Another loaded bisque kiln… layer by layer… piece by piece… firing today!!!
Love the challenge of stacking, nesting and piling in of as much work as you can fit in.
Guess I’m going to need to do some glazing – and get a soda kiln scheduled soon!

Layer One – flower pots, mugs and tiles!

Layer Two – bowls, flower pots, tumblers and more tiles.

Layer Three -bowls, mugs and a LOT more tiles!!!

Layer Four – bowls, flower pots, tumblers and tiles!

So while my bisque kiln cools tomorrow…
I’m taking a day off and heading out of town for a little hiking in the woods!

Last night’s topic for my Beginning Wheelthrowing class was “basic bowls.”
Truthfully, teaching my beginners how to make a bowl on purpose
instead of a cylinder gone bad and “oops, look I have a bowl” bowl.

So we started with basic bowl instructions & demonstrations. Then we took a quick break
from the demo as I sat down and quickly threw eight basic bowls. Then we regrouped &
discussed how to alter these basic bowls and turn them into something not “quite so basic.”
Before they knew it, the “strikingly similar” eight 2-pound bowls were suddenly all different
with the help of a little fluting, flaring, slip painting and a quick creativity.

I hope that they get the point that they should commit to their artwork and make it
their own. Anyone can make a smooth, round, plain bowl. That the clay is not as fragile
as they think… that they can push it a little further. And that a little effort, design
& creativity can make a huge difference in their bowls!

You know they’re my favorite… my “go to”…
my “don’t-know-what-to-make-so-I’ll-make-more-mugs”… never too many mugs!!!

So at Easter with the family, my best art fair “employees”…
aka my Mom & Dad… suggested that I make more of the grooved tumblers
that they got as Christmas gifts! Apparently, they really like the grooved lines
and how they fit perfectly in your fingers while drinking from them.

Of course I listened… as any good son should…
and I made more grooved tumblers… by popular demand.

In between all the bike rides… I do find time to throw!… trust me.

This evening I set about to turn the plain flower pots I threw yesterday
into more decorative flower pots with a LOT of stamping & rim fluting.
Some with some traditional stamping, and more with the newer, “bulgier” stamping
with fluted rims. A mix of old & new styles… still not sure how I’m going to glaze these?

Tomorrow I hope to trim them all and paint some slip accents.
And don’t forget to punch the drainage holes too!

We keep waiting for Spring… hoping that it’s around the corner somewhere?!
But as another cold front is headed towards Chicago, I’m in the studio making
flower pots for my early summer art fairs. Just in time for those Spring plantings!
So this afternoon after unloading my bisque, I threw 50-lbs. of flower pots!!!

So I unloaded my electric bisque kiln this afternoon, layer by layer…
and just for fun, counted the number of pieces in that firing.
I included the seven bowls by Karen Patinkin, but not the maquettes
by Lisa Harris… nor did I count my glaze test tiles. I guess I was just
counting the “real” pieces?!… either way, there was a LOT of work in there!

The final bisque tally?… 135 pieces!!!

Today I loaded another electric kiln to bisque my latest batch of work.
And you know my theory… pack it in as tight as possible to get your money’s worth!
So I did. And here it is, layer by layer…

Layer One: bowls, mugs, soap dispensers – and a new oval planter for my windowsill.

Layer Two: bowls, mugs, test tiles and new garlic keeper lids!

Layer Three: bowls, test tiles, garlic keeper plates… and a stack of beautifully
decorated bowls made my my studio friend Karen Patinkin.

Layer Four: a tumbled-stacked pile of fun!… soap dispensers, vases, mugs & more!
Plus a couple hand-built maquettes by Lisa Harris for a show she’s going to be in soon.
She’ll be using them as glaze tests before the finishes off the full size versions.

Okay… so one of the studio potters at Lillstreet moved out of his studio
a few months ago. In his wake, he left a lot of mess, supplies, and buckets of glaze!
Now since I already have enough supplies & mess of my own – I claimed the buckets
of glaze! Sadly, I’m not really sure what they are, and I definitely don’t have
the recipes to make more. But free glaze is free glaze!!!

So… tonight I made a batch of test tiles for these “mystery” buckets of glaze!
Complete with stamps & textures to see how the glaze would work on my own
textured work. I’m going to test the glazes in both cone 10 reduction and the
soda kiln. I want to find out if any of them do really cool things in the soda kiln
atmosphere?! Or if they do really terrible things BEFORE I start glazing
a kiln full of work. Wouldn’t that be a bummer?