All glazed & kiln loaded… with some soon-to-be colorful mugs on the bottom layer! Now to get home to start prepping & packing for this weekend’s HINSDALE FINE ARTS FESTIVAL. It should be a beautiful weekend in Burlington Park in downtown Hinsdale… c’mon by!

Just a few more… a few more to glaze & a few more to load. Trying to glaze & load the kiln kinda at the same time. Hoping to get everything in so I can have the kiln fire & cool over the weekend. Just in time for THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR next weekend June 11th & 12th.

Last night in class, one of my Beginner’s has started doing these wonderful carvings into her pots… and wondering how to best glaze them to show-off the textures & patterns. We decided to paint black underglaze into the design, gently wipe off the top layer leaving it only in the grooves… then spraying a thin translucent glaze over the entire pot. Can’t wait to see how Kristen’s carved masterpieces turn out!!! She’s so excited…. and well, she should be!!!

One of my Intermediate students has been “struggling” with getting the right glaze results for her intricate pots… lots of carving, stamping, painting, illustrations, etc. The classrooms glazes have been “covering” all of her hard work.. so she’s been testing some commercial cone 6 glazes when I fire my cone six studio work. Looks like Christine is getting some great results. Can’t wait to see where this glaze journey progresses!

LOTS OF POTS!!!
Tons of mugs and so much more! All glazed, wadded & ready for a trip downstairs on the rickety Lillstreet freight elevator! Hence the masking tape “seat belts” so nothing hops off along the way!

Time to get some glaze going… luckily, I’m getting ready for a soda kiln firing, so it’s more about liner glazes, inlays & accents… and not fully glazing things. So it “might” go a little quicker?… but everything needs to be wadded too, so maybe not so much?!

Okay, so there’s been a good bit of “buzz” about this bowl around the glaze carts… everyone asking how I did it. And I didn’t… but because my name is in the bottom everyone assumes it’s my glazing too?! But it’s NOT.

Chelsea was looking for some bisqued bowls for her glaze class demos… and I gave her a couple to play with. This one turned out STUNNING!!! Beautifully vibrant colors, incredible ombre’ blends, gravity-defying drips, the WHOLE THING!!!

So here’s the glaze plan…
as best I understand it from Chelsea, Queen of All Glazing…

1. Waxed the bottom with decorative scalloping.
2. Dip fully in Chun Blue.
3. Dip the top rim inside & outside with Galaxy Black.
4. Just below that, paint a thick band of Tom’s Purple.
5. Dip the top rim inside & out to cover those two bands of black & purple.
6. Then add a few splatters of Galaxy Black on the interior.
7. And then fingers crossed for some kiln magic… which she definitely got!!!

After posting the pictures from my final LILLSTREET THROWDOWN challenges… including the Mondrian-inspired Cream & Sugar Set by Claire… we may have another last-minute entry??? One of my Facebook Followers asked if she can “participate” too… as she already has a mug glazed & ready to go!!! Thanks for sharing your “Mondrian Mug” with us Paula… I’d love to see it again after it’s fired again!

Now a quick “liner glaze” on the insides of the mugs. These still need a bit of cleaning up… as there are a few drips around the rims. Plus, I want a nice, clean even line of glaze right around the rim. None of this willy-nilly randomness for me!!!

Started glazing some mugs today… adding some tenmoku glaze into the stamped impressions. These mugs will be in my next soda kiln firing, so they don’t need a lot of glaze. The soda kiln atmosphere will take care of “glazing” the exterior!