Here’s a quick glimpse at some of my new “handbuilt-wheelthrown-combo” mugs… fresh from the soda kiln! I did a couple demos for my classes this session that “sparked” my need to make more of these textured mugs! Sure, some of them are a bit larger than maybe they should be… sometimes a class demo can get a little out of control. But I am loving how these turned out… so I’m sure I’ll be making another batch or five!

You gotta love some free pottery! Especially fun on this cool weathered window ledge in the back alley behind Lillstreet Art Center. An ever-changing assortment of seconds, demos & cast-offs from some of the potters & students at Lillstreet. It’s “grab-n-go” fun for everyone!!!

Conveniently, two of my “original” class demo pieces came out of the cone 10 reduction kiln too! Each of these used the crackled slip technique – this time with black slip on porcelain. One of them I left white, the other one I colored the porcelain with ivy green mason stain. A thin spray of clear glaze gives them a finished shine!

Fresh from the soda kiln… my first batch of crackled slip pots!!! I wasn’t totally sure how these were going to turn out as they’re a brand new technique for me! If you recall, it’s colored slip mixed with sodium silicate which crackles when you throw & bulge it out from the inside. They’re a little rustic & crunchy… but I guess that’s the point, right?

I will say they’re growing on me…

Last night we unloaded the soda kiln, cleaned, scraped, etc… and then took some time to admire our newest treasures! My students were excited to see their new soda-fired pieces – and the randomness that happens during the firing! There were some pleasant surprises… and some not-so-pleasant surprises! But here are just a few of the pieces that came out of the kiln last night. Kudos to my students on their beautiful pots!!!

After they had all the FUN of unloading their newly soda-fired treasures… they also got to experience the “FUN” of cleaning the kiln, scraping & kiln washing the shelves, and making the kiln room better than we found it – ready for the next loading team to come in. So they learned a lot in this workshop… and they also got to participate in this sweaty GLAMOROUS side of soda-firing!!!

Once the door was finally taken off, my workshop participants got to see all of their freshly soda-fired pots! Some of them had never soda-fired before… some had never even loaded a kiln before! So this workshop was a great “taste” of the soda-firing process in a short time! Lots to learn. Lots to experience!

As part of last week’s class demo of “throwing-off-the-hump” we tackled a few Christmas ornaments. It’s never too soon, right?!

Topping off a trio of lidded jars with stamps, knobs & colored flashing slip accents. Just finishing up a few of last week’s class demos… with a couple extra lids “just in case!”