It Works! It Works!!

Last week I learned about buying powdered glaze, mixing it with water, and getting it ready to use.  I also learned that it is probably best not to wait until you are almost out of everything to get started on this process.  

I don't know how many times over the years that I've seen glaze in buckets just like in the picture below.  This was one of the many things that Allen just always did for us, and one of the very few that I didn't ask him tons of questions about.  I noticed that the glaze started out like this and then after a few days it was magically in the buckets ready to use.  Sigh...oh how I wish I'd asked questions.  I know that he would have patiently explained it all - how much water to add, how long to let it sit, etc.  

Like I said, I learned a lot last week...I'll spare you all the details because they aren't really interesting.  I will say that the process took longer than I anticipated.  This was probably partly because I didn't know what I was doing and partly because it is a slow and tedious process.  

Finally got it all done and we were ready to glaze some pots!  

The second bisque fire went just fine and nothing else fell off the kiln.  Phew!

I have so much work to glaze!  This is just a little bit.  I'm still working on getting it all done.  There's a pretty good back log of pots to fire, so we will have another glaze fire very soon.  Pretty much as soon as I can get around to getting the rest of my work glazed.  Ronnie, Gail, and Lisa have also all been hard at work getting caught up. 

I loaded and fired our first glaze fire in the "new" kiln on Monday night.  It was cool enough to unload this morning. 

I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see colors like this when I opened the lid.

The new kiln works just fine and we all got great results this time.  Below are some of my pieces.

Ketchup Red - actually the red color I want instead of the brown color I've sometimes gotten - and Bronze Green Mat.  And all the pieces are consistent...no matter where they were in the kiln. 

Here's the same combination of glazes on one of the mugs for Hannah's Coffee House.

And on a bowl.  I really like this glaze combination, so it gets used a lot. 

Floating Blue - is probably a little thick still.  I'll work on it.

EP Green on a bowl with lots of texture. 

Here are a pair of mugs in Falls Creek Shino (the tan) and Ketchup Red.  The tan glazes we use (Falls Creek Shino and Faux Salt (not pictured)) both have been coming out much darker than they should.  It is nice to see the creamy color here with the brown details on the texture.

I'm really hopeful that now I can sort of settle in to a routine at the studio for the next little while.  I could do with a little less stress and uncertainty.  Maybe, just maybe, I've had all the surprises and new experiences that I'm going to get to enjoy for the immediate future. I know there will be something else, but I sure would be happier if it would come months from now and not next week.