2020's Crop of Pumpkins!

I am so thrilled that the studio opened and I was able to get the first firing done on these! 

So the next step is to get them glazed. I have two types of glaze firings for these guys; low-fire and Raku. The type of glaze firing is determined by what type of clay I used to make them.

It's going to be super busy these next few weeks!

Done! Well, Done-ish...

I say "done-ish" since I can't seem to find a place to fire him, as of yet. *Sigh*

I thought about doing a design on his "body," but then I thought that since I'm going to Raku him, I'd see how the crackle pattern would turn out as visual interest. I can always make another one with more details!

The gray-looking, flowery bits around his eyes will be black after the firing. The other colors should darken a little, after the clear crackle glaze goes on and gets fired. I like his lid. A friend calls it his "green man-bun," but I don't care! I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks after the Raku firing!

And here's another little friend! I really like how darn happy he is!

And this sugar skull jack-o'-lantern is shaping up really well! It's not done, yet, but I like the way the colors have turned out, so far! This one will also be getting a clear crackle glaze before the Raku firing.

I'm really pleased with how these projects are developing! Have I mentioned I can't wait to get them fired? ;) 

Progress!

This one is reserved, already!

I was happy to have some time this weekend to do some more inlay work and some cleanup/touch-up on the new sugar skull jacks. I got my new underglazes in earlier in the week, and now I get to play with some color combos!

 My dad was also good enough to take some product photos for me. I've had some new items hanging around and not in my Etsy shop, yet, so it was on my to-do list! They sent out some new info on how to best market using product photos, and suggested to the sellers that we include a picture of ourselves with the item we made. Ultimately, I'll post some video, too, but for now, I have this one to start with!

Dad used his little point and shoot, but it looks like I may have convinced him to do some puttering around with my Canon T-3i. Yes, it's an older camera, but as I'm not a professional photographer, I really don't see the need to upgrade when this one work really well and suits my needs. Besides, I have a kiln to save for!

I completed the above pumpkin person over the weekend, too. I'm going to use underglazes on him, too, and see how he comes out of the Raku kiln! Orange and white with black crackle seems like it will be perfect!

I'm going through a period where I'm having a wealth of ideas barraging my poor brain, but the positive part is, I'm keeping occupied through all the craziness going on right now. I have friends in Portland, and I worry about them staying safe through Covid-19 and the Federal interference in our First Amendment rights. Work is still good and the proof-of-concept I've been producing is coming along impressively, so my days are pleasantly full of creativity and new learning! I've never felt luckier to be where I am in my life than now!

I Shouldn't Have Taken a Day Off...

New sugar skull platter. I'll be doing more of these!

I finally got the last bits of Halloween goodness out of the kiln yesterday, having done the last glaze firing on Tuesday afternoon. I couldn't even open the kiln until around 11:00 a.m. yesterday, because the last thing I needed was to have crazing on the plates because they  cooled too quickly. (Crazing is an unwanted crackling in fired glazes which can be caused by too-fast cooling or the glaze body and clay body not fitting together properly. Of course, in Raku, we want crazing, which just goes to show that you can't please everyone, all the time!)

I finally got everything packed and shipped off to West Coast Haunters yesterday at 3:30 p.m. I started this year's Hallowe'en ceramics inventory list, which is part of what took me so long. I've also started to create hang tags for my work to include with each piece. They're very, very basic right now, but they'll evolve once I actually get a logo made for the Hallowe'en art of ShellHawk's Creations and can start the work of creating the shapes and sizes. I ran across the idea in Mea Rhee's (of Good Elephant Pottery) pottery blog. She calls them "little salespeople," and she's right. This year I am slowly (glacially slowly, at times) moving things forward, and hang tags are part of the marketing plan.

Anyway, making the ceramics, glazing it, creating the tags and then attaching them to each individual piece always takes more time than I anticipate. You'd think I'd know better, but that suicidal optimism kicks in and hamstrings me every time. Since I wasn't actually anticipating going to this show until comparatively last minute, the last few weeks have been more hellish than I anticipated. Memorial weekend brought a birthday party, and I had suggested to Mr. ShellHawk that we go to Amador county to go pick up our wine selection for our wine club. Etc., etc... 

Ah, well. We needed to spend some time together, away from both of our works, and we had a great time!

With luck, I'll post some pics from WCHC over the weekend, but if I don't get to it, I'll post when I get back.

See ya!