last week, i went to the clay center to pick up my finished pots and to glaze the ones that came out of the bisque fire. i didn’t get a chance to fill you in on what i did. so. let’s catch up now!

i was exhausted after the four hours, but managed to snap a few photos to share with you. i wish i would have taken some of the actual glazing process so you could see what it looks like. i’ll have to remember to do that the next time.

when i got the to studio, i checked the shelves to see if my first set of pots where done. and they were! they came out very different then what i expected, but that’s the fun of it, i guess. you can see them here as bisque ware and after being glazed. and also here, with little succulents planted in them.

after the basking in the awesomeness of my finished pots, i had to switch gears. the glaze didn’t turn out how i expected. instead of flat brigth colors, they were spotted and muted. i took note of the glazes i liked and which ones i didn’t, went to the wall of samples and started planning my attack.

i went to the shelves in the kiln room and gathered all of my little pots. and here they are. all twenty two of them! twelve pots and ten, what i call, donut holes or saucers. instead of throwing away the clay from carving the hole out of my pots, i decided to make them into little, tiny, beautiful saucers.

after wiping off the dust, now comes the fun part! glazing. just about every one of my pots has some sort of decorative etching on the side. i didn’t want the etching to get drowned out with too much glaze. i spent so much time carving each one, that i wanted it to stand out. so on each pot, i either used a white or black matt glaze on the etching. and then i dipped the whole pot into which ever glaze i wanted. there are samples of each glaze on the wall near the buckets of glaze. the samples only give you an idea of what the glaze might look like. then i painstakingly i filled out a little white tag with my name, phone number, date and which glaze i used. it’s a reference point for the person loading the kiln. and then, for my own reference, i drew a little picture of each pot and wrote down which glaze i used. so that if i LOVED a glaze, i could know the name and use it over and over. and also, if i didn’t like a glaze, i knew to stay away. and i am SO glad i did that!!
here they are all lined up, ready for the final firing.