And there it is… a well thought-out, three-dimensional puzzle of shelves, bricks & pots!!! I always want to squeeze in as many pots as possible, but you need to leave enough air space for the soda atmosphere to move around the pots to create the magic! Lots of shelves… lots of pots… and all fingers crossed!!!

Brick by brick, shelf by shelf, pot by pot… and eventually the back stack was done. Then it was onto loading the front stack which is two shelves deep, so twice as many pots!!!

One shelf, one layer at a time…

Last night I loaded the soda kiln with a lot of work… but I’m always struck by the empty kiln before loading. An empty kiln full of potential… and a lot of really cool soda build-up “patina” on the bricks!!!

Gotta LOVE these four letters!!!…
always comes with a small sigh of relief!!!

My most recent bisque kiln layer by layer… getting ready to start glazing for my next soda kiln which is just two weeks away! Yikes!!! Not my tightest packing ever… but I needed to move things along as I’m still making more pieces for the next bisque!

Bisque Kiln Layer #1 –

Bisque Kiln Layer #2 –

Bisque Kiln Layer #3 –

Bisque Kiln Layer #4 –

Another bisque kiln was unloaded this morning… and it had the sixteen “not-so-basic-bowls” from last week’s class demo in it. So here they are… including the basket I added a handle to. So now it looks like I’ve got a bit of glazing to do?!!!

Ugh. My least favorite part.

The best four letters to see when you get to the studio. Just hoping that everything inside looks “ghoulishly amazing”!!! Still too hot right now… but hopefully I can unload it later today after Summer Camp! And if all goes as planned… the newest member of THE GHOULS COLLECTION will be headed to Glenview this weekend for ART IN THE GARDEN!!!

Just a few more quick pics from my soda kiln! These pieces were the ones facing the front door… where they get blasted with a bit more soda than the rest of the kiln. Loving some of the colored flashing slip effects & the textured orange-peel surfaces!

Okay, so now that my taxes are finally done… I’ve got a second to breath… and share a picture from my soda kiln opening on Monday night. People have been asking… it turned out great. More photos to come!!!