This collection of oblong vases just receive their handles and decorative details. They are so fun to make and I can't wait to see them glazed. I also made some oblong shallow baking dishes.
Tomorrow morning I can unload the glaze load that is cooling right now. Patience is hard.
Today I managed to get several custom order plates glazed and ready to fire. Unfortunately, in loading the kiln I lost one of the plates by dropping a shelf post on it. 
Good thing I made a few extras when I was throwing them. Now I'll just need to get one of the extras glazed. The first glaze load in the kiln is running and hopefully, I'll get a second glaze load of plates fired later this week.
I couldn't wait. The kiln had been cooling all day and while I occasionally would sneak a peek to see how some of the items on top came out, I couldn't wait any longer. The green color is a new glaze for me and I really wanted to see how it turned out. The test tiles looked great, but sometimes test tiles just don't give you a good idea how it will look on pieces. So at about 250 degrees (no serious burns to report), I decided to unload the first couple layer. And, I'm very pleased with how the green looks on pieces. Even better than on the test tiles. The above photo is the first couple layers from the kiln. Most everything turned out as expected or better which is very unusual.Below is a photo of one of my french butter keepers in the green with white overlapped on the outer circle of the lid. It's a really fun color.
I love Saturdays. Instead of having to get up and head out to my weekday job, I can choose to sleep in and then have a leisurely breakfast. But many Saturdays, I opt to get up early anyway, hurry through my breakfast and feeding dogs so I can get out to the studio to open the kiln. Maybe I subconsciously plan it that way, but I often run the kiln on Thursday to Friday and then the kiln is ready to be unloaded bright and early on Saturday. 
I start the day by seeing what treasures await me in the kiln. Most often I'm excited by what I find and occasionally I'm disappointed but challenged by what I find. Either way, that's one of my favorite parts of Saturday. Then I can take a little leisurely time, but not until I know what the kiln gods have kisses in my kiln. Above is a sample place setting out of this morning's kiln. I have a couple folks exploring having dinnerware made and I wanted to have some samples available to aid in their decision making.
I was very pleased with these pieces. The sample place setting will also be making their way to my Etsy shop listed as made to order items.
Hope you have a great Saturday too.
In my last post, I showed you an oblong platter I'd made using a wooden bowl as a mold. The shape and process have really been speaking to me and I've made several more since that last post. They measure about 13"l x 9"w and about 1" deep. The process of decorating them with trails for slip (thick liquid clay) is something I really enjoy. And if you don't like how it's turning out, you can just wipe it off with a sponge and start over. Here is one glazed in a rutile green glaze.
And the one below is glaze in deep iron red with one end dipped in sapphire blue which creates a mottled black appearance. The black end is also incised with a ribbon tool creating the subtle lines after it is glazed. I've also added three slip dots on the red end of the platter.
Right now the kiln is full of bisqued pieces and I'm waiting patiently for it to cool to an acceptable temperature so I can unload it. Patience is not one of my strong points. I'll unload tomorrow and then will begin a weekend of glazing pieces from my last couple bisque loads. And then the cycle begins again. Throw, bisque, glaze, sell.
Take care and thanks for visiting.
I unloaded the kiln bright and early this morning to see what wonderful surprised might have occurred during this firing. While glazing each piece I have a mental picture of how it will turn out. Each time you open the kiln you discover things that turned out how you expected and things that didn't. Sometimes the ones that didn't turn out become really good examples of what not to do again. But my favorite are the ones that didn't turn out as expected, but are so much better. The platter shown here, which measures 16" across, turned out better than expected, but still not really good. The blue/green glaze on the rim ran into the spiral pattern more than I had hoped. Something for me to work on next time I guess. Thanks for reading.
I couldn't wait. The kiln had been cooling all day and while I occasionally would sneak a peek to see how some of the items on top came out, I couldn't wait any longer. The green color is a new glaze for me and I really wanted to see how it turned out. The test tiles looked great, but sometimes test tiles just don't give you a good idea how it will look on pieces. So at about 250 degrees (no serious burns to report), I decided to unload the first couple layer. And, I'm very pleased with how the green looks on pieces. Even better than on the test tiles. The above photo is the first couple layers from the kiln. Most everything turned out as expected or better which is very unusual.
I start the day by seeing what treasures await me in the kiln. Most often I'm excited by what I find and occasionally I'm disappointed but challenged by what I find. Either way, that's one of my favorite parts of Saturday. Then I can take a little leisurely time, but not until I know what the kiln gods have kisses in my kiln. Above is a sample place setting out of this morning's kiln. I have a couple folks exploring having dinnerware made and I wanted to have some samples available to aid in their decision making.
In my last post, I showed you an oblong platter I'd made using a wooden bowl as a mold. The shape and process have really been speaking to me and I've made several more since that last post. They measure about 13"l x 9"w and about 1" deep. The process of decorating them with trails for slip (thick liquid clay) is something I really enjoy. And if you don't like how it's turning out, you can just wipe it off with a sponge and start over. Here is one glazed in a rutile green glaze. 
I unloaded the kiln bright and early this morning to see what wonderful surprised might have occurred during this firing. While glazing each piece I have a mental picture of how it will turn out. Each time you open the kiln you discover things that turned out how you expected and things that didn't. Sometimes the ones that didn't turn out become really good examples of what not to do again. But my favorite are the ones that didn't turn out as expected, but are so much better. The platter shown here, which measures 16" across, turned out better than expected, but still not really good. The blue/green glaze on the rim ran into the spiral pattern more than I had hoped. Something for me to work on next time I guess. Thanks for reading.
