A while back I was asked to make some custom candy bowls and an accessory plate for my massage therapist. She already had a plate in one of her rooms that I made her years ago to hold accessories and she wanted a few more. She gave me complete creative freedom to do what I wanted. It took me a while to decide what to do and then took me a few more weeks to figure out how to do what was in my head.

She has these custom walls that she's done in both rooms that has black lines and then different colors between them. You can see the bowl against the wall in this first picture. I like this picture because you can see that the silver color of the wall and the bowl both have glitter!




Here is one of the bowls with the fishy plate next to it. In addition to having that amazing wall, she also has a fish tank in one of the rooms so the fish plate seemed necessary to go along wih the the theme. The bowl and the plate will end up on the opposite side of the room from the accent wall, but will help tie the room together nicely.




Now what I didn't do is take pictures of this process along the way so I will just have to describe it. First, I used the large 6# square cutter from De La Designs. I intentionally made the sides a little round because I wanted to be able to take the lines around the sides easier.




When it was chocolate texture leather hard I waxed the sides and then used a Diamondcore Tools X2 fluting tools to cut lines on the four sides. Then I used the new Mayco black engobe to fill in the lines, the top rim, and the bottom. I made sure to wipe away any extra engobe that got outside of the lines.




I explained the glazes when I pulled this out of the kiln, but the inside is Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid and the outside is Mayco White Opal, Silver Lining, Butter me Up, Sour Apple, Blue Yonder, and Bluegrass




Once it came out of the kiln I used 2 thick coats of Mayco Glittering Silver over the Silver Lining letting the first coat dry overnight before adding the second. This wasn't required, I just wanted it to dry completely and I did the first coat close to bed time. This non-fired product makes this non-dishwasher and microwave safe, but since it's a candy bowl that didn't matter.




This was a fun process and I'm thrilled with the results as was she!

The Poinsettia is amazing! I glazed the star for it months ago and somehow didn't lose it and was able to just put it on top. I had a few leaves that had broken off that I fired separately on stilts, but I'm not sure that I need them at all.

I'm also really happy with the bowls that have all the different colors in them. This is a commission that I'll write more about soon. I wish I took more pictures along the way, but I failed to. I still have one more thing to do to these before they're done.

Coyote Really Red x3 Dots of Mayco Sunkissed Opulence Emerald x3	Laguna 60 Did a mishima technique when leather hard and filled in with the new Mayco black engobe Colors on the outside of the bowl are 2 coats of White Opal, Silver Lining, Butter me Up, Sour Apple, Blue Yonder, and Bluegrass Inside Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x2
Laguna 60 Georgie's Cherry Fizz x2	Laguna 60 Georgie's Twilight Blue x2
Laguna 60 Birds Mayco Hot Tamale x2 Dandelion on the beak Kentucky Mudworks Hydra	Laguna 60 Birds Mayco Hot Tamale x2 Dandelion on the beak Left: Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x2 Right: Midnight Ceramics Aloha Antifreeze x2
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x2 Sexy Mermaid	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Mayco Rasberry Mist x3 Amarylis x2
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder Inside and Rim: Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Laguna Power Turquoise x3 Mayco Night Moth x2
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder Inside and Rim: Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Mayco Rasberry Mist x3 Amarylis x2
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Laguna Power Turquoise x3 Mayco Night Moth x2	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear On Stamps: Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Java Bean, Sour Apple, Cotton Tail, Fruit of the Vine Inside and Rim: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x2 Sexy Mermaid
Laguna 60 Amaco Smoke x3	Laguna 60 Amaco Snow x3
Laguna 60 Opulence Emerald x3	Laguna 60 Georgie's Cherry Fizz x2
Opulence Emerald x3 Mayco Hot Tamale x3 Mayco Tuxedo	Opulence Emerald x3 Mayco Hot Tamale x3 Mayco Tuxedo
Mayco White Opal x2 Tuxedo x2 Watercolor Bluebeard on the eyes	Mayco Tuxedo x2, Orange a Peal x2, Java Bean x2
Both: Mayco Tuxedo x2 Orange a Peal x2 Left: Mayco Blue Yonder Bluegrass Right: Mayco Sour Apple	Left: Midnight Ceramics Marsh Mellow x5 Right: Might Ceramics Trash Can x3 (you can't see how shiny metalic it is, but it's really cool)

This was a refire because there was pitting inside. On this one I added a little 2167 clear and its gone	On this one I added nothing and its gone
This is what the pitting looks like, going to have to refire this mug too :(

You might remember that I made this poinsettia back in December and I wasn't sure if it would be ready for the holidays. It didn't make it into the kiln before the end of the year, but I did glaze it months ago and it's just been sitting waiting to be glazed. As I was glazing over the weekend I knew I wasn't going to get to some of the bigger things I had in the bisque kiln and decided to put this in instead. I did have to bend the u loop on the top slightly because otherwise it wouldn't fit.

All I can say is WOW. The red is Coyote's Really Red and its gorgeous.




I glazed some of the Christmas ornaments and took a peek at those two. Loving the little wreaths with the cardinals!

I spent Friday and Saturday glazing, but did not finish. I got enough to get a kiln full, but then on Sunday I decided I wanted to make instead of glaze. I went out to the yard and collected some maple leaves and made maple leaf mugs and pitchers.

I didn't make all the mugs with the bird, but I did do a few. I think they are really cute, but may not be everyone's cup of tea.


Both of these need more shaping before they dry, but I think they're going to turn out well.

Just unloaded the bisque kiln and I'm hot! It's hot out, but also any time I load or unload the kiln I get hot. Last summer when it was hot I started glazing inside, but now its how I glaze. I love having the space of everything spread out on the tables. I'd love to have a permanent studio space that has something like this, but that's for the future.

There are a bunch of different things to be glazed.

I've done this enough times that I actually have a bit of a system at this point. On the table that's closer to the family room and faces the TV on the far left I have my brush cups (just out of frame) and then I setup all the mugs. I've started loading the kiln as I glaze and I almost always have mugs on the bottom shelf of my kiln.




In the middle of the table are the candle holders/cupcake stands. They've been ready to glaze for a while, but I was trying to decide how to glaze them. I think I've decided on some of the Georgie's Tye Die Glazes. On the right are some of the bigger items. I put these here because I have two dogs who like to run around sometimes and this is the most protected spot. I haven't lost anything yet, but they have knocked some things over.




I have a second table that's parallel to the first. I have this weird large space that's between my kitchen and the family room. Theoretically you could put a table there, but it would be annoying to always have to walk around it. Plus I have a room just off the kitchen that it fits better.

Anyway, on this table I have the Christmas ornaments I worked on up at the cabin and some more bird bath earring holders. Top left in this picture is something I'm really excited about that is a custom order. The black is the new Mayco engobe. More on this soon.




On the left of that table is plates and bowls. I had done the underglaze on the plates a while ago, but hadn't done the glazing.




My garden has just started to bloom so just some additional pictures to brighten your day. This is echinacea.




I love the colors of this lily.




I think I'm going to have to divide these red lilies this year. I don't remember when I planted them so lets go with 5+ years ago. It's probably past time to divide.

I am doing a prototype wine chiller in grape vine theme. I am guessing a bit on the dimensions so I may have to adjust. I made this slightly wider than my pitcher template to start with.




I had the idea when I was at the Michael Harbridge workshop a few weeks ago. I initially thought I'd use a puzzling mold, but Michael said there wasn't a mold that would work for that.




So I improvised and we will see if it works.




One more view to get the full 360.