Tonight I opened up my soda kiln to finally see the treasures inside.
After a night of unbricking, unloading, grinding shelves, kiln washing shelves,
sweeping, mopping, packing, boxing, shlepping, and moving all of the work home…
it is now time to admire and start prepping everything for this weekend’s art fair!

Tonight I loaded the soda kiln with all my work for next weekend’s art fair.
Every piece is glazed & wadded – ready to go! Each shelf is placed, filled with pots
then ready to raise the next shelf on the brick posts. I love loading kilns.
It’s a three-dimensional puzzle trying to get as many piece into the kiln
without packing it to tight. If it’s too tight, the soda vapors will not travel through
the stack as well. So it’s a fine balance of keeping enough air space… while packing
it full so I “get my money worth” of the kiln fee!

And all the while packing pots… I’m covering every exposed surface of shelf
with as many small tiles as possible!!! Including that very last shelf I had to squeeze
in there at the very tip-top of the kiln!!! There’s never enough tiles…

Still getting ready for next weekend’s Art In The Barn… and tonight I was glazing!!!
I typically start by inlaying glaze into all of the stamps by filling them all
with glaze and then wiping off the top surface… allowing the glaze that is actually inside
the stamp to stay there. I find that it really helps accentuate the stamp pattern!

After the stamps have been inlaid & wiped, then they each get a liner glaze on the inside.
Some of them might even get a little accent color sprayed on the exterior… and then every
pot needs to be wadded before it can go into the soda kiln. Still have a long ways to go…

So I’m still working in the studio and  getting ready for Art in the Barn…
my last outdoor show of the summer – this time in Barrington!
Tonight I loaded my bisque kiln of freshly made pieces. Remember,
the bisque firing is the first firing that makes the work solid, yet porous.
The bisqued pieces are then glazed and fired on more time.

The beauty of the bisque firing is that you can pack the kiln pretty tightly.
Things can touch, things can stack… it’s a 3-D stacking puzzle to fill the kiln
effectively. And luckily… I’m pretty good at it if I do say so myself!!!

The first layer of my kiln was filled with mugs and soap dispensers…

A couple more layers, after stacking bricks & shelves, pots, more bricks & shelves…
then the kiln was finally topped-off with some tumblers, spoon rests and the large
textured slab vases that I made this past week. With two on their sides…

Luckily, everything fit… barely. My pieces are stacked right up to the top.
Just barely clearing the lid when it closes! So this kiln will fire for about 12 hours
tomorrow, then cool overnight and be unloaded Tuesday night. A couple days
to glaze & wad everything… then I load my soda kiln on Friday night and
fire all day Saturday!

So I’ve spent the summer teaching kids how to make slabs… among other things!
We’ve thrown slabs by hand stretching the clay across the tables. Turning those
slabs into plates, cylinders, platters, birdhouses, vases… and even a totem pole!
But then I thought… why not make some slab pieces in MY studio?!
So I did…

So I spent the afternoon in the studio today after spending the morning visiting
friends who were in the Bucktown Arts Festival. So after chatting, shopping, laughing…
I locked myself away in the studio to finally put handles on those darn mugs!!!
They’ve been “haunting” me for weeks now. You can only spray them
with water so many times… so today it was now or never…

So when I got there, I pulled enough handles for all of the cylinders.
I like to pull them in the traditional way, then bend them over on themselves
so they are curved like a handle as they set up. Once a bit less sticky, I then
attach the handles to the cylinders.

So after a long afternoon of “scratching & attaching”…
the cylinders are now officially mugs!!!

Okay… so I threw all of those “soon-to-be-mug” cylinders over a week ago.
They’re stamped & trimmed… but I haven’t had time to put the handles on!
So I’m spraying them with water everyday and wrapping them back up
in plastic to keep them moist… and considering the option of leaving them
“handleless”… we all need more tumblers?… cups?… cylinders?…. right?!!!

They’re starting to dry too fast – and I’m too busy playing… uh oh.

A couple days later… the newly thrown cylinders have dried a bit
so they are now a little stiffer, not quite sticky – and a good stage for stamping.
So I stamped all of the “soon-to-be-mugs” going down the line…
and then trimmed all of the bottoms again going down the line!

Handles will have to wait for another day…

While getting ready for the next art fair, I needed to replenish my inventory
of smaller mugs. Personally, I don’t know why anyone would want
a small mug?!… I think if you’re going to drink something, drink a lot of it!
The larger the mug, the fewer times I need to refill it! But that’s just me…

So I started by throwing the smaller cup forms. Once they get to a damp,
leather-hard state, I start stamping them and then trim the bottoms as they
begin to stiffen up a bit more.

After stamping & trimming, I attach the handles and then keep them covered
in plastic overnight to allow the moisture level to balance out between the
leather-hard cup and the wetter, fresh handles.

The next day, I add the finishing touch… some soda slip accents in assorted colors.
These slips will react nicely to the soda atmosphere in the kiln as they are being fired.

And there we are… several steps closer to having more mini mugs!
And now on to drying, bisque firing, glazing, wadding and firing again!
Just a few more steps to go…

So she’s starting a new chapter… leaving Chicago… leaving Lillstreet…
and beginning the next phase of her “dream plan” up in Minneapolis!
And she will be greatly missed… as a friend, as a potter, as my studio neighbor!

Today was Emily’s official moving date – from Chicago to Minneapolis.
She’s moving up north – along with her boyfriend Ian, sister Nora and her two
little boys. They’ve purchased an old duplex, done some extensive renovations
and are now ready to move in. Unfortunately, her new studio & kiln have not been
built yet… so we’re not quite sure when she’ll be up & running.

Over the past few years, Emily has been “just around the corner” of my studio…
for clay advice, design opinions, business methods, and more. She has been a full-time
potter for several years – and always supportive of my choice to go the same route!
She also taught the soda firing classes at Lillstreet, as well as coordinating the program.
So she was quite influential in my soda-firing adventures. Our emphasis on functional pots
is much the same – but our styles have always been quite different. Emily prefers natural
soda flashings, colored slips layered to create crackling & textures and sprayed glazes.
She has a more painterly style, emphasizing brush strokes & geometric designs.

Emily was also the one who championed the whole “you need a website”
project – and forced, err, “encouraged” me to start this blog. Her own blog has become
quite popular in the pottery circles… and she knew that starting a blog would be right
up my alley. Sharing photos, sharing stories, all about me, me, me!!!

So thanks for checking out MY blog… and thanks to Emily for getting me started…
and now you can check out her blog to see where it all began!!! And see where her
new adventure takes her as she re-establishes herself in the Twin Cities!
www.potteryblog.com