After a little more pinching, shaving, shaping & smoothing… I kind of felt like this batch of spoons was ready to call done. They’ll dry now and then need to be bisque fired before I send them through the soda kiln. I’m going to leave this batch “plain”… but already considering the next batch might need some stamping & colored flashing slip accents.

You know my motto… MORE IS MORE!

When we last visited this class demo project, I had thrown these silly little spiky things off-the-hump in class as part of a “challenge”… thanks Christine!

Since then, I started to make pinch pots with the extra clay at the bottom… creating some SPOONS!!! I may have left the clay dry up a smidge too much, as the pinch pot clay was a bit harder to move around than expected.

But after a little “persuasion” the spoons started coming together nicely. I got them “mostly” formed, but then decided to let them sit & stiffen up a little bit more before finishing them.

Fresh from the soda kiln… my first batch of crackled slip pots!!! I wasn’t totally sure how these were going to turn out as they’re a brand new technique for me! If you recall, it’s colored slip mixed with sodium silicate which crackles when you throw & bulge it out from the inside. They’re a little rustic & crunchy… but I guess that’s the point, right?

I will say they’re growing on me…

As part of last week’s class demo of “throwing-off-the-hump” we tackled a few Christmas ornaments. It’s never too soon, right?!

Topping off a trio of lidded jars with stamps, knobs & colored flashing slip accents. Just finishing up a few of last week’s class demos… with a couple extra lids “just in case!”

Just sitting around the studio stamping another platter
while waiting for the cones to go down in the soda kiln!

And the stamp that did most of the work…

While I’m firing the soda kiln today, it’s a good chance to get some work done in the studio like glazing, cleaning & re-organizing! Glazing is always my least favorite part of the process… but it’s got to get done at some point. And since I’m “trapped” here all day firing, today might just be the day to tackle glazing these new berry bowls!

So I’ve wiped off the drips from the liner glazes & cleaned the rims of the mugs. Next I’ll add some wadding to the bottoms and they’ll be ready for loading into the soda kiln… my “Plan B” in case my Soda-Firing Workshop students don’t have enough work to fill the kiln tonight when we load in class later tonight. If these don’t make it in… there’s always my next soda kiln… one step ahead…

Getting ready for soda-firing, so I’m not glazing the exterior of the mugs. The soda kiln atmosphere will do most of the work by adding some shiny glaze surfaces, flashing marks & will also make the colored flashing slips pop in color! But I do glaze the interior of each mug… this time with a simple tenmoku glaze to “visually connect” with the color inside the stamps.

Wiped clean with the tenmoku glaze staying inside the stamped impressions. Next up… liner glazing…