Happy Walpurgisnacht!

 I can't believe we're halfway to Hallowe'en, already, but here we are!

Progress, a Little at a Time!

I know it's been a little while since the last post, but I've been busy with those myriad details of life which come with spring! I've been pruning back bushes and trees which have been overdue for attention, getting them fed, and generally being the garden witch I've always been. In between, of course is work, doggo, helping my dad, doing physical therapy for my stupid shoulder tendonosis, and trying to make new things without making said shoulder angry at me!

So, last post, I shared the picture above and one of the designs I did on one of them from start to waiting to be bisque fired. Here's the second one I was working on:

I've been seeing a lot of Ouija/Spirit board designs around lately and thought the idea would make for an interesting bowl design!

I started it the way I started the last one, by covering the bowl with two coats of black underglaze and then a coat of wax resist. Next was laying out the design and doing the painstaking work of scraping away the wax and underglaze. (Can I just mention that you shouldn't have too much coffee just before you do this step? Don't ask me how I know!)

It took me a while to get everything the way I envisioned it, but I thought I did fairly well for my first stab at it. Things weren't spaced completely perfectly, but they still look good!

Next came inlaying the white underglaze.

So now it's drying on the shelf, waiting for more things to be made so all of them can go into the bisque firing!

I finished burnishing the above piece, too! That took me a few hours, but I really like how it shines! I'm looking forward to making more of these and trying out my first pit firing!

More WIPs

 

The potential of these bowls is something like that of the beckoning of a clean, white, page. Basic black, painted over with wax resist, and then the fun starts!

I've been running across a lot of Triple Goddess/Triple Moon imagery, lately, and thought it was a hint from the universe to start playing with the design, so I started with this bowl, gently carving off the black underglaze to begin the design.

The purpose of the wax resist over the top of the black underglaze is to allow me to inlay another color into the sgraffito without messing up the black. In this case, that's a white underglaze. After three coats of the white, it's time to take a damp sponge and wipe away the extra white underglaze so the lines stay clean.

And then? Let that little guy dry and wait for the first firing!

I have more of these to do, and many more pieces to make before I can ask to rent the kiln from the clay center for both the bisque and the glaze firing. This bowl will be bisqued, then covered with a high-fire clear glaze, as it's made from a stoneware clay.

The one above is going to be more work, but I'm looking forward to all the details!