One of the serving bowls is going to have to be a re-fire. I tried to pour the glaze and I knew it was too heavy when I put it on and it was. I got crawling on the front and drips on the back. Other than that I really like it.
Kiln sneak peak! I actually finished this kiln last weekend, but with the craft fair on Sunday I didn't have time to do anything with it. I did pull a couple of pieces for the fair. There were some lavendar appetizer plates to finish out sets in here. This has the rest of the custom mugs/bowls for Chaumont as well as some small glaze tests.
As I was using my ferns I decided that for any forms I was making that I was going to have to do joins I decided not to use the slip. I thought it would just get too messy on my hands. I might end up doing the reverse on the bisque where I wipe it away on the fern part.
Before we left I tried to make a big picture, but I fiddled with it too much and it collapsed. This one I let it setup a lot longer so that it wouldn't collapse when I shaped it. I also let it sit overnight before attaching the handle to prevent collapse. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
I also made a giant mug. This mug will be only for SERIOUS coffee drinkers :)
Then a normal size mug for those of us who can't handle that much caffeine any more.
I'm really please with everything that came out of this kiln. There's one plate that I'm a little meh on, but even that I think is pretty cute. I'm really excited for the Chaumont Craft fair coming up on 7/30 and there are a bunch of pieces in this kiln that say Chaumont on them for that. The maple leaves also came out really awesome, kind of abstract. I'm also really pleased with the lavendar plates - both the square and the hexagon.
The speckled clay is all Laguna 60 and, as always, the white clay is Bmix 5. I recently switched my underglaze over to Mayco Foundations. A lot of the mugs have the black wiped back. A few of the Chaumont ones have other colors.
This was my first time using the Colors for Earth Color Concentrates which are more like an underglaze than the Color Strokes. I did two versions of the lavendar, one with each. I actually really like both overall. For this particular project I think I like the Color Strokes better, but I think that's because I like the laurel green better than the jade.
I've been doing kiln loads in 2's for a while now. It's probably because I can fit about twice the stuff in a bisque kiln than I can a glaze kiln. I have two craft fairs coming up that I'm gearing up for. The first is the Belle Aire Market in Bel Air, MD this Sunday July 10th. The second is the Chaumont Craft Fair in Chaumont, NY on July 30th. Lots of stuff in this kiln and the next one to get ready for those.
I'm starting to do fall stuff. Fall! It's the middle of July, but it will take that long to get stuff through the process.
I didn't do a great job of taking notes for this kiln. I figured - I'll remember. And I do, most of it, we'll see....
While we were on vacation I watched the handbuilding a teapot class on Clayshare. During the class Jessica talks about how if you stop right here you have a cannister. I've wanted to make cannisters, or any lidded object, for a while but was intimidated. I decided to give it a try when I got home.
This first one I made with ferns I had pulled off platters. It gave it an interested speckled feel. I think it will look cool once it's glazed.
The first lid was an epic fail. I totally measured with a ruler, but it didn't work. Somehow it was exactly the same size as the base. For my second try I put the ruler aside and just put the clay inside and then cut it to fit. I'm really happy with the result.
The second one I made with my new bee pin. It went a lot quicker now that I had the hang of it. I think at some point I'll make a set - assuming all of this makes it through the rest of the process ok.