Still glazing LOTS of pots for tomorrow’s soda kiln firing.
Just goes to show that small pots need small stamps!!!

Just a couple last-minute pots in the bisque kiln even as we speak…
getting ready for this weekend’s Soda-Firing Workshop.

Spent the afternoon in the studio doing some stamping & slip decorating. Thankful that these vases didn’t dry out too much while I was off racing yesterday!

Finally got around to finishing up my latest batch of wall pocket vases. Remember, they were thrown “upside-down.” So now I’m cutting them of the bats and doing a little detailing.

I start by trimming off some of the excess clay and  smoothing out the rim.

Then it’s time for some stamping around the rim, which will now be the top of the vase when it hangs on the wall.

After stamping, I do a gentle “squishing” on my table. I want one side flat, and the rest a smooth rounded curve. I keep setting them aside as I move on to the next one.

So they’re stamped and squished… ready for Round Two and some “finishing” touches.

For Round Two… I go back into each one of the,. Put a hole through the back for hanging, and add some colored flashing slip accents for my upcoming soda firing.

Started a fresh batch of wall pocket vases. They kind of look like an oversized version of my Christmas ornaments … but they’ll look more like vases when I stamp & squish ’em!

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Spring might finally be here…. although you sure couldn’t tell yesterday…
Soon enough there will be flowers all around. Waiting to be picked and brought indoors.
So I’ve been making another batch of wall pocket vases to fill with Spring flowers.

Decorated discs all over my studio. Thrown, stamped and drying on plastic grids to avoid warping. Some will be glazed, some will be soda-fired. After firing, they will be turned into ikebana vases… just in time for the kick-off of my art fair schedule!

On a freezing cold Chicago day, it’s great to see a hopefully burst of Spring. Thanks to Terri for sharing a picture of her yellow daffodils in one of my stamped porcelain ikebana vases.

Cutting some vases in half… and “hiding” the stamped textures & patterns inside!

Purple orchid blossoms in a small soda-fired vase.