Let the detailing begin… it’s an assembly line of painting the Ghouls with colored underglazes. Making some colorful choices & changes along the way!

So here they are… the first real “peek” of this year’s new addition to The Ghouls Collection! Just picture them in color and with a hat… maybe some “straw” colored underglazes?! !!! Keep in mind they will make their real debut at ART IN THE BARN this weekend. A Limited Edition of forty… and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

After several hours of painting with underglazes, the textured hats are done & ready for a layer of clear glaze to finish them off. Then into a kiln later… hoping to get them cooled off before I bring them out to Barrington this weekend for ART IN THE BARN.

So like I said… I’ve been busy-BUSY!!! I typically make a Limited Edition of forty Ghouls each year for ART IN THE BARN. But why not make my job harder than usual?… and so decide to make a two-parter Ghoul this year?! Yes, my new Ghoul will come with a hat. I mean, who doesn’t like a Ghoul who can accessorize?! Yet at the same time… now I need to make forty hats AND forty Ghouls! That’s EIGHTY pieces instead of the usual forty!!! Yikes! At least I finished assembling the hats over the weekend… which gave me a bit more time to focus on the Ghouls!

So we’re just one week away from my last art fair of the summer! And it’s one of my favorites… and biggest with a double booth full of pottery! Mark your calendars for next weekend to come out & visit ART IN THE BARN in Barrington! I’ll be in my usual booth in the Lower Barn… and we’ll have the “big debut” of the newest Halloween character to join “The Ghouls Collection”! Sure, they may still be warm & fresh out of the kiln… but who’s counting?!

Well, here they are… forty terra cotta cylinders waiting to be trimmed… and then GHOUL-ized!!! I have a plan, I have a doodle… but I’ll feel much better after I make the first new Ghoul to make sure it lives up to my vision.

And just to make my job harder, this year I’m going for another two-parter! Yep, twice as many pieces to make… forty of this & forty of that… and I have about a week to get them all done!!! YIKES!!!

So here they are… the beginnings of this year’s new Ghoul. The first batch… and the fresh batch still on the bats. I’m making another “limited edition” of forty Ghouls for ART IN THE BARN on September 23rd & 24th. Starting to feel the pressure…

So… just in case you’ve been wondering… YES, the new addition to “The Ghoul Collection” for this year has been started!!! And they all started with just a ball of terra cotta clay! In fact, I started throwing the base forms last Saturday night after a long day at ART IN THE GARDEN… and finished throwing them early Monday morning. So you might say I got a bit of a “head-start” compared to my usual procrastination techniques! But we all know… I work best with a deadline!!! HA!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Celebrating a day full of costumes & candy… and showing off one of the biggest collections of my Ghouls!!! My friend Keith & Julie recently moved to Ohio… just in time to show-off their Ghouls Collection on their new fireplace mantle! Not quite all of them… as it looks like their missing the Skull, Frankenstein, Mummy & Vampire!

Does anyone out there have MORE Ghouls in their collection?…
Send me a photo if you do!!! – gary@firewhenreadypottery.com

Another festive group of Halloween cuties… just Martin & Christi showing off their Ghouls Collection!!! So much fun to see them hanging out in people’s homes for the holiday! Thanks guys!!!