Decals – The Learning Continues

I’ve been so busy testing, developing, throwing, deciding. Even with a heavy workload at work I’ve had so much fun continuing on my decal journey. I’m still not confident on what causes changes in looks in decals but I have moved a long way towards being consistent with the glaze, decals that don’t burn out and firing processes with the glazes I use.

I’ve learned so far the Coyote Clay Shino & Light Shino thickness plays a large part in the appearance of the decal. They have to be fired back to Cone 1 to keep the glaze from turning to underfired matte. They don’t seem to eat the decals as some other glazes I’ve tried.

I see my testing continuing for quite a long period of time as I try to find different combinations. How fun is that!

 

 

Summertime Blues

I love it when I open the kiln, work my way to the bottom of the kiln looking anxiously for a special item thrown as a gift. You hope it turns out as you could see it in your head. There are so many points along the way of a pot’s journey into being, so many spots where you can lose the piece. Not timing the drying process, not compressing the bottom while throwing, not allowing it to stabilize after having thrown the foot on in a separate throwing session.

Then you have the bisque firing to make it through with no cracks. The next firing is the glaze firing and you hope you have brushed on the glaze evenly. You hope for everything correct…you can do everything you think correct and you can’t always guarantee it will look exactly as you imagined.

It’s a pleasure when you see exactly what you want. Now to keep my fingers crossed it makes it safely to a 2^nd cousin as a gift for her.

New year....new start

Seriously. Has it really been over a year since I've updated my blog? As much as I talk? There is busy and then there is busy. I'll have to remedy this.

I'm excited with the direction my clay work is going. I've been working on tumblers that hold at least 14-16 oz. I love them over the plain glass to drink my cold drinks from so I've been working to improve my skills. I'm also working on a new set of mugs using a mix of the tumbler techniques and throwing. I love being able to make a statement with them so I can't wait to get a load of them finished and fired so I can show them off. Here are a couple of my newer pieces of work. Enjoying life!