Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Today is promising to be a perfect day! So far it has been anyways.....woke up when my hubby got out of the shower, we ate breakfast together before he headed off to work.....I just took a (perfect) shower and now I'm sitting here drinking my tea with the sunlight spilling down on me thinking that right now, nothing could go wrong! Not yet anyways:) I have yet to go to work today.....but if nothing else, it will be a short day and I have an idea so I can feel like I'm contributing. Then, I get to go to the studio this afternoon for a few hours! Throw a few tissue boxes, trim (if they're ready) my lotion dispensers and soap dishes on round two of making Joy's bathroom set. I have to say, I'm really glad this set is for my sister because I would feel horrible about this whole thing if it were anyone else. Not that I don't feel horrible, but I feel less horrible.

Really, they didn't turn out all that bad but the glaze is thick since it's the end of the bucket so they're a little foggy looking and also the reduction wasn't right (basically means that the fire got too much oxygen from the outside of the kiln so it didn't pull oxygen molecules from my glaze) so they change colors as you go around the pieces to this, what I think, is a really bright, ugly green.

But enough about failures! What about successes? It actually feels really good to be working full time and not worrying about money again because I can focus on my work as work and not feel like I have to crank things out really quickly and I think that will let my work develop a little more naturally. Also, I'm going to start spraying my glazes again. After the last kiln load disappointment with the thick glaze application, I've decided that I would get a more consistent product from spraying even if it does take a little more time. Oh, and one of my clay buddies, Jack and I were talking about my work a little while back and he thinks I need to spray them also just because of the subtle texture that happens over the pattern when the glaze is sprayed (which I agree with also). As he said, it's those little details that make my work so great. The subtle textures on the outside, the inside texture when I make little dots on the outside, the transparent areas where I carve through more deeply. Those little things take my work from good to great! At least to me.

Well, enough talk for today. I need to finish my cup of tea and get ready to go off to work. Sorry about the somewhat boring post! I will try to throw in a few pictures next time.

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