So I had a glazed ikebana disc that had a crack through it… so I “donated” it to some kids to use as target practice with their BB guns! We put a piece of paper in the center hole so we could see if they every got a bullseye. They may not be very accurate, but the are definitely persistent. They’ve apparently hit ALL around the bullseye… but have never hit the center yet. Keep shooting guys… Sullivan, Maxwell & Franklin… and maybe aim a little better?!!! HA!!!

Looks like someone is kickin’ off the morning with some sweet treats on a couple of stamped plates! Almost a “breakfast of champions”… but where’s the chocolate?!!! Thanks for sharing your pretty pastries Jody.

All stamped & detailed… and the bowls are all back under plastic until they dry-up a bit more for trimming. Good thing I love trimming too… almost as much as stamping!!!

Almost.

So I got this really nice message a couple days ago from one of my Instagram Followers. She has been doing a little “stamping” of her own… dabbling with the textured stamp addiction! It was so nice to hear from Lori and to see a few of her stamped pieces. Looks like she’s off to a great start. Keep up the good work Lori… remember, MORE IS MORE!!!

“You have been an inspiration for my own artwork and I have a few pieces of stamped work on them but need to post them up. I had a blast following your blog post for about 4 years while I had studied ceramics at Sul Ross State University. I even did a contemporary ceramic artist presentation about your stamped pot designs, the process of soda fire, and the Christmas ornaments you make.” – @loriyugen

And now we have handles… and therefore, now we have MUGS!!! One step closer to the bisque kiln! Another step closer to getting these done in time for next weekend’s art fair in Glenview!!!

With one big “commission” batch of mugs finally done… I’m already working on the next batch! You know how much I LOVE making mugs. I’m going to try to rush these through the process a bit to get them done in time for my next art fair… The Glenview Summer Art Fair in a week and a half! Fingers crossed…

Celebrating TEXTURE TUESDAY with a new batch of stamped discs… soon to be turned into ikebana vases. A perfect way to show-off some of your favorite summer blooms. Coming soon…

So now that we’ve come to the end of the process, I’m excited to show some of the results. Nice colors, flashings & soda build-up. The randomness is great… similar enough, but each one of them is unique & one-of-a-kind! I’m sure the Groom is going to love these commissioned mugs for his bridal party & friends!

One of the coolest part of soda-firing is the randomness that happens during the firing. So anyone who is soda-firing needs to be aware of this before they expect “matched perfection”… ‘cuz that’s not gonna happen!

Here’s a great example…
As each of these mugs have the exact same glaze on the interior. All from the same bucket of glaze!!!

But notice the color variation that happened during the firing… based on shelf location, firing, atmosphere, reduction, oxidation & tons of possibilities!!! A wide range of unexpected colors…. all from one bucket of glaze!!!

So the commission geometric mugs made it through the soda-firing. I’m very excited about the results from Catherine’s kiln firing. She got some wonderful results, good flashings, nice soda-build-up & none of that crusty grayness. I’m confident the Groom is going to LOVE his commission gift mugs! Perfect for another MUGSHOT MONDAY!