I’m in the middle of glazing for my upcoming kiln…
and I’m feeling more than a little overwhelmed and behind schedule!!!

Luckily, my friend Nancy was willing to come into the studio and lend a hand… or two!
She was concerned that she may not be “qualified” to help with my work. But I was quick
to tell her that “any help” would be better than none. Plus, I’m sure that she can handle
any task I would give her. So she was more than willing & able to inlay some glazes, wipe ’em,
stain some ornament tops and other tasks. Tasks which would have taken ME hours!!!…
but luckily, she was there to do them for me! Thank you so, so much Nancy!!!

You know… I could really get used to this. I may need to reconsider getting another one…

With another round of Fall art fairs right around the corner, it’s push time in the studio!
I’ve been working hard to make the work, get it all bisqued… and now, glazed!
So tonight I started the glazing process with more mugs! Luckily, I’m working to fill
another soda kiln. Which means that I only need to do some glaze accents and a liner glaze.
So I typically fill all of the stamped impressions with glaze and then wipe it off…
accentuating the details & patterns. Then a quick liner glaze inside the cup… wadding…
and then I’ll let the soda kiln atmosphere work its magic on the side of each piece!

By now you all should know how much I love a well-packed kiln.
Well, this isn’t one of my better kilns. I’m trying to “speed it along” a bit
and fire things as they’re done to make room in my studio. And a few things
may be just a little damp still. So I knew I could spread a few things and not
stack things quite so tight as normal. But still not too shabby…

Kiln Layer #1 – ovals and a couple mugs… sure I could’a nested ’em… but…

Kiln Layer #2 – and oval, some stacked platters, leaves… and some call ’em empanadas!

Kiln Layer #3 – more ovals and some more mugs

Kiln Layer #4 – a lot more mugs and some bowls… that were drying in Lisa’s studio!

Kiln Layer #5 – now here’s a layer of low-fire fun. The green glaze is low-fire clear!!!

Kiln Layer #6 – and a layer of ornaments, test tiles and a bowl to top it all off!

After throwing my latest batch of ornament forms “off-the-hump”…
I’ve let them set-up a bit and they were no longer sticky or squishy.
So it was time to trim them, add a clay hoop-hanger and some stamps & textures!

Next up… a little slip decoration for color accents, drying then to the bisque kiln!

Continuing my “Labor day Weekend” by “laboring” in the studio!
And today I was assembling some oval casserole dishes. So here a few shots
of each one along the way. Basically three easy steps…

Step One: Throw a bottomless cylinder, and re-shape it into an oval.
Step Two: Stamp the textures & patterns into soft leather-hard clay.
Step Three: Add a slab bottom and lug handles.

Oval #1… in three easy steps…

Oval #2… in three easy steps…

Oval #3… in three easy steps…

Oval #4… in three easy steps…

So now it’s some “slow drying” and then off to the bisque kiln…

It’s been a productive day in the studio. Turning some basic bowls that “anyone”
could make… into stamped & textured bowls ala ME!!! So here goes…

Bowl #1 – before & after…

Bowl #2 – before & after…

Bowl #3 – before & after…

Bowl #4 – before & after…

Bowl #5 – before & after…

So now it’s a little more drying time… then some trimming to make a nice foot!

Well, tonight was the night to add handles to all of my stamped cylinders.
So I started by wedging my clay, and cutting it into smaller pieces and throwing them
down onto my table to create “carrot shaped” pieces.

I then pull traditional handles using water & friction. When the handles is like a good
clay strap width & thickness, the curve them over, stick ’em to themselves and stand
them up so they can dry up a bit. I like how the curved pieces already sets the curve
I will need when they’re attached to the cylinder. And you want to wait until they are
still flexible, but no longer wet or squishy.

Then the attaching begins. There’s a lot of scoring & slipping as I cut out the portion
of the handle that appropriately fits on the cylinder. Score, slip, attach… repeat… repeat…

And then, several hours later, and a LOT of scoring & slipping… the mugs are done!
Well, except for some colored slip accents, drying, firing, glazing, firing, etc…

The latest batch of “mugs-in-the-making” were all stamped today.
So next I need to trim them all and add handles… more fun, on the way to more mugs!

So I recently saw the calendar… and realized that it’s later in the summer than I thought!
My summer camp “tour of duty” has come to an end and now I need to get my studio
production back into high gear if I want to be ready for the fall art fairs! So tonight it was
back to the wheel… with another batch of cylinders that will soon become mugs!!!

The weekend weather had been incredible. Sunny. Warm. Rain-free!!!
And I’m been playing more… more… more… outside all day, inside at night!
Including a night in the studio stamping the cylinders that I made Friday night.

After stamping in the studio, I also went downstairs into the classroom and did some
very long-overdue glazing of my class demo pieces. For those who have been around
Lillstreet, many of you have seen my class demo on glazing. And how I tend to bring out
a bunch of my bisque, show ’em how to wax the bottoms… and then end up talking far
too much!!! So much “new” information to share with the Beginners. So many tips.
So many warnings. So much excitement. But after all the fun, I generally only glaze like
one piece during the demo, and then everything goes back onto my teacher shelf. After
a couple sessions, my pile of “unglazed” class demos was taking over my shelf. And with
the new Summer Session starting this week, it was imperative to make room for the new
class. So I glazed… and glazed… and glazed… my least favorite part of the process…