unloading

oh. It was good to unload yesterday. I let the kiln cool down for an entire 36 hours (better for the glaze, less crazing, pieces have better longevity). Nearly everything came out JUST RIGHT. I tried some new things with this load and had some new forms- my long-awaited (but largely silent) salt spoons.A test pomegranate. A very good application of my new green glaze. More speckled egg pieces. Each layer held surprises of the very good sort. The only slight disappointment was with red berry bowls. Here's the deal with them. There will be very, very few. The amount of glaze needed to get the lovely red color means that the several thick applications run down the inside surface of the bowl and cover the holes as it melts.
So I take a special ortho surgical tool (Gary works in the marketing dept. of a large Ortho/surgical/trauma manufacturing company and has some surgical tools, like this long screw/drill that I use) to pierce the glaze, file the hole down, then refire it. These extra steps and subsequent refiring mean higher prices for you and a smidge of frustration for me. But it is pretty, and I'll keep doing them. These will just be limited run pieces.

After I unloaded the kiln, I went to the studio, discovered that I had another full load ready to go (loading this afternoon)- I've been averaging 24 pieces in about 2 hours. When I sat down to throw small pieces, I made more tiny bowls, vases, and egg cups. I threw 36 pieces yesterday morning. Today I'll trim them. My wrists complain a bit, by Hyland's Arnica-based Arthritis Relief tablets take most of the sting away.

All of my work is leading up to my own holiday show and the two other holiday sales I'll be participating in. I'll have a big etsy update the day after Thanksgiving.

Today's task: trimming, loading, prepping for tonight's clay class (crosses) by cutting out templates for my students, and more roasted root vegetables. Oh, and the vacuum.

I hope you're having a good, productive week, everyone. And as I look at this, I sigh just a bit, wish I knew how to wrap text better, then release my perfectionism. Just for this moment, I'm letting it go.