Well, it looks like they finished building the new soda kiln today at Lillstreet. Yeah!!! Huge thanks to Doug Jeppesen & Neil Estrick for leading the team to get the job done. As well as soda monitors Fred, Amanda, Adam & Sam. So nice to have anew kiln with a new arch. Remember my last soda kiln firing?… the last firing in the old kiln. You’ll see how the arch of the old kiln was nothing arch-like… it was almost straight across and not very safe! Here’s a little reminder…

So clean. So new.
Yep, a couple firings should take care of that!

I’ve been trying to finish up some of my holiday ornaments. Many of them have been fired and waiting for their wire hoop or ribbon attachments. Many of these ornaments will be making their art fair “debut” at “Art In The Barn” next weekend. But one of my dilemmas was “how to price them?” I didn’t really want to attach a price sticker to each and every one. I don’t really want to make a sign for each individual style. Or even worse, designate pricing levels based on size within one ornament style. Too many prices. Too many variations. Too many sizes. Too many price stickers.

But I think I may have come up with a brilliant solution.
I love color-coding… so why not color-code the ornaments? Brilliant, right? So I’ve decided to attach a colored paper clip to each ornament to signify which color-coded price that ornament corresponds to. That way, the paper clip easily shows the price, is easy to remove, and won’t leave a sticky residue like a price sticker would. So the color-coding has begun. Six different price points. Six different colors.

Today they added the arch. The bricks are in and the wooden frame is gone!
If you recall the photos from my last firing in the old soda kiln, our “arch” was pretty much straight across. Good to see that this kiln is starting out with a pretty dramatic arch.

Thanks to Lillstreet Soda Monitor Amanda for sharing these photos on Facebook…
and for being part of the kiln rebuilding team. You guys are rockin’ it!!!

Fresh out of the kiln… some of August’s entry in the Ornament Challenge, but this time made with terra cotta clay. The original batch that I made was in stoneware for the soda kiln. I had a little extra time, and a little extra space in my kiln, so I made a few more in terra cotta. So I kind of think these “extra” ornaments should count as bonus points in the Challenge!

But don’t think that’ s it… there are still a LOT of August’s original stoneware stars. Just waiting to be fired in my next soda kiln. If all goes well, this batch will be fired and ready for my Holiday Home Show on November 23rd & 24th. Mark your calendars now!

And

The pumpkins were finally harvested today!

I unloaded my kiln today full of Jack O’Lanterns! Lots of smiling faces looking back at me as I took them out of the kiln. Always a fun kiln to unload. And now these cute little guys are headed to “Art In The Barn” this coming weekend in Barrington!!! Here’s a quick look at just a few of them…

The kiln rebuilding looks to be coming along nicely. Today the team got the steel frame back in place. As well as building the wooden frame for the arch bricks to sit on. The kiln looks a little smaller than the old one… but I’m sure it will “grow” as they add the arch bricks tomorrow.

You know I love kiln filler…
so I last night I made another batch of Christmas ornaments.
More of August’s entry in the Holiday Ornament Challenge.
Tonight there were glazed and now they’re already in the kiln!

With a quick coating of clear glaze, my Jack O’Lanterns went into the kiln tonight. Sure… they may look green right now, but that green glaze will turn clear in the firing. I hope…

Over the past few years, I’ve introduced “The Ghouls Collection” during “Art In The Barn.” The first year, I did it pretty much just for my own amusement. Why not make some whimsical Halloween decorations just for the fun of it? And to my surprise, the were received VERY well my my wonderful customers! The first year, I started with Pumpkins, Skulls and Frankensteins.

Then of course, the questions started… “What character are you adding next year?”
So the following year, I added a Vampire into the monster mix.

Last year kind of got away from me. I didn’t have enough time and I didn’t think it would really matter if I didn’t have a new Monster. Well it did. I got a lot of questions from people who were looking to add another Monster to their collection. I apologized for skipping a year… and learned from that experience.

Limited Quantities Available!!!
I will be bringing all of these Monsters I have left in stock to “Art In The Barn.”.
But going forward, I’m thinking that some of these characters might be “RETIRED” from the collection to make room for the new ones. So if you’re looking to fill out your collection, or start a new Ghoul addiction… now’s the time. Before they disappear back into the crypt!

So this year, there will definitely be a new Monster for “The Ghouls Collection.”
What will it be?… well, I’m keeping it “under wraps” for just a few more days!

Doug Jeppesen, Neil Estrick and the kiln building team made some great progress today on the new soda kiln at Lillstreet Art Center. It’s starting to look like something is coming together! Can’t wait to see those brand-spankin’-new kiln bricks after a few soda firings!!!