Fired the kiln yesterday and got a few nice pieces. I am still having issues with temperature variations with this kiln. Researching the problem helped me realize that many people who fire this Olympic 2327g kiln have the same problems as I do - too cool at the top when the bottom reaches temp. One of these days, this kiln will be for bisque only, and the temperature variation won’t be quite as important as with a glaze firing. Many items that were in this firing will need to go through another to get a better maturity on the glazes.

Here are a few pieces that came out OK:

Medium Salad Bowl	Large Dip Bowl
Plant Pot and Tray	Soap Dishes

I suppose these results are OK considering I haven’t fired the kiln in months. I am going to get intimately familiar with my materials and tools again this year. It has been too many, many months of dabbling about here and there. I am ready to try out all of the things I have in my head, and to deveop a body of work that I can consistently produce. I need to get my whimsy back.

Here we are, in the final steps of creating Viola’s fridge magnets. The pieces have been molded and dried. Next, the colors are painted onto the fragile greenware with underglaze colors.

I don’t have a set order for applying the colors. I pick a color and put it onto everything that needs it, then I move on to a new color. The first picture below shows the logo magnets before the green vines were applied, the second shows the finished magnets before they were put into the kiln.

The pieces were fired to bisque cone 04. Not all of them were painted with underglaze colors. Some of them were stained with a dark clay which was then wiped off. This technique leaves the dark color in the recessed areas. The final step was to spray all of the pieces with clear acrylic spray. This really made the colors pop.

The pieces were left to dry for 24 hours, then magnets were glued to the back. Another 24 hours and they were wrapped up and delivered to the customer.

Whew! This was a fun and educational experience. If you like these, stop by Viola’s Flower Garden at 2654 E. Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona and pick one up!

I can’t seem to get away from them. I’ve come back full circle to the desire to make colorful, festively patterned pieces. So, that’s what I’ve been working on. Why fight the urge? The pictures in this post are pre-fired. That’s why the colors are pastel; once fired and glazed, the colors will be brilliant and saturated.

My time in the studio has been limited what with school and work and life, but I’m sneaking in an hour here and there. I’m playing with some new color combinations and patterns, along with some old standbys. My mantra this year is “Don’t stress. Just do what comes naturally and work when you can.” Last year’s stressful run up to the holiday shows took a lot of joy out of my favorite indoor pastime, and I’m going to do everything I can to not let that happen this year.

The clay that I had in stock from the Christmas season is a little bit dry and firm, but still good for working on the slab soap dishes (see previous post) and little spoon rests. I also made a few dip bowls. I guess I have about twenty five pounds of the old clay left that I’ll try to get to this weekend, then it will be into the nice, soft, fresh stuff. That’s reserved for bigger pots.

This afternoon, I’m going to pour another plaster mold - this time for a square rice bowl. I was at a local department store in the after Christmas sales and came across this bowl and thought, “Aha! - I could make a press mold out of this!” and that was that. The sale bowl was in my basket and it’s been on the shelf since then. Stay tuned for results!

I finally had something for my own kitchen in the load that came out of the kiln last Monday. I have been promising Paul and myself that I’d make some plates for our kitchen for over a year now. So, along with a few vases, a platter and some various sized bowls, five plates made it into the firing. Rather than matching them, I decided to just do whatever glaze felt right for each plate. We had company for dinner last night and the table looked fun and festive with the variety of colors and patterns.

I think I’ll try to put one or two plates into each future firing. I’ll put my favorites in the kitchen and once I have six or eight, I’ll move on to bowls. It is fun to contribute to my own kitchen while filling orders for other people and creating inventory for upcoming sales.

Just emptied the kiln again. Got some nice stuff out of this firing. By far, my favorites are these two mugs, glazed with Coyote Light Blue Shino and Pam’s Blue. One is lined with a white glaze. I’ll definitely be making more of these! The pictures really don’t do the colors justice.

I am not going to take any professional-quality photos of my work until after the shows. No sense in setting up the light tent and taking pictures of pieces that might sell. Besides, there’s no time for photography right now. Must! Glaze! Pots!

I’m taking vacation hours from my day job this week to glaze and fire. I plan to fire the kiln two more times - on Saturday, and again on Monday, in preparation of the NAU Mountain Campus Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair.

I brought this kiln-load inside earlier and the pots are singing to me. Did you know that pots sing when they come out of the kiln? Well, they do. More on that in an upcoming post.

For now, it is time to Glaze!