So while I’ve been so busy making, glazing & firing my recent soda kiln… I’ve also been working on THIS for awhile!!! Another project… some holiday fun with muddy terra cotta! I know it’s just the beginning making forty cylinders. All of which will transform in this year’s newest addition to The Ghouls Collection! One more “ghoul” to add to the collection of Halloween themed collectibles!

More to come…

The pumpkin patch is ready to harvest this weekend in Barrington! Fresh out of the soda kiln… plenty of clay pumpkins in assorted sizes. Even a few without warts for those “select few”… and you know who you are!

The rush is on… trying to get everything ready for this weekend’s art fair in Barrington. ART IN THE BARN is my biggest outdoor show… well, kinda… it’s open-air, but I’m “protected” in the Lower Barn just in case it rains?! Still dry for shopping!!! And I have a double booth again this year… same place as always! A double booth means double the shelves, double the pottery & double the fun!!! So mark your calendar!!!

And yes, there will definitely be a new addition to The Ghouls Collection… still doing my darnedest to get them into a kiln!!! Look forward to a new “slightly warm” Ghoul this Saturday morning!!!

So my soda kiln unloading went well yesterday. With plenty of fun colors & beautiful soda flashing throughout the kiln! Can’t wait to bring most of these new pieces to ART IN THE BARN this weekend in Barrington!

With another day of drizzly rain, my outdoor plants are very happy to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. They’ve had a rough go of it during the past few weeks of dry droughtness!

Started taking off a few more layers of bricks… almost cool enough to unload. It’s always exciting to see a good “pop” of color at the top of my soda firing. I’m not a fan of the “soda-blasted” dark grays that look like “dolphin skin”… some people like it, but not me!!! I prefer COLOR over dark grayness!!!

Today is Monday… welcome to a new week! It’s also soda kiln unloading day!!!
I just cracked the kiln open so it can cool a little quicker. Also… a little sneaky peek!!!

Kicking off the first day of Fall… with a cloudy morning bike ride. Lots of clouds with lots of sunrise potential. Or so I thought? We started with a good splash of color low on the horizon. But then the clouds took over & the color dissipated to total grayness. And now we’re supposed to get light rain all day… which is fine because we really need it! I can almost hear my plants breathing a collective sign of relief!!!

After a full day of firing the soda kiln… and the crazy coolness of the flames shooting out everywhere… it is always odd to me to turn it off at the end. The noise, the flames, the drama… all ending with a flip of a switch. Now hoping that everything inside looks great!!! We won’t find out until Monday night… fingers crossed…

As the firing is nearing the end, it’s time to add the soda mixture into the kiln. It evaporates instantly, causing the flames to go CRAZY… and hopefully sending the soda mixture throughout all of pots & shelves inside!!! Wherever the flames hit the pot… that’s where the soda mixture will work its magic & “glaze” the pot!!! Fingers crossed.