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!!!

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!

I got an early start in the studio this morning… trying to get a lot of glazing done today! I started by adding some inlaid glaze to the stamped textures… next to wipe them off. Another collection of pieces in the works!

With the stamps all cleaned off, I just added a liner glaze to the mugs. Since these are going into the soda kiln this weekend, they don’t really need any more glaze on the outside. The mixture of soda ash & soda bicarbonate that I add into the soda kiln towards the end of the firing will “magically” create a kind of glazed finish on all of the mugs! I still need to clean up the edges on the rims… but we’re getting there! Might be done for the night though… as it’s time to head downstairs to teach class!!!

By wiping the top surface of the mug, the tenmoku glaze stays only in the indented impressions. Sure, it might be labor-intensive… but I really think it makes a HUGE difference to the stamped details!

Painted some tenmoku glaze into the stamped impressions on the mugs. Adding some dark accents in the stamps will really help them “pop” more after they go through the soda firing process! Now I need to clean them off!

Celebrating MUGSHOT MONDAY with just “a couple” mugs! I’ve got a bit of glazing to tackle today. My soda kiln is scheduled for this weekend… so the deadline is coming quick and I’m just starting to glaze!!! Gotta stay focused… and get my glaze on!!!

Bright & sunny outside… but I’m trying my best to stay focused & productive inside! The sun is streaming in through the studio windows and creating some cool shadows as my platters continue to dry.

Okay… truth be told… MY studio has no windows! But my friend & studio-neighbor Karen has windows and plenty of unused table space! Well, “unused” until I needed to spread out just a bit. Thanks Karen… we miss you!

Did a little stamping again… go figure.
Always fun to see what kind of pattern emerges using just one stamp over & over again! This pattern & this stamp are quickly becoming one of my new favorites!