Oversized “order” pieces out of a bisque kiln… basking in the late afternoon sun… ready for some inlaid glaze! And a tenmoku liner glaze before heading into the soda kiln!

I’ve been working lately on some oversized pieces for a special commission project. Adding some colored flashing slip accents that will change color during the soda-firing. I’ve got to be honest, I’ve never made “mugs” this large before… but it’s been kinda fun! The challenge was to make them large enough to meet the volume requirement!!! And you know how we all feel when the clay starts to shrink… “Did I make them big enough???” Fingers crossed.

Always great to see these four letters… one last kiln load fired & complete… fresh pots just in time for MY HOLIDAY HOME SHOW! It wasn’t quite cool enough to unload when I arrived, but hopefully it will be cooler after teaching class tonight!Don’t forget, you can still sign-up for a socially-distant & sanitized appointment time slots on my website.

Click here for full HOLIDAY HOME SHOW details & appointment times!

Another batch of stamped mugs finished & drying. Unfortunately these won’t be done in time for MY HOLIDAY HOME SHOW coming soon… but I am starting to wonder if we might need a mug intervention here?!!!

Closed up for the firing… it was a long evening of kiln loading last night. But always satisfying when you get all the bricks in the door frame. Hoping that everything is well-placed, nothing tips over, and no chunks of random kiln bits get inside anything! It was late when I finished last night… and early when I started firing this morning!!!

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!!!

With the holidays coming quickly, it’s time to start firing my holiday ornaments! They’re wheelthrown and then propped up on these little tripods that I make for them. They’re in the soda kiln, so the tripod raises them and allows for all sides to be affected by the soda atmosphere. It’s always my hope that none of them decide to jump off their perch during the firing!!!

One shelf, one layer at a time…

After several days of glazing & wadding, my studio cart was finally full… which tends to pretty much “equal” a full soda kiln’s worth of work. Sure, I probably could have gotten this all done a little sooner… if it had not been so amazingly beautiful outside this week “forcing me” to go play on my bike… repeatedly!

And in case you’re wondering, the masking tape works as a “safety belt” to keep pieces from jumping off the shelves as the transport the cart full of work from my studio downstairs to the kiln room via the rickety freight elevator!

So I’m still glazing & wadding for my soda kiln… which I will be loading later tonight. I think I’m getting down to the end. Like these ornaments that now have some tenmoku inlaid glaze accents. Some of them will still get a blush of colored glaze before going into the kiln too. Things are coming along nicely… no need to panic yet!