While porcelain is inherently white… and so many people love it because it’s SO white... I need to add a little color. So I paint on some colored slip accents on each mug. The top section above the stamped line gets a smooth coating of a colored flashing slip. Then each stamp also gets a small dab of the same colored slip to help draw the eye and the color down into the pot.

Once they’ve been accented with color, I can now leave them open to dry in my studio. All of these pastel slip colors will change dramatically in the soda firing atmosphere. The colors should get more vibrant, and have random effects caused by the flames touching the pot and deposited soda mixture.

A veritable “tunnel” of porcelain handles.

Tonight I had some porcelain cylinders that were stamped, trimmed and ready for handles. So I start by making carrot-shaped wedges of clay.

Then I pull the handles the traditional way and set them up with the curve already established.

The hardest part for me is waiting for them to set-up a bit before trying to attach them. The first couple handles are always the hardest to get right as I’m usually too impatient… and then trying to put them on while they’re too limp & squishy.

Score. Slip. Repeat.
Score. Slip. Repeat.
Score. Slip. Repeat.    again…     and again…   and again…

So now they’re wrapped up for the night under plastic. My thought is that the moisture levels will balance out a bit and the handles will be less likely to crack off later as they dry. No guarantee… but my success rate is pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

I threw a couple larger platters last night. Two of them pretty much fill up my wedging table! Can’t wait to start stamping those babies!!! Got a huge blank canvas to fill up.

Registered. Checked-in. Tagged. And in the studio for a little pre-race “porcelain therapy” before the big race weekend.

More bowls freshly stamped in the studio.
With all of the other talented artists at “Art In The Garden” this year… I’ve got to step up my game and make sure that I have some new work to show off in the garden as well!!!

Finished detailing another batch of mugs with colored flashing slips for my next soda kiln firing. Now to dry… then bisque… then glaze… then fire. Still a lot to do in the next couple weeks! Not to mention all of the other pots I still need to make to fill the kiln!!!

Today I added handles onto my latest batch of cylinders-to-be-mugs. They’ve been under wraps for a couple days, waiting for my schedule to calm down a bit. But tonight I bit the bullet and tackled the mugs! I start by making “carrot-shaped” wedges of clay.

I then hold them by the fat end and pull a traditional handle. When I get the strap to the right width & thickness, I do a quick flip-over to establish the curve of the handle. I let them set-up like that for a few minutes before I start attaching them to the cylinders.

After a lot of scoring, slipping & attaching… the cylinders are now officially MUGS!!!
So now that they’re attached, I’m keeping them under wraps so that the moisture levels can settle down and even out a bit. I will add some colored flashing slip accents to them before I leave them out to dry.

The other two-pots-thrown-as-one demo was a large chip & dip bowl.
So it’s now stamped and “drying” slowly in my studio… waiting to be trimmed.

Finished “detailing” a few more mugs this evening with accents of colored flashing slips. They’re now drying and waiting for a trip into my next bisque kiln.