Bisque firing
Finally got it all loaded. Beads on top, mugs all the way down, first firing. If you scroll down on my Instagram you will see the mugs I’ve been creating all summer…
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Shabby Chic Mug
This mug has been through many many firings since my last post! The first fire was to bisque fire. Next I coated with a clear glaze and fired again in my small test kiln. The clear glaze crawled horribly. I do not have the words for the sad emotions that went through me when I […]
Voice in Art – My Particular Style?
I have been so enthralled with watching Periscopes (if you don’t have the app get it) in which potters talk about the behind the scenes ideas in how to develop as an artist. There have been so many I have watched, but in particular there are two I happened to watch about voice and style. […]
Happy New Year!
Ok, so it is May. Not January. What does that say about me? I’ve been busy in my new studio It is insulated and has a heating/cooling unit. There was electric out there and so hubby ran a few outlets for me so I could plug in the wheel or the pugmill as needed. It […]
Glazing Chowder Mugs
I had this fun project of making chowder mugs. I was going to make 6 mugs about 24 ounces each and these are the photos of that progress. First I had to figure out about how big to throw them. I had a couple of false starts but eventually got close. I am definitely not […]
Custom Mug
It’s super fun when someone messages and says, “Hey, I want a mug. I don’t care what shape or color. I just want it to hold a certain amount of liquid….but I want it to have surface decoration like you do with your beads.” (not an exact quote of course, but a fair simulation) I […]
Slip Goo
I had this idea to cover the surface of this very big mug with white porcelain slip …then I could use underglazes and get all painterly artistic about the decorating aspect of it all. Yeah, good idea! Except the slip was quite gooey and the brush wasn’t really working. I did the best I could. […]
Math and Custom Orders
I say all the time, “NO … I don’t do custom orders….” …. that is because, well, I don’t work well under stress. That’s just how I am. However, when I have conversations that go something like this: Can you make (fill in the blank) and take as much time as you need …… OR […]
Glaze Making
I am working on a stable/safe non-toxic cone 6 studio glaze. I want to end up with three (Light, Medium, and Dark in values) …. I’ve been meaning to tackle this for a few years but it has take me this long to gather up the chemicals I feel safe working with. I have a […]
Peek At My Upcoming Auctions on Ceramic Art Bead Market
Here is a collage of some upcoming auctions I hope to make over at Ceramic Art Bead Market. I have the photos all done, I am just working on the descriptions at the moment. Tonight after 9 pm I am going to tally up all the entries for the bead giveaway and announce over there […]
Cobalt Blue Delicate Scrolls
I have been attempting a glaze match for a couple of years for my Cobalt Blue Delicate Scroll beads that appeared in the book “Bohemian Inspired Jewelry“. The bead that is the second from the left is the original. The third and fourth from the left are previous attempts. The first bead from the left […]
The Three Little Pigs
My granddaughter is somewhat obsessed with this story…so I am too. Here are the famous little ones along with the mama pig AND the Big Bad Wolf ! Mama Pig started the entire story by deciding it was time for her three piggy sons to move out …while she gave them good advice, only one […]
Come Celebrate With Me
I had a bit of a tease yesterday on my facebook page regarding these beads. They are especially chosen from the batch that came out of the kiln yesterday. Today, July 7th, marks 4 years since my very last radiation treatment. My cancer was removed by surgery and as a precaution, I had 25 radiation […]
Bead Load in Big Kiln
These are all the beads which came out of my big kiln this morning. It took about an hour to remove them from the rods and sort them onto this tray. Beside the tray are the rods …lots and lots of rods!
Yawn!
I started my big kiln yesterday morning … or at least I thought I had started it. So there it was, 3 pm in the afternoon before I decided to go into the kiln room Hubby built to see how far along the burn had progressed. And the digital display was blinking its error message […]
Yay for Family and Friends
Arches National Park Hubby and I spent time with family and friends all last week. It was a bit weird not being on the computer but I did sneak time with my phone from time to time. We ended up going on a loop from Southern New Mexico to Northern Arizona (spent a few hours […]
Birdie Mold
The last time I took my bisque beads out of the kiln, I discovered that I had forgotten to insert a stringing hole into a tiny bird I had formed. Today I took that bird and two pieces of clay and made a small mold from it. I also took 5 pattern greenware stamps that […]
Glazing and Photo Taking
I spent much of the weekend glazing beads. I was going to fire the kiln today but other things are going to take up my time and I might not be able to remember to turn up the kiln at regular intervals. Earlier this morning I took 97 photos and three were worthy. For some […]
Bisque Bead Buildup
This is how I relax. I take a ball of clay on my lap and form beads. I am glad that though my fingers are sprained, I can still make beads. They are better today than yesterday and tomorrow they will be better than today. When this ‘shoebox’ is full, I will put them into […]
Cabochon
I don’t make many of these, beads without holes, also known as cabochons. This one has been signed with my potter mark on the back. It is also being offered over at the Ceramic Art Bead Marketplace on Facebook. In other news, it was supposed to rain all day long but it did not rain. […]
Yay for Sunlight
Finally we are having a day without rain in North Central Texas. I have tried to take photos of this glaze inside and it does not do it justice whatsoever. However, most glazes I am able to photograph in my homemade ‘light box’ without any difficulty. I am including a photo of my set up…basically […]