out of the kiln

The firing went well. I was disappointed in the glaze cover--as I expected to be. It was just too thin a coat which has become standard operating procedure for me. I gotta figure it out. I might refire--it worked last time. In the meantime, they don't look bad--just not what I wanted.

The inside, which I poured and used the white majolica glaze, is fine. I sprayed the outside. I could see that the coat was too thin, yet it had begun running down the sides (which you can see on the little bowl on the tray) and I did not want that. I am missing something!

a very tardy post

My work is so sporadic I don't have much to write about. But here I am, rather horrified to see that I have not posted in over a month and a half. Mea Copa.

I have done a little potting. And was pleased that I would have something to share with my friends who share accomplishments on an occasional basis. But that was jumping the gun. My bisque firing ended before completing the schedule. The breaker tripped. I have not yet determined the cause--am going to try re-firing before calling in the professionals to sniff out the problem. (I have relatively new elements, relays, and breaker!) Here are some of the things I was hoping to get bisqued and then glaze fired this week.

The idea was to make a 'set of things'. I was thinking of a Condiments Tray.

Then I thought well, not all the condiments need a covered pot, some want an open bowl.

Some may even want a pitcher for pouring...

So the 'set' is 9 pieces in all. I am enjoying them now--fearing that I will be disappointed once they are glazed.
These are all low-fire earthenware clay. I put terra sig on the bottoms and inside the lids and on the galleries. I want to glaze the rest of the pots. And that is another bump in the road. I have not developed glazes for low-fire but now I need some tested glazes to use. Oh, heck, if it is not one thing, it is another.

I have been really enjoying cooking in the earthen-ware pieces I made earlier in the spring. I have searched out recipes that require long, slow cooking in the oven. I love pulling my lovely pots out of the oven and putting them on the table after the long, slow bake. Joy! One of the first things I 'learned' when I got into my first pottery classes was that the women there did not cook dinner daily. Took me a while but over the years I had pretty much incorporated that philosophy into my daily practice. This spring i began trying to break out of that 'entitlement'. Have not worked my way back to daily hot dinners--but I'm doing better. And Jim has taken up the slack so we share in the food-responsibility department. Nice! Our fig tree is producing LOTS of figs! When we bought the house 2 years ago I was thrilled that there was a big fig tree in the back. Imagine how disappointed I was last year when there was ONE fig on the tree--for the whole season. This year, after record rains here, we have a bumper crop--we bring in a dozen or more figs each day--discounting the ones that the critters beat us to! So, I've been making fig preserves, just like my mom did! Yum!

And I've been reading a lot. Got back into the habit of ending the day with a book in my hand before falling off to sleep during my trip to Spain. I have read some wonderful books lately. One of the most inspiring, ceramics wise, is "Following the The Rhythms of Life: The Ceramic Art of David Shaner". A book I ordered on line after reading a mention of it in Clayart. I feel like I just met a wonderful person whom I'd love to know better.