Okay, so I know I said that those flower pots would be the last thing before my soda-firing deadline… but I’m pretty sure I can squeeze in a quick batch of mugs too!!! You know they’re my favorite thing to make!!! So what’s another dozen…

And of course… flower pots need small plates to catch the water that seeps through the drainage holes. So here are the plates accented with some of the same flashing slips as the flower pots!

Just painting some details on the flower pots with some accents of colored flashing slips. They may look white & beige now… but hopefully after the soda-firing they will “magically” change to bright oranges & yellows with some cool randomness due to the soda-firing atmosphere!

Adding a few stamps, textures & patterns to my latest batch of flower pots. Handmade stamps for handmade pots… pressed in one, by one, by one…

Freshly thrown… soon to be made into little flower pots. I finally scheduled my next soda-firing, so these might be the last “new” things I can crank out to get into that kiln?! We’ll see… you know I love a deadline… and a good challenge!!!

So the birds are still “naked”… while the jars have now been glazed & wadded for the soda kiln. I can’t wait to see how my flock turns out after soda-firing. The random flashing effects & soda atmosphere should change the colors a good bit… and hopefully all in a good way!

Okay, so my birds are still working their way closer to the soda kiln… I’ve added some colored details to the twigs & leaves! Not quite sure what I’m doing with the birds yet… I have too many options, but not enough decisions!!!

The flock has flown into the kiln… ready for a bisque firing.
And let me just say, I’ll feel a LOT better when these have all successfully “survived” the bisque firing. So much safer when they are “solid” and not so fragile as when they’re just dried clay!

So they’re finally assembled… lidded jars with birds on them!
Wheelthrown & stamped lidded jars with handbuilt birds on branches as handles! I’ll let them sit out to dry slowly so I can put them into a bisque kiln early next week.

And then I need to figure out how I’m going to finish them… soda-fired, glazed, details, oxides, underglazes… so many options!!! And yes, there’s already a plan brewing…

Now that my birds have all been assembled, I let them sit in the damp box overnight to even out the moisture levels and let them “stiffen up” just a smidge. So tonight I started attaching them to the lids of the jars. Like avian handles… birds on twigs & leaves. I used a few folded yellow Post-it Notes to help prop-up and support the branches while they set-up. I had hoped to make the birds a bit more realistic… but these make me smile!