Tuesday Night

When we started Ron's class seven Tuesdays ago, he told us one of our goals for this session was to fill the gas kiln.  To that end, we've been throwing, faceting, turning and glazing.  And tonight was the night!  I didn't have a lot of pieces to load tonight. But I'm looking forward to seeing how each candlestick looks. Here's hoping one of these six will have a knock-out glaze combination that I'll immediately fall in love with...the glaze I'll use for my niece's wedding candlesticks.  (oooooh...high hopes, right?)  



Honestly? I'm equally as anxious to see how "Spanky" and "Mama Possum" turn out.



These little forms got their start as "breaks" from throwing and working on cave art pieces. They were simply intended as diversions, something to occupy my hands while watching a DVD from Netflix. But the little devils have grown on me. I'm not confident when it comes to glazing so I'm sure there will be lessons to learn. Whatever the end result, both pieces have sentimental meaning for me.

Loading a kiln this size takes some time. There's a lot to consider. Ron had a crew of five or more helpers throughout the process, handing him shelves and stilts and pieces that would fit like puzzle pieces on each shelf. It's a fascinating process. The end result????



To coin a Southern saying, that's a mess o' pots. But what you see in the picture is only half of what's packed in that baby! Those are just the front shelves. There's another stack packed just like that behind them. When it was finished...when every pot was placed, our fearless leader took a well-deserved break.



Four of us will unload this puppy on Friday at 2pm. Ralph, Jane, Dorothy & I -- the "A Team" -- have been entrusted to do this on our own. (*gulp*) No. Just kidding. I know we'll be just fine. It will be a great way to kick off the holiday weekend...and it will be wonderful to see, first-hand, how everybody's pieces turned out! Some gorgeous work went into that kiln tonight and some wonderful surprises are in store for us this Friday!

If they don't live up to expectations, we'll have only the kiln god(dess) to blame. Here's hoping she takes wing and brings a beautiful metamorphosis to all the pieces under her watchful eye.