Kiln Favorite #1 – Large Stamped Bowls
I’m pretty excited about the new bowls that just came out of the kiln!
Probably the largest and most stunning bowls I’ve ever made?!… if I do say so myself.
With dramatic stamping, deep finger impressions, beautiful glaze reactions and more.
I love ’em!!! I’m so excited… Here’s a little teaser…

Kiln Favorite #2 – Holiday Ornaments
And I’m more than a little enamored with my new holiday ornaments!
I’m trying really hard to not keep them all for myself. I was a little concerned that they
may “jump off” their firing tripods during the volatile soda firing. I am happy to report
that there was only one jumper! So now I need to finish them off and get them ready
for the upcoming Holiday Home Show! And “convince myself” that I can’t keep them all!

So after two days of waiting… my latest soda kiln was finally cool enough to unload
late this afternoon. So I cracked it open, then unbricked the door – layer by layer.
It’s always so much fun to open a kiln and slowly reveal the contents one layer at a time!
To see the final results of all your hard work – throwing, decorating, trimming, glazing, etc.
So I was thrilled when I opened up my kiln and saw nothing but beautiful pots!
Just in time for my Holiday Home Show – only one week away!

I was originally planning on loading my soda kiln on Tuesday night after class.
And I wasn’t looking forward to starting after 10:00pm for the long process. With all the
pieces and hundreds of tiles… it takes quite awhile!

But then I found out that the classroom kiln before me fired a day early, and was therefore
being unloaded a day early. So lucky me! So I glazed a little faster. Wadded a little quicker.
And then went down to load my kiln… err, maybe I should say “pack” my kiln! It’s a little
tighter than usual. Let’s hope that the soda vapors can find their way around the kiln?!

I’m a little apprehensive though about my new ornaments and their support tripods.
In theory I think they’re pretty cool… I just hope the “volatile” soda atmosphere doesn’t
knock them over during the firing. I don’t want to find wayward ornaments glaze-fused
to the insides of bowls and stuck to the sides of other pieces?!

Tonight I continued glazing… with still more to go!
This time it was inlaying glaze into the stamped textures on some new bowls
and taller slab vases. Tomorrow, I’ll do liner glazes and sprayed color accents.

It’s looking like the soda class’s latest kiln firing might be unloaded tonight?…
so I can actually do some loading of my kiln tonight too? Which would be ideal
to have more time to load “strategically” instead of rushing through it Tuesday
night after teaching class. Either way… my firing is on for Wednesday!!!

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

Tonight is the night we get to “Fall back” and get an extra hour to play!
With that “bonus” hour thrown into the mix, I decided to glaze up some of my long overdue
class demo pieces. I worked my way through my teacher shelf and glazed about 2/3 of the
pieces that have been stacking up there. Some on which were made two or three sessions
ago! My lack of glazing has kind of become a running joke with many of my students. I get
close enough by waxing the bottoms, teaching about glazing, explaining the processes and
pitfalls… and then promptly put the waxed pots back on my shelf because I’ve run out
of time from talk too much! Yep, I like to ramble, and not glaze…

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

Tonight I tackled my new holiday ornaments.
Again, starting with inlaid glaze in the stamped textures, gently wiped off…
and some iron oxide painted onto the “caps” of each ornament. Then a bit of glaze
sprayed on some of them and some fun in the soda kiln… and voila’… ornaments!!!

Also this evening, I unloaded another bisque kiln! Which, according to the calendar,
will be my last batch of new work for the Holiday Home Show… which is now just
two weeks away! So, with new bisque coming out nice & warm… more glazing to come!

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

With my soda kiln less than a week away, I’m now in “full-on glazing mode.”
Luckily, since it’s a soda kiln, glazing is pretty much inlaying glaze into my stamped
textures. So I paint on a layer of temoku glaze, then gently wipe off the top surface with
a damp sponge – leaving the temoku in the recesses of the stamps. I find assembly-line
is my favorite method… thanks to the brilliant Henry Ford!

Then a quick liner glaze, some sprayed on glaze color accents and they’re good to go.

Oh yeah… plus some small pieces of wadding glued onto the bottom to keep the pots
from sticking to the kiln shelf during the atmospheric firing.

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

Tonight in class we tackled another demo… The Menorah Challenge! So let me
just say, I’ve never made a Menorah before. I’ve never even USED a Menorah before!
But I’m always up for a challenge! And tonight was the night.

Each session, I “encourage” my students to choose what object they want to learn
how to make – in addition to all of the usual basics. Two sessions ago it was sake sets.
Last session was goblets. This session it turned out to be Menorahs! Uh oh… what?
A Menorah?… in a wheelthrowing class? Well, like I said, I’m always up for a challenge
and want to keep my students happy!

So, I decided to show my class how o make a hollow tube on the wheel. Which is always
a fun “trick” form to make. I then showed them how to turn it into a Menorah, and we
discussed some of the other options of what they could make out of it.

And just to show my “Gentileness”… I realized the next day that there was one too few
candle spaces on the second one! Oops… luckily, it was still leather-hard so I had a chance
to correct my mistake.

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

After an INCREDIBLE morning bike ride, it was back to the studio to continue
production for the holidays. After a few days of drying (or a few hours if you’re
a mask) it was into the electric kiln for another bisque firing. Luckily, I had some
extra time which allowed for a few hours of preheating before the kiln kicks into
full firing mode. So it will give the “ever-so-slightly-so-damp” masks a chance to dry!

Layer One: Two new masks, ornaments and a lot of tiles “protecting” the masks
from drying too quickly by the electric elements.

Layer Two: Two more masks, more ornaments and more “protective” tiles!

Layer Three: Bowls, mugs, votives, and a few more ornaments here  & there…

Layer Four: Bowls, tumblers, wall pocket vases and some tripods!

Tripods you say?!… what are they going to be for you may ask?
Well, my plan is to bisque them, dip the tips in kiln wash and then “perch” my ornaments
onto them in the soda kiln. Hopefully, they will give me some good exposure in the kiln
on all sides of the ornaments without needing to wad each of them individually. At least
that’s my plan… we’ll see…

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

It’s Halloween and there’s no trick-or-treating for me!
Everyone thinks that being an “artist” is so glamorous, but so many people
have no idea of all the “other” things we have to do besides making art!

I spent much of today doing busy work at home.
Designing & ordering a new postcard for my Holiday Home Show…
Updating a bunch of mail list changes & additions…
Adding e-mail addresses I collected during “Art In The Barn.”
A lot of busy work… and I still haven’t touched clay today!?
It’s amazing how much work goes in to being a self-supporting artist.
When I started off, I assumed I would be playing clay all the time.
Who knew there was so much busy work?