Well, here is a peek at the top layer of the kiln!  We'll be unloading this afternoon, but at first glance it looks like our first Glaze Fire in the "baby" kiln has gone well!

Check back in for more pics after we unload later on!

Here is a sneak peek of a few of the next items to go into the kiln!  My Crabbies and Whalies are salt and pepper shakers underglazed and ready to be clear glazed and fired - since the next firing is all the way to High Fire, I might just chance it and fire these little guys all the way in one go (skipping the bisque fire stage).  They're good and dry and I'm not sure I can wait for the next firings to see them finished!   

Stay tuned!

I can't believe it's April already and we're still without a kiln!  We are hoping, however, to be up and running in a few weeks time.  I hope so!  I've been working on a few pieces, as well as the design for the bisqueware dishes that I'd like to glaze, but it's difficult to work on too much without knowing when we can fire!

Spring time is the busiest in the boat business - aka my day job at MathewsBros (check us out at www.mathewsboats.com) - so it leaves me with little time for the studio at this point, but that should ease up soon, and I'm more than ready to get back into the dirt!  I've also been working on other paddle designs, some jewelry items, and working with sculpey clay as well - so many hobbies - so little time!

Don't give up - we'll be posting new items soon!

My second Bushel of Crabs - on the left, is again a bit different from the first (as my second Dancing Crab was - see the paddle art page for comparison!) - after all, each paddle is original artwork, so they're going to have their own character.  I had an order for this paddle, and since I still have the first "Bushel" paddle, I'm excited to see which paddle gets chosen!

On a separate note, we're close to having a working kiln once again, so we'll be getting back into the clay before long!

Happy New Year!! After a nice Holiday break (and a fairly bad case of pneumonia), I'm back in the studio!  Since we still do not have a working kiln for firing, I'm concentrating more on painting at the moment.  Above you'll see the most recent paddle - an order for a "Dancing Crab" - I've also got a "Bushel of Crabs" on order as well, so I'll be posting that here shortly as well.  But don't worry - I've got a smaller kiln that will be tested as soon as I can get it set up - fingers crossed that it will reach temp!  I'll keep you posted....

Well, we Bisque fired on Oct 22nd - below you'll find some of the low-fire results!  Unfortunately the super-high-fire in September damaged two of the kiln elements, and after the bisque really toasted them - so the glaze fire was not successful - after a long firing trying to reach temp, we only achieved 1500degrees - not even back to bisque temp.  So we'll be getting the new elements in and hopefully we can salvage the high fire pieces here shortly!

Well, we're constantly learning!  Our Sept 5 firing got way too hot!  The kiln shelf impeded the sitter cone so the kiln didn't shut off automatically, but fired for nearly 18 hours!

Luckily we lost only one piece - the blue/green glass as it cracked the bowl during the cooling process.  But never fear, I will try again!

This chip&dip dish to the left should have been the beautiful Oasis blue, but due to the high temp, it's now a really cool brown/black.
The Higher than usual temperature washed out a few other colors, but over all, I'm still extremely pleased with the results!  See a few more below!

The scariest part of not having the kiln at the studio? boxing up and moving the dry-as-a-bone greenware!!  This is the most fragile the pottery will EVER be!  Imagine a dry dirt clod - you can pulverize it in your fingers - that's how fragile these pieces are!  So far I've managed very little breakage - but that doesn't make it any easier when it comes time to move a new batch.  Take a look at some of the greenware that will come out of the kiln today!

Annie had a great firing this week - Some Low Fire Pieces that were finished after the first fire, or low fire - and some that had to go all the way through the second firing.  Annie said that most of the glazes they used were new ones that they had gone to Baltimore to get two weeks ago.  Check out the colors - they're Beautiful!!  And also be sure to notice her new Crab over to the left :)