So my day started out a little better today than yesterday.
Not quite as early. No kiln to unload. No rush to set things up when I got there.
Regardless… I was still a little tired after a late night of glazing & loading.

The fun continued today with more customers, more friends, more family.
And more chocolate shakes!!! Part of the “food court” area of the art fair
is this wonderful trailer from The Malt Shoppe. And over the years I have “trained”
them to make the best chocolate shakes ever! It starts with chocolate ice cream
and chocolate sauce. They mix it up into a shake, add more chocolate and mix again.
And then, just when they think it can’t get any chocolatey-er… I have them mix in
some hot fudge!!! I want the shake to be brown!. I want it to scream “chocolate”!!!
And over the years, they’ve been doing a great job… and this art fair was no exception!
Yesterday I only had one. But today I made up for lost time with three!!!
But who’s counting?!

At the end of the fair, it’s always an “adventure” to pack everything up and drive home.
Somehow even after selling a lot of pots all weekend long, it amazes me every time how
there’s not more empty space in the van?! Still packed. Still full. How does that happen?!

Yet again… after a full day at the art fair, then packing & shlepping it home…
it was back to the studio tonight for more glazing & kiln loading. There was and empty
shelf on the top of my back stack of the kiln. Plus, Corinne said that I could do another
layer or two on the front stack before she puts her sculptures in. So… despite my exhaustion,
I glazed more & loaded more. Until I couldn’t glaze no more…

Today was a very long day.
Not only did it start out very early unloading HOT monsters from the kiln.
And then a full day of chatting & selling pottery at the art fair. But that’s not it.
As if I had endless time, and endless energy… I also needed to go back to the
studio after the art fair to glaze and load part of another kiln! One of my fellow
studio mates is firing a kiln with her sculptural work in it on Tuesday. She offered
me some extra kiln space in her kiln… and you know how I love to fill a kiln!
Nothing pains me more than an “under-packed” kiln!!!

So I seized the moment… took on the opportunity… and pushed myself to work late
in the studio to glaze and pack the back stack of the cone 10 reduction kiln. Corinne
will be loading her work in the front of the kiln. And if all goes well, I’ll have some
new “replenishment” pieces just in time for “ART DETOUR.” Including some more
stamped bowls, tumblers and my new “line” of textured Relic Rattles!

So last night, I stopped by the studio after setting up my Barrington art fair booth.
I knew that my electric kiln full of monsters would still be warm from firing
overnight. And it was still just over 800-degrees. To hot to open… but I just had to!
So I cracked it open about a 1/4-inch with a thin shard. And went home for a quick sleep!

Then this morning, I stopped in on my was out to Barrington for the start of the fair.
When I got in, the kiln was still about 200-degrees hot. Warmer than I would like…
but I didn’t really ave any choice. I had to take them out. I had to take them to the fair.
So there I was, with a thick pair of gloves, carefully unloading another hot kiln!!!
Luckily, they all turned out great… so I pulled out, tried to cool them quickly so I could
pack them out without the foam sheets melting!!! Then it was off to the fair…
with a new collection of festive monsters in tow!

And the newest member in the tribe…

Okay, so it was another long night in the studio.
Frantically painting underglaze… and then spraying a layer of low-fire clear
glaze on them all. Glazing the insides… and bottoms… touch-ups… clean-ups…
Finally getting them all into the kiln around 11:30pm last night. A day late…

So right now… I’m exhausted but pleased that all my monsters are safely
packed away in the kiln firing. Although it’s going to be tight…
counting the hours until they will be fired, cooled and ready to unpack!
And there just aren’t enough hours between now and then…

So tonight I plunged head-first into the underglaze!
My plan was to paint all 72 monsters, cover them in clear glaze and get them into the kiln.
Some may call that a little over-ambitious… but I thought I could do it.

Well, needless to say, it really didn’t go as planned. I got them all painted with underglaze,
but didn’t have time to glaze them. When it got to be 5:00am… I had to throw in the towel,
put the lids back on the underglaze jars and go home for a VERY short nap! So I missed by
scheduled kiln time – luckily there’s a chance I can glaze them tomorrow and get them in
the kiln tomorrow night. So it looks like the “monsters” will be done in time for this
weekend’s art fair, but not a moment sooner!

As if  didn’t have enough to do… I knew that I wanted to add another “monster”
to the collection. Last year I made the skulls, pumpkins & Frankensteins. So this year,
I’m adding Vampires into the mix. But of course I’m running late… so after my adult
wheelthrowing class tonight, I stayed late in the studio making these new Vampires!
So now that they’re built, I need to come back to paint & underglaze them all… and add
a layer of clear glaze… and get them into the kiln tomorrow night! Yikes!!!

My terra cotta cylinders are definitely coming together. Monsters taking shape…
But that’s not the only scary thing in the studio. Look at the calendar…
I’m quickly running out of time to get these done!!! Yikes!

During my firing, I knew I had a lot of time to kill. You’re stuck there ALL day firing!
So, as typical for most firing days, I spent several hours cleaning & putting my studio
back together. The pace was a mess for the past couple days of frantic glazing & prepping.
When I finally had a clean studio… it was time to mess it up again!

With “Art In The Barn” just one week away… and Fall kicking in all around us…
I felt I needed to make some more of my terra cotta “monsters” that were a hit last year!
So I started throwing some terra cotta cylinders that will be transformed into their
alter-ego’s over the next couple days. And that’s all I’ve got… my next kiln is scheduled
for Wednesday night. Which means I need to get them all assembled & decorated in the
next few days, underglaze them, glaze them, load them & fire them… and hopefully get them
out of the kiln Friday evening… just in time for Saturday’s kick-off to “Art In The Barn.”

So they may not look like much now… but these will become pumpkins…

And these will be come skulls…

And these will become Frankenstein monsters!!!… if all goes as planned…

Still hoping to make a fourth “monster” too… but too sure I’ll have time?!
And I’m still looking for some “monster inspiration”? Any suggestions???

Well… it was later than I would have liked it to be.
By the time I finally finished glazing & wadding, it was quite late in the evening.
And I still had HOURS of loading ahead of me! It literally takes me hours & hours!!!
Placing every piece in the kiln, stacking shelves & posts… and putting hundreds
of tiles all over the place. My goal is to utilize every possible space in the kiln.
It pains me to see empty space & blank kiln shelves. So I like to make a wide range
of pieces in all different sizes so it all fits together really well. Tiny pieces fit everywhere!
I want every shelf space covered with something!!! I’m the “King Of Kiln Filler.”

With the back stack full, it’s time to move to the front stack. Easier with less climbing inside!
Two shelves deep that stack up together… or separate shelves is it helps pack tighter!
And room for a LOT more work to go into the kiln. More stacking. more packing. More fun!!!

And once I was done loading, it was time to brick up the door.
Closing the kiln for the night… err, well at this point,
it was early morning. Who are we kidding?!

Just a couple days away from my soda kiln… and I’m still glazing!!!
I still have a LOT to get done before I can start loading tomorrow evening.
I have a lot of pieces in different stages of glazing. Some have liner glazes.
Some have glaze inlays in the stamped impressions. Some still need sprayed
color accents. Some need wadding. Some still need a LOT of work!!!
Luckily, my “apprentice” Nancy was available & came in for a second night of fun!!!