Giving them a little time to stiffen up a bit before I start attaching them to my stamped mug cylinders. At least this way the curve of the handle is 90% established before I even start attaching them!

Handles attached… mugs assembled!!! Now just a little cleaning-up, a little smoothing… and then some drying, firing, glazing & firing again! Coming along… but still a lot of steps in the process!

Prepping to make some mug handles… a little reminiscent of Stonehenge… err, Clay Henge???

Especially when you’re trimming with DiamondCore Tools that create these wonderful ribbons of leather-hard clay! Of course it helps when you’re pairing good tools with the Giffin Grip for quicker centering & stability while trimming! The perfect combo of my favorite pottery tools!

Time to trim some cylinders… well on their way to becoming a new batch of mugs. Using some of my DiamondCore Tools for smooth & clean trimming!

After a very successful ART IN THE BARN, it’s time to get back at it in the studio making more pots for the Holidays!!! It might sound far away… but my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW is always the weekend before Thanksgiving! And it will be here before you know it… so mark your calendars!!!

Another night in the studio… tackling a class demo platter. Sure, I could leave it smooth & plain, but what fun is that? So instead… time to pick “the right” stamp!!!

What a difference a soda-firing makes! My pumpkins were white going into the kiln…but they had actually been painted with a smooth orange flashing slip before bisque firing.

After they were exposed to the soda atmosphere during firing, that colored flashing slip “magically & chemically” transforms to a beautiful pumpkin orange color. Also highlighting the curves, creases & warts!!! Looks like we’ve had a great pumpkin harvest… so I’ll have plenty for both ART IN THE GARDEN and ART IN THE BARN!!!

It took awhile, but I finished loading the soda kiln last night. Lots of pots made it in… and quite a few pumpkins!!! Firing today & unloading Monday night… just in time for ART IN THE GARDEN next weekend! Fresh new soda-fired pots coming soon!!!

So this is what I’ve been looking at a lot the past couple days… bisque that needs to be glazed! I’ve been trying to stay focused & tackle it bit by bit. Seems like I’m right on schedule… but everyone knows that glazing is my least favorite part of the entire process!!!