Another New Year tradition in my studio is pulling out the latest batch of reclaim clay. I figure it’s been slaking down all through the holidays and is now good & ready! Goopey, sloppy & messy… and my favorite FREE CLAY for the NEW YEAR!!!

And yes, if you look closely, there are a couple different kinds of clay mixed up in there. I don’t really care too much what goes in my reclaim bin… as long as it’s CLAY!!!… and a high-fire clay body. I figure it will all mix up to be some kinda good clay… and best of all FREE!!!

Oversized “order” pieces out of a bisque kiln… basking in the late afternoon sun… ready for some inlaid glaze! And a tenmoku liner glaze before heading into the soda kiln!

And there it is… a well thought-out, three-dimensional puzzle of shelves, bricks & pots!!! I always want to squeeze in as many pots as possible, but you need to leave enough air space for the soda atmosphere to move around the pots to create the magic! Lots of shelves… lots of pots… and all fingers crossed!!!

One shelf, one layer at a time…

I got an early start in the studio this morning… trying to get a lot of glazing done today! I started by adding some inlaid glaze to the stamped textures… next to wipe them off. Another collection of pieces in the works!

By wiping the top surface of the mug, the tenmoku glaze stays only in the indented impressions. Sure, it might be labor-intensive… but I really think it makes a HUGE difference to the stamped details!

Celebrating MUGSHOT MONDAY with just “a couple” mugs! I’ve got a bit of glazing to tackle today. My soda kiln is scheduled for this weekend… so the deadline is coming quick and I’m just starting to glaze!!! Gotta stay focused… and get my glaze on!!!

Doing some more repetitive stamping on a couple larger pieces tonight… row by row, layer by layer… one stamp at a time!

Cylinders trimmed & handles pulled… time to start attaching!
Making more MUGS!!!

So I’ve been stamping another batch of mugs! A little “something” different as they wre made with a new kind of clay. A tilemaker friend of mine bought some new clay and didn’t like how it “felt” when he started using it. And then when he fired his tiles, they all cracked during the firing. So he believes there might be something wrong with the clay?! He passed it on to me to give it a try… and here I did. I will agree it felt a little goopey & sticky… a little more finicky… but ultimately I made some cylinders for mugs. It was a little tougher to get them to stand up & hold their shape. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it… as he’s planning on passing his “bad” clay onto me!!! Bring it on… CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!

Mug 1 – before & after…

Mug 2 – before & after…

Mug 3 – before & after…

Mug 4 – before & after…

Mug 5 – before & after…

Mug 6 – before & after…

Mug 7 – before & after…

Mug 8 – before & after…

Mug 9 – before & after…

So for now