Fresh out of the kiln

I've been handbuiding lately...haven't thrown in about a month.  I'm really enjoying handbuilding and love the results.  I don't have molds so my works is "organic"...which I like much better.  I also play with the glazes so no two pieces are the same.  I've been making platters and serving dishes - all sizes and shapes.  They sell really well. 

Here's a bunch of bisqued work, sitting and waiting patiently to be glazed and fired.  Sometimes it's hard for me to get out and glaze, especially after working at the studio all day.  For those of you who might not know, my husband and I own a children's art studio called Art-Works Studio.  We have drawing & painting classes for kids ages 5-17.  We also have summer, holiday & spring fine art camps.  It's our bread & butter and we've had the business for almost 8 years.  It's great, we only work 20 hours a week and we do art with kids, but it's draining. So these poor things sat in the garage for about a week.

 

Glazing is fun, but time consuming.  First I have to clean the bisqued pieces to make sure they are dust free, if there is dust or anything on the bisque the glaze won't stick to it.  Then I have to wax the bottom of all the pieces, so they won't stick to the furniture in the kiln.  Then I glaze them with a solid color and let that dry.  Then I take the squeeze bottles, which are full of "thick" glaze and decorate the inside.  I can't predict what it's going to look like after it's fired, so much is out of my control.  But I love when I open the kiln and see such beautiful results.  The photo above shows pieces all glazed and ready to be fired and the photo below are the same pieces after they have been glazed.  See what I mean that you can't predict what they will look like!

It was the first time Bruce and I worked together in "our" studio too....it was fun.  I really enjoyed having someone out there with me, sometimes it can be a bit lonely.  I still have 1 maybe 2 more loads to do, the platters take up a lot of space so I can only fire about 15 at a time.  These are all for sale and I'll be updating my website The Juicy Pear over the next couple days, so come and have a look around.  All of the platters/serving dishes are under my one-of-a-kind section. I love being a potter, but am finding it hard running a business and also trying to pursue my pottery business.  There are not enough hours in the day to do both.  So hopefully when our dreams come true and we move to France I'll be able to pursue it full time.

Comments

[Zoe]

Beautiful!