For those who really know me… you know that I am NOT at all political. Sorry everyone… no need to comment on my “civic duty” and all that jazz. Yet even I know that this election with the endless polls & repeating commentaries are getting a bit ridiculous!…. and yes, I do like to color outside of the lines!

Warm & cloud… with just a slight glimmer of color on the horizon. Only lasted but a few seconds… and then back to clouds… and a few blue skies peeking through!

Not a cloud in the sky. Just a stiff breeze from the west and clear sailing down the lakefront bike trail. Again, the best way to start my day… especially on these warmer days when I don’t need all kinds of crazy layers of clothing!!!

Nothing but blue skies heading home from my afternoon “hooky” bike ride along the Lake! Always fun to see the City from the “other” side!

A quick ride down to the South Shore Cultural Center this afternoon… for a quick turnaround to head back home. No time to linger as I had to get back to teach my pottery class tonight!!!

After yesterday’s “frozen icicle morning”… it was quite a treat to get out this afternoon in my bike shorts & sleeveless jersey for a beautiful Fall bike ride along the lake. The colors are hanging in there, the weather was amazing… and I was playing hooky from all of the glazing I “should” have been doing!!!

I got an early start in the studio this morning… trying to get a lot of glazing done today! I started by adding some inlaid glaze to the stamped textures… next to wipe them off. Another collection of pieces in the works!

With the stamps all cleaned off, I just added a liner glaze to the mugs. Since these are going into the soda kiln this weekend, they don’t really need any more glaze on the outside. The mixture of soda ash & soda bicarbonate that I add into the soda kiln towards the end of the firing will “magically” create a kind of glazed finish on all of the mugs! I still need to clean up the edges on the rims… but we’re getting there! Might be done for the night though… as it’s time to head downstairs to teach class!!!

By wiping the top surface of the mug, the tenmoku glaze stays only in the indented impressions. Sure, it might be labor-intensive… but I really think it makes a HUGE difference to the stamped details!

Painted some tenmoku glaze into the stamped impressions on the mugs. Adding some dark accents in the stamps will really help them “pop” more after they go through the soda firing process! Now I need to clean them off!