a bisque firing

is really not very interesting. Just the necessary step before the glazing and the glaze firing--that is the exciting one to open. In this kiln load I have 3 large pieces (large for me) that have already been glaze fired but were uninteresting pieces. The pieces were nice and the glaze did not pinhole but they just were not interesting. So, on a lark I painted flowers on one with some Majolica glaze 'paints' and decided I liked the result better than the original. So, for this firing, I painted the other 3 pieces in a similar manner. I won't get any prizes for these bowls but I think I will be happier with them than I was before the re-do. However, I was thinking as I painted the last one they may be acceptable now but this is certainly not going to be my 'style'.


(The plate in the upper left corner is the one had I painted earlier and the other 3 large pieces are the ones I painted flowers on today and which are in this kiln-load.)

Otherwise, what I have in the kiln is pieces made from BlackJack clay. I wanted to try throwing that clay and I'd like to get some glazed before I drive 300 miles to pick up a 1000 pounds of it. That is a major commitment and I'd like to have some assurance that I will like working with it. This is the week before Christmas and our family's Christmas Eve gathering here so I'm not certain that I will get these pieces glazed and fired before the end of the week. Jim and I were planning to make the drive to BlackJack Clay in East Texas together but he leaves on the 25th and will be gone for 3 weeks. So I may be making that trip alone or looking for a road companion!