New work and more

First things first, it has been nearly a month since my last blog post, the good news is that I've been working hard, so hard I've not had time to do updates. My last post was on quitting smoking and that has gone wonderfully! Undoubtedly a very difficult task and a constant strain, but this time it will stick!

Alright, now onto the fun stuff. Since my last post I've done a bisque firing and 2 glaze firings so there is a lot of work to show, and issues to discuss. The bisque firing went fine, the only news to share regarding it is that I had a very packed kiln filled with some of my best and largest work. I even had the opportunity to pretend that I'm a real potter, dedicating the entire day to clay and producing a respectable quantity of work. I was able to make 12 pieces, trim them, and glaze another 12, in theory if I could do this everyday I could make a living doing this (always the distant goal). Now if only my work was of an acceptable quality perhaps I'd be able to sell it, but that shall come with time... hopefully.

Mostly mugs, a couple of bowls, a vase, and another attempt at a plate (which ended up cracking horribly, and had to be destroyed). Will my sister ever get her chip dip set? My speed is improving, and I'm starting to get forms that I'm somewhat pleased with. The piece to the far left is a giant mug for my friend Austin, every time he comes to the studio he eyes my largest pieces and says, "that's almost large enough for my coffee mug", hopefully this will work for him. I don't have a pic with the handle on it, but I am very pleased with how it came out.

This work is the results of the first of the aforementioned glaze firings. I'm happy with the results for the most part. I have been able to control the temps inside of the kiln much better than past firings and things have been much more even and predictable. My first jar turned out wonderfully and I am very pleased with glaze.






Ok, I should have started this earlier because now I'm late for a podcast recording. I'll have to pick this back up tomorrow, so please stay tuned.

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