It's a Gas Gas Gas

Inbetween Raku firings, some of the students from Greg's advanced class unloaded the gas kiln last night. Julie, Studio Manager at Clayworks, graciously invited me to help. It's the best way to learn, she believes, and I wholeheartedly agree. Once the door was opened, so many beautiful pieces emerged. I saw several that inspired me to try harder. Some of the glazing & surface decoration on the pieces I held last night were incredible --- something to strive for as I continue in my classes.

As for my pieces, I had some that I liked and others that I didn't. One nice surprise was the last set of cave critter pendants I made. These two were my least favourite, design-wise. I chose to use them to test the bead tree a co-worker gave me at Christmas. My concern was that the wire that holds the beads/pendants wouldn't stand up to a cone 10 firing. But it did. And the designs actually came out looking a lot better than they did going in.



I did learn another lesson here: to make the holes on the pendant just a teensy bit larger. For a while there, I thought the pendants might be forever married to the metal wire. But patience and gentle twisting finally freed these new horses. I had one nice mug come out of the kiln, and a casserole that taught me a passle of lessons on how NOT to glaze (so you won't see that one here.) The rest of the lot was bowls. These were the ones I liked best.



I especially like this one. I fondly call it the Galaxy Bowl. That little hyphen of green entices me.



This piece was hand built. I used the "starburst" stamp I always seem to come back to. It looks different here though because it's curved over the rim. I wasn't too happy with the glaze. Spotted shino. Way too thick. But once it holds some fruit or chips, it will look more appealing.



Lastly, this bowl wasn't part of the bounty from the gas kiln. It's one of three that I made from a cone 6 Earthen Red. You can't tell here but it's larger than what I've been throwing lately. (Finally!) Once again, note my favourite stamp on the sprig.
I applied Ben Gareen to the stamped image, wiped, and then glazed the outside with Mystic Moss because I love the variation it gives. Inside, it's very glossy black. I like this palette. Earthy and organic.



Quite a night. I never got to see what the "big kids" results were with their raku firing. There were many beautiful pieces to be fired and not enough propane. So another firing may be in the offing. I hope so. There was also a mention of a lengthy raku project for McClintock Jr High (where I went YEARS ago) which will include building raku kilns. THAT would be something I'd love to be involved with. We'll see what happens.

The weekend cometh. Whatever your plans, make the most of them!