Kiln is done firing! Reached a hard cone 9 and seemed to get some good reduction. Don't have much else to write about. Just excited to see my pots and happy that for better or worse, all the work of it is done. I will post pictures sometime this weekend before I ship them out to NJ on Monday. Sorry for the boring post. I promise more pictures than words next time (don't those seem to be the best anyways?).

The big glazing day was yesterday....here's a few quick shots:

That blue one in front is my new slip color with my new design ideas. I drew a flower pattern and then flipped it and turned it inside out so it's the same pattern but the mirror/inside out image on the four corners (if that makes sense!).

This top shot is just the insides glazed and the bottom picture is the outsides sprayed also. I love spraying the glaze on the outsides because with my carving it gives the pattern a very subtle texture. The insides I prefer to be dipped or poured because when my clear is thicker, it turns slightly blue instead of just being clear. Funny how those little tiny details can make such a difference!

Tomorrow is my firing! And since I'm not actually in charge of firing the kiln, I don't want to be anywhere near the studio. I'm going to Wekiva Springs in a little town outside where I live in Orlando, Fl. I'm gonna bring my I-pod and a book, lay in the sun and relax! If only it was just a little warmer outside I may go for a dip in the springs. The water is 72 year round (it's where the manatees go in the winter) so maybe I will bring my wading shoes!

Just finished with all my "wet work" today and thanks to my blowdryer and boxfan, they are all sitting on the bisque shelf ready to be fired off tomorrow.
The last few days have been a bit stressful trying to get all my decorating done. I wasn't behind until Monday when I left the studio with my bag of ceramics tool on the roof of my car. Sadly, they were not there when I got home.

Never realized how much I heart my wire stylus. It is by far my favorite tool! Sorry for the very large graphic, I was too lazy to take a picture of mine (yes, I had to run out and get a new one right away) and this is the only picture I could find online that actually showed the tip clearly enough to see the tool. So anyways, the last two days I had my day job and couldn't get out to Bennet's so I tried to make my own. Theoretically, it seemed like it would be an easy thing to do. Best $2.55 I've spent in a long time!


This weekend will be bisquing and glazing and then next week I will have my glaze firing. Will post some pictures of the finished pieces as soon as I can! Am really excited about some of the new designs I've been doing. Well, cheerio and happy potting!

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.

A little work, a few pots

So I've been terrible about updating my blog lately. I was just in a mood where nothing seemed good enough and I was getting a bit frustrated with trying to sell my work (still am, but I'm a little more accepting of how hard it is now!). I did my first sale (as I talked about in my last post) and I sold one cup all day. Yes that is right, only one cup. I actually lost money on that one. But slowly I grow....there's a woman in Salt Lake City that is interested in selling my work at her store so I have hope again.

The bright side of that sale was really just the extra effort put in the month before to make new work. Since I didn't have my normal slip (it was still on order at Bennett) I had to improvise and the results were actually wonderful!]

Here's a few of my favorites:I love how the copper green blushes in little corners and how the lines look underneath the oribe. Also, if you can tell on the cup, the little dots go through the cup to show up on the inside so it's just another wonderful little detail. I love how the little dots feel!

And my very absolute favorite:

This picture was taked at the show so it doesn't really show how perfect it is. One of the things I really love about it is actually that the bottom is so thin that the outline of a leaf that I carved into the bottom of it is actually transparent! It's a great little surprise when you're finishing your last bit of drink. I decided after the sale when it didn't sell that I was going to keep it and so I will (for now anyways!).

Just woke up after our long night of firing. For some reason it took much longer to fire off the soda kiln than we had initially thought it would. We were anticipating sodaing around 5-6 but that got pushed back to 9-10 and then we lost so much temperature (100 degrees or so) that it took until 2:45am before the kiln was ready to be turned off. So the firing went a long 35 hours and I was at the studio for 23 hours yesterday.




Me and the ring of fire (that doesn't look nearly as burning as it was!)


Note: Laura's shirt lies-- we are from Illinois State University not Central College


Our homemade damper

All in all I think the firing went pretty well but I guess I won't really know until Tuesday afternoon when we're unloading. Mostly I'm just proud that I fired the kiln without Joe or Tyler. For being my first firing, I would say it went pretty well and I can't wait to see my pots!