Who loves a three day weekend? I do! And so does my clay studio.
glazed pots
Another snow/ice day yesterday for me to stay home and work on pots. After a solid day of work Monday to go with my time in the studio over the weekend, I’m pretty close to finished with glazing this cycle of pots. I have a handful of pots that I want to spray with glazes but I might wait and do that outside.
Even better news: my work in progress is visible on a REAL pottery blog. Michael Kline had a 12 x12 challenge and invited anyone to submit a picture of what they’ve been working on. I wasn’t the lucky winner for the free pottery giveaway but it’s pretty cool to see my work up there with some real pros.
Glazing went pretty well for this cycle. I can’t wait to see the results. The soy wax on the bottoms worked out alright too. Some of the wax was a little rough so some glaze was hard to wipe off but I think I can adjust it for next time.
mugs to glaze
mugs drying
The past few days haven’t been all glazing, but that has been the overarching theme. I’ve also been adjusting some glazes to see how that will affect the finished product. Some of my semi-matte glazes came out pretty shiny last time and I think they were too thick. So I thinned down most of them as I was glazing. I also did some research on some new glazes that I hope to try. I’m going to try out the Strontium Crystal Magic that Steven Hill uses with outstanding results. I’d also like to have a translucent Amber glaze. I like how the Amber at the Goshen Clay Artist’s Guild looks so I might try a ^6 electric version. I’d also like to have some glazes that run so I’m looking at Ash glazes and Jen’s Juicy Fruit by John Post.
I hope to get the kiln loaded sometime this week. I think I’ve got about two glaze loads ready to go counting the pots that didn’t fit into the last firing. By the time I get two loads fired it will probably be about spring break. Then it’s time to start a new cycle. I’ve got a list of things on my whiteboard to try. Including lids. My goal is to make 10 lidded pots so I might end up with 5 that are worth keeping. I’m reading the lid section of Robin Hopper’s book about functional pottery and lids just happen to be one of my weak points. I’d also like to refine my vase forms and put together a teapot. I don’t think I’ve actually made a teapot with wheel thrown parts. I can’t wait to get back at the wheel!
Thanks for reading.