Studio Update: Week 9

Alright besties another late blog post! This past week I shifted gears a little bit to start making things for an upcoming sale. I threw a bunch of things and just went to town with decorating them. I am absolutely loving the way this clay looks with my engobes. I tested out a couple mugs with lightly spraying a clear glaze on them to see if that would give the finial pieces a dewyness that I am looking for. I have to say, I am actually pleasantly surprised by how much I like the final product. It gives the pieces a slight shimmer without ruining the integrity of the clay body. I tried out 3 different clears, 1 including our shop clear that fires to both cone 6 and cone 10. I am thinking that the shop clear is actually my favorite and I like it's firing range so I will start color testing in the following week. I also finailly got some of my cone 10 stuff fired. I put it in with a kiln Drew was firing since I don't have a need to fire cone 10 typically. I would like to say it's because I'm environmentally conscious but really I just don't know how lol. But honestly, cone 6 can do just about as much as cone 10 in my opinion. I have really been enjoying making smaller work and it is making me wonder if I should take a step back from some bigger pieces for a while. I think there are ways to get the same fun elements into smaller pieces that would fit nicely in an everyday home. The bigger pieces are a fun challenge and a fun statement but I think I will be able to make a lot more refinements in the near future with smaller pieces as I start to really think about how glaze can pull the final pieces together.

Image 1: throwing session

Image 2: Wall hangings pieces for the sale

Image 3: a couple fun mugs in progress

Image 4: Cone 10 work

Video: Fully fired mug