When I finished glazing & wadding the mugs, I moved on to the new pieces. I did the same glaze inlay to help “pop” the stamps. These are the small size… tomorrow I’ll tackle the medium & large ones!

Let the glazing begin… looks like it’s going to be a long night.

Glaze inlaid into the stamps… and the top surface carefully wiped off to help accentuate the textures.

Next up… liner glazes!!!

Tonight finished building and slip detailing six more casseroles.
They’re done & drying to go into next Tuesday night’s bisque kiln.
My last before next weekend’s soda kiln firing. Just in time for the Holiday Home Show!
Love making the whimsically shaped casseroles… and only one of them is a true oval!

Thrown one night. Stamped the next. Sure, they were a little squishier than I would normally like, but I had to keep them moving forward as I’m kind of rushing to get everything done. I’ve got another bisque kiln in a few days, and then my soda kiln a week from tomorrow. So I’m trying to rush a few last pieces through the process to get these bowls into both kilns… and done in time for my Holiday Home Show which is two weeks from this weekend!

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Bowl #5 –

Bowl #6 – Somehow I forgot to photograph this one before I stamped.
Suddenly it was just done?!

Tonight I loaded another electric bisque kiln. I’m trying to get everything ready for next weekend’s soda firing. So I’ve got a lot of work to do before then… and filling this kiln to fire overnight just gets me one step closer!

Bisque Kiln Layer #1 – mugs, casseroles & ornaments

Bisque Kiln Layer #2 – more mugs, casserole, oil lamps & ornaments

Bisque Kiln Layer #3 – textured wall pillows, ornaments & tiles.

Bisque Kiln Layer #4 – textured wall pillows & ornaments.

Bisque Kiln Layer #5 – more textured wall pillows, more mugs & more ornaments.

And I was pretty pleased when I saw how close I got to the top level of the kiln. You know how I love to pack it tight, and fill every space possible, so as to get the most fired for my money. Nothing bothers me more than a loosely packed kiln with a lot of empty space. Costs the same… packed full or partially empty. I prefer FULL!!!

Not me.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve made plenty of oval casseroles over the past few years. I love making ovals. All sizes. But for this batch I was feeling a little “ovaled-out.” So I decided to follow the same construction process, but to give them a different shape! A little bit of whimsy for your next casserole!

Casserole #1 – So I start out by throwing a bottomless cylinder on a large plastic bat.

When the sticky squishiness is gone, I carefully shape it into my new “non-oval” shape.

Then some decorative stamping to accentuate the shape… no surprise, huh?!

Then I let it stiffen up overnight… and then add a slab bottom.

I keep it wrapped overnight so the moisture levels can even out a bit. Then, I added some flashing slip accents and left it uncovered to dry overnight. Soon… to the bisque kiln!

Casserole #2 – same process, different shape!

Casserole #3 – Another shape, another casserole. Same process, same fun!

Tonight my stamped cylinders became mugs… funny what a few handles can do!!!

The latest batch of “slender” oil lamps were stamped today… and trimmed…
and “flashing” slipped… and are now drying.  Let the process continue…

My cylinders have been stamped & trimmed.
But to make them into mugs, they need handles. And tonight was the night.

Twenty-one handles on twenty-one cylinders makes twenty-one mugs!

So I start with small pieces of clay. I pound them on my table and rotate them so they start to form this little “carrot-shaped” wedge of clay. I make enough of them to create handles for all of the cylinders in waiting.

Then I pick them up from the fat end, give them a pinch, and start pulling the handle. With a wet hand, I slide down the clay with a bit of pressure. The friction draws the clay down – stretching it and making it thinner at the same time. Once I get it thinned down to a good “strap handle” width & thickness, I gently give them a “flip” so they can stand up like this. The flip gives them a gentle curve and sets them up pretty close to the curved handle shape I want. It also keeps them out of my way while they set-up a bit. After a few minutes, I put a piece of plastic over them very loosely. Then I start attaching them – oldest & driest handles first. And the plastic keeps the rest from drying out too quickly as I work through them all.

When the freshly pulled handles stiffen up a bit, I cut out the portion I want to use and carefully attach them to the cylinders. After a bit of scoring & slipping, they stick in place and I try to smooth everything in for a neat attachment.

After they’re all attached, I wrap them up overnight so the moisture levels can even out a bit. After a 24-hour rest, I will paint them with some colored flashing slip and then let them dry the rest of the way.

Then it will be off to a cone 06 bisque kiln… then glazing… and then my next soda kiln!

Now that the Chicago Marathon is over, I’m back in the studio and re-focused.
No more distractions. No more training. No more need to “go for run.”
So now I’m focused on my next soda kiln… throwing pots and replenishing the basics!
Now let’s not get crazy… I’m still going to bike. Let’s be real.

So I threw a “bag” of mugs… this time a new 25-pound bag made twenty-one mugs!
And surprisingly, they dried pretty quickly… and I actually stamped them today as well.

I followed that up with a batch of oil lamps. This time a little more slender… as requested!
These were still too wet to stamp… so I wrapped them up and will stamp them tomorrow.