Front stack done… filled last night with lots of pots of all sizes & styles. Can’t wait to see them when they’re fired!!! Time to brick the door…

Back stack loaded last night… pretty tight to the arched roof… nice!!!

An empty soda kiln full of potential. Just getting ready for the start of my three-day SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP at Lillstreet Art Center. Tonight we’ll learn about soda-firing, glaze, wad & load this kiln. Tomorrow we fire and then they come back next week to unload and find their treasures!

Just ran across this headline as I was pulling old newspapers out of a box in my studio to put out some wadding to stiffen-up a bit. Hard to believe it was a year ago. Hard to believe it’s still going on. Hard to believe there’s finally a glimmer of hope at the end of this very long tunnel.

So I’ve wiped off the drips from the liner glazes & cleaned the rims of the mugs. Next I’ll add some wadding to the bottoms and they’ll be ready for loading into the soda kiln… my “Plan B” in case my Soda-Firing Workshop students don’t have enough work to fill the kiln tonight when we load in class later tonight. If these don’t make it in… there’s always my next soda kiln… one step ahead…

Getting ready for soda-firing, so I’m not glazing the exterior of the mugs. The soda kiln atmosphere will do most of the work by adding some shiny glaze surfaces, flashing marks & will also make the colored flashing slips pop in color! But I do glaze the interior of each mug… this time with a simple tenmoku glaze to “visually connect” with the color inside the stamps.

Wiped clean with the tenmoku glaze staying inside the stamped impressions. Next up… liner glazing…

After adding a layer of tenmoku glaze over & into the stamped textures, I gently wipe away the “top layer” to reveal the glaze inlaid in the impressions. It also really helps “pop” the dab of colored flashing slip in the middle of each stamp… details matter!

Getting ready for tonight’s SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP at Lillstreet. My students will be bringing their own bisque to glaze, wad & load tonight. I am glazing up some of my own work as “kiln filler” in case they don’t have enough work to fill the kiln. It’s always tough to estimate the amount of work going into the kiln load. Some of my workshop students have never soda-fired or even been to Lillstreet before… so it will be an interesting mix tonight, and I just want to have a back-up plan ready in case they don’t bring enough work!!!

Well, it’s been quite a year… 525,600 minutes.

A year since the pandemic hit. A year since we could gather in groups. A year since the big shutdown. A year of no family gatherings. A year since the world changed forever. 525,600 minutes. A year of no hugs, no handshakes, special events, no dinners inside restaurants, no live theater & so many more.

Somehow a year has gone by and affected everyone in different ways. Many lost their jobs. Many lost their lives. Many lost their life’s savings. Many lost their hope. Luckily, it seems as though we are nearing the end of the pandemic, not that it will ever be truly over.

But with vaccinations & smart choices, we’re all looking forward to getting back to whatever our new normal will be. And looking toward a better 525,600 minutes to come! Stay safe. Stay strong. Make smart choices as we move forward with more “Seasons Of Love.”