A beautiful morning along the lakefront. So nice that Spring seems to be settling in… hopefully for good! It was a bit breeze, but a great ride. And a great chance to see the new Keith Haring sculpture at Belmont Harbor. The construction fencing is finally down and hopefully the surrounding garden will be planted soon.

Speaking of class demos… here’s my first bowl using the water erosion technique! Remember, I used shellac to paint on the pattern and then wiped away the surface of the background… leaving the protected areas a little raised from the background. I then glazed it in a forest green celadon glaze that turns blue when the soda atmosphere hits it. So the wide range of colors that go around the bowl are all from the “magic” of the soda kiln firing… not me!!!

A beautifully chilly start to the day.
Low-hanging mist giving a frozen touch to the morning.

These pyrometric cones were in the kiln for our SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP last weekend… looks like we went a little bit past cone ten?! What with my “newbies” learning & helping to put the soda mixture into the kiln… we may have gone a little slower than normal. The pots turned out great… so apparently a little hotter with a “flat” cone 10 didn’t matter too much!!!

When a basket handle comes tumbling down!!! Well, I kinda knew it would. When I got this basket bowl out of the bisque, there was a small one-inch piece “missing” and sitting down inside the bowl. Sadly, I recall “allegedly” trying to put a kiln shelf in and having it “bump” a basket handle because I didn’t measure the height so well. Guess that “bump” broke the handle!!! Whoops!

But, when I was glazing, the missing piece still fit into the gap and gravity held it in pretty snug. I decided to go for it. I glazed the pot, the missing piece, and wedged them together… and gave it all a second dip to help seal it together. I had my fingers crossed… but wasn’t too surprised to see it had fallen out during the firing.

What did surprise me though was the way one side of the broken handle totally “imploded” and fell right into the bowl!!! TIMBER!!!

Kinda diggin’ how the afternoon sun is streaming in through the blinds in Lisa’s studio next to mine… and the sun dots making their way through are lining up just perfectly on the cool skull on her wall.

It’s the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! Finally…
and I’m so excited to see some pops of color breaking through in my front yard. Looks like the periwinkle vinca vine is off to a good start!

Here’s a quick glimpse at some of my new “handbuilt-wheelthrown-combo” mugs… fresh from the soda kiln! I did a couple demos for my classes this session that “sparked” my need to make more of these textured mugs! Sure, some of them are a bit larger than maybe they should be… sometimes a class demo can get a little out of control. But I am loving how these turned out… so I’m sure I’ll be making another batch or five!

You gotta love some free pottery! Especially fun on this cool weathered window ledge in the back alley behind Lillstreet Art Center. An ever-changing assortment of seconds, demos & cast-offs from some of the potters & students at Lillstreet. It’s “grab-n-go” fun for everyone!!!

My fourth cactus is blooming too! At first I didn’t even know there was a difference between Thanksgiving Cactus, Christmas Cactus & Easter Cactus?! Well, apparently there is… and I found these little cuties on the discount shelf at a greenhouse a couple months back with a tag that said “Spring Cactus”? So I scooped them up… and I’m sure it’s the flower pots that are making them look so healthy & happy!