Sadly, not quite everything fit into the kiln last night as I loaded into the wee-hours of the morning. As usual, I went through the mental waves of “I don’t have enough… I have way too much… I’m a gonna need to glaze more… this is never gonna fit… what am I doing… I think I need chocolate… still a lot of pots… oh, I think it’s going to be close… can I squeeze just a few more in?”

Well, the answer was NO. So it looks like I have a few leftovers… a nice start on building work for my next soda kiln, right???

Wiping off the top surface… to reveal a now-filled-in stamped pattern. Remember, these are all going into the soda kiln… so I don’t really need to glaze the outside of the pots. I’ll do a liner glaze inside… but leave the exterior for the soda magic to do its tricks!!!

Working on the glaze inlay first… filling the stamped impressions with some tenmoku glaze. And then I will be wiping off the top surface to clean it off… leaving the glaze only in the patterns!

Still glazing… this time I’m on the pots that came out of yesterday’s bisque kiln. Cute little oval vases with a fun strappy handles to help separate the flowers. And if one handle is cute… maybe two handles are even cuter?!!! Larger version with two handles & textured panels on each side!

Moving right along! Filling the stamps with glaze & then wiping off the top surface with a wet sponge. It leaves the dark tenmoku glaze inside the stamp to really make the texture pop! Then a quick liner glaze with the same tenmoku… clean the edges with a wet sponge… and we’re almost done!!!

While another bisque kiln is firing, this first batch is ready to start glazing.
Lined up & ready for the first step… doing a little glaze inlay into the stamped impressions.

Working in the studio adding some colored slip accents & details to my mugs. Celebrating Mughshot Monday… and what better time to watch “The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown” watching potters succeed & fail on Reality TV. Also fun to see that my Lillstreet Throwdown’ers had already done some of the same challenges in their class!!!

Still working in the studio… and I’ve moved on to stamping some serving bowls. Just have to pick the stamps I want to use… and then start pressing them into the “softer-than-leatherhard” clay one by one… by one… by one…

Early morning production… just trying to crank out one last batch of mugs before my next soda kiln!!!

Just added some handles to this latest batch of oval vases. Not only do I think they’re kinda cute… but they should also help spread & hold the flowers in place! Working towards filling another kiln or two… the summer art fairs are coming soon!!!