This week in my pottery class we had a LOT of glazed cups to look at… as the week before we had glazed sixty cylinders as part of our second glazing demo. So much fun to have so many different combos & results… some good, some not.

But either way, a LOT of great information for my students to share.

Here’s a quick glimpse… more to come…
and thanks to Tracey & Steve for getting them fired so fast for us!!!

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A new bin of FUN for my class tonight!!!
I’ve got the glazed cylinders from last week’s glaze demo project finished, fired and ready to share! Some good combos, some not so much. But a LOT of great “visual information” to be learned from this group glazing project.

As Part Two to Tuesday night’s glazing demo… I challenged my students to glaze sixty cylinders in all different glaze combinations & techniques. They’re always talking about how they get overwhelmed when glazing, that each pot is too “precious” to experiment, and that they don’t see enough finished results to really make an informed decision. I’m taking all of that out of the way and I provided them with sixty bisqued cylinders to glaze… none of them “precious”!

We’re looking forward to seeing the results and comparing them to the notes we took for each one! Even if half of them turn out as a good combo I’ll be excited. They all embraced the challenge as they dipped, double-dipped, bubbled, splattered and glazed all of the cylinders. We’ll see soon enough how they all turn out!

This week in my pottery class, we tackled some of the more “advanced” glazing options…
layered combos, stains, oxides, wax resist decoration, wood ash, etc.
But the big hit of the demo was BUBBLE GLAZING!!!

Always a hit… as you add a bit of dishwashing soap to a small cup of glaze and then blow bubbles onto your pot. When the bubbles pop, you get a great “textured” bubble pattern of glaze contrast. We tried both glaze bubbles, and a green stain bubbling. We’ll see what happens!!!

It’s going to be a BIG glazing “demo” tonight in my beginner’s wheelthrowing class…
let’s hope they’re all up for some interactive glazing fun!!!

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Several people asked to see the finished pieces from my bubble glazing demo a week or so ago. Well here are a few of the pieces from class. A fun technique with a wide range of results… have fun, experiment & bubble away!!!!

This was my demo piece. A base layer of a glossy white glaze. Followed by a bubble layer of a purple glaze… and then another bubble layer of blue. Apparently the purple wasn’t quite strong enough to show up? Bad glaze choice?… or just not enough bubbles???

And then here are a few pots bubbled by the students!

It was a big night of glazing last night. A lot of bisqued pots needing to be glazed for this weekend’s soda kiln firing. I start by adding some tenmoku glaze accents as inlays in the stamped patterns. When it dries, I carefully wipe off the top surface to keep the glaze only in the stamped recesses. Lots of glazing… lots of wiping. And that’s just for starters!

A little late-night glazing last night…
just one last kiln firing for this Saturday’s Holiday Home Show!
Mostly plates & platters coming out in fun cone six colors just in time for the big party!
This Saturday 12/16 at my place from 10:00am-6:00pm! C’mon by!!!

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So, I’m trying to get my act together quickly…
as I still have a LOT of glazing to do…
and I need to load the soda kiln tonight for tomorrow’s firing!

Still inlaying glaze into the stamped textures. Once it dries, I’ll wipe it out so the dark temoku glaze only stays in the stamped recesses. A light glaze over, some wadding, and they’ll all be ready to go. If only it were really that easy?!

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With ART IN THE BARN getting closer & closer…
and so many “Ghouls” still to make… I decided to squeeze in one more kiln firing just because I can. So I threw together some quick replenishment pieces that will get a quick cone six glaze firing early next week… just under the wire. Sure, it’s not my best packed kiln. But it does have a lot of mugs & bowls for ART IN THE BARN. As well as a little holiday surprise on the top layer!

Bisque Kiln Layer #1 – my favorite thing to make... mugs, mugs and more mugs!!!

Bisque Kiln Layer #2 – some stacked bowls and small trays for salt & pepper shaker sets.

Bisque Kiln Layer #3 – more bowls, more trays, and some ikebana vase tops.

Bisque Kiln Layer #4 – which in this case turned out to be a low-fire GLAZE kiln layer!!!
The green glaze is actually a low-fire clear glaze. After firing, these little pumpkins will show their true colors… warts and all.

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