly loosing their leaves.
Kinda seems like we’re just counting the days until Winter?!

My bisque kiln from last night was still warmer than I would like.
So I decided to let to cool longer and dive into glazing some pieces from an earlier kiln!
I generally start by painting a lot of temoku glaze into all of the stamped impressions.

And then, once the glaze is dried, I take a moist sponge and wipe off the top surface
so that the temoku glaze stays inside the stamped impression – but not on the surface.
I love how the inlaid glaze really shows off the pattern of the stamp, instead of covering
& obliterating it with too much glaze!

But don’t think that they’re done. Oh no, I’ve got a lot of work to do on them first.
Liner glazes, sprayed accents, wadding, etc. So there’s still a lot to do… and even more
coming out of the bisque kiln tomorrow night. Not a lot of time to get everything done.
It’s my plan to load the soda kiln on Friday evening, and fire all day Saturday!

Well, the vases I made last night were still pretty damp today.
I went into the studio early this morning instead of biking in the rain.
I added some colored slip accents and started them drying slowly. When I came
back later this evening, I unwrapped them completely and started them drying…
with two fans blowing on them to speed it up a bit. Just before class, I decided it
was time to load them into the electric kiln. We turned it on a let it go for awhile
to warm it up… and hopefully dry it up a bit too. After class I set the program…
and they are currently being fired overnight. I hope nothing blows up?!

And now for tomorrow… all energy & focus switches to glazing & wadding!
I’ve got a LOT of pieces to get ready for my Friday night kiln loading.

Tonight was my last chance to make some new pieces for this weekend’s soda kiln.
I have a bisque kiln scheduled for tomorrow… so I’ve got to get these done, slip painted,
dried and ready to go into the kiln quickly. So I decided that some more large textured
slab vases might be a good way to go. And here are some more textures on the slabs…
soon to become textured vases!

Okay, so many of you might know that I am possibly the least political person ever!
I don’t get involved. I don’t participate. I don’t care. Sure, everyone says I should.
But it’s my choice to live in my own “ignorant bliss.”

So tonight when the final Presidential Debate was on every channel on TV,
I was determined to find something else to watch in the studio while I was working.
So my evening’s “debate” turned out to be Sharks vs. Jets. So much more fun!!!

So the Lillstreet Member Show opened today… and I was quite happy to find a couple
“treasures” to add to my Terry Hogan Collection. She’s crazy obsessed – and we love her!
She makes these incredible porcelain pieces with intricate designs pressed & pierced
into them. Wonderful patterns with groovy fun textures! And she’s one of the artists who
is consistently under-pricing her work… so I snatched these for a steal. And “then” told her
that she needs to raise her prices. For the time & work, she could easily double her prices!

And as if they weren’t cool enough… here’s some close-ups to show them off even more!

Some of the students of Lillstreet Art Center are currently being featured in the gallery.
It’s always fun to see how talented the students are – and to see their work being featured.
So often, all of the work gets finished, comes out of the kiln and goes straight home.
No one ever gets to see everyone elses pieces after they’re finished. There is a lot of great
work there at great prices. I think there are a lot great prices there… and I think that many
of the students need a class in pricing their work?! If you want to snatch up some great
pieces, be sure to hurry in. However, there are also a few people in the show who have
priced their pieces on the high side?! Apparently they have a pretty high opinion of
themselves and their work?! I’m just sayin’…

Either way… the Member Show runs through the week. Hurry in today!!!

Another dark morning… with beautiful potential that faded to gray…

I musty admit that I had few expectations when the sky lost its color and went to gray.
I thought we were done. But then, just a few minutes later, the sun came up enough
to cast a pink flair across the cotton candy clouds!

But then as the pink began to fade, it seemed as though the clouds had moved and lined up
just perfectly to catch the golden sparkles.

Then finally the sun made it up & over the horizon. And all I could think of was my
favorite classic by “The Cyrckle”… yep, look it up…

Getting ready for my next soda kiln… trying to make more, but quickly running out
of time! So tonight I loaded another bisque kiln for firing. Not really my “best work”
in filling a kiln… but sometimes you just need to get it loaded and get it done.
As the glazing portion needs to begin really soon!!!

Kiln Layer #1 -More bowls, mugs & ornaments!

Kiln Layer #2 -More bowls, mugs, tumblers & ornaments!

Kiln Layer #3 – Plates, gourd leaves, ornaments and some “filler” from Catherine Tweedie!

Kiln Layer #4 – More mugs, tumblers, ornaments & “filler” from Tweedie!!!

So, Friday night I spent some time reclaiming clay and incorporating it with some other,
stiffer clay. Then I threw a few pieces with that “new” clay. Well today I was back in the
studio trying to finish off everything I threw Friday night. First it was stamping & trimming….

Followed by adding some colored slip accents. The slips I used are special for firing
in the soda kiln atmosphere. They may look dull now, but once the soda hits them,
they will turn into saturated colors like orange & gold.