Fresh From The Kiln

A few things upon which I've been working are finally done! Honestly, I'm pleased with the way they've turned out!

This porcelain vase is for my "normal" show, coming up in Napa at the beginning of September. I'm in the process of carving it and decided to take a picture of it in progress for whatever person confronts me with the "fact" that it was cast from a mold and not hand-carved. (Yes, I've had this happen!) Take that, you potential pseudo-intellectual jerk! ;) I'm hoping I can inlay it with colored porcelain slip, but we'll see how it goes!

My shows are edging ever nearer, and panic is setting in. I may have to beg friends to help me glaze when the time comes...

The Witches Three

Such a great image.

Via Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

Big Effect, Small Storage!

Click on the pic to watch a fun projection haunted house!

I've been out of town, so that's why I haven't posted. Will be back soon with works-in-progress and other silliness!

I Will Open No Kiln Before Its TIme

But I really, really want to! At the very least, so I can put another load in!

This skeletal ring holder will be in the next load.

I actually ran it once this weekend, but had to run it again because I miscalculated the time and it shut off before it hit temperature. *sigh* Sometimes, I wish I had a brain!

With the hot weather, we've been running the air conditioner, too. I am so not looking forward to my electric bill this month!

The good news is, I'm ahead on my Hallowe'en party planning. I purchased my murder mystery party today from Night of Mystery, and have sent the email asking for people's addresses so I can start slowly working on those as I have time. I know I'll be scrambling for time during October, although it won't be as bad this year, since I won't be doing the trip to Apple Hill to sell my stuff every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Man, am I looking forward to this Hallowe'en!

Ghostly Cake Plate

I'm hoping to get the bisque firing started sometime this weekend, and am hurrying to finish up the underglazing process!

Thinking back to my beginnings, I realize I would never have had the knowledge to pull off a design like this. I really have come a long way in just a few short years!

Well, off to get ready for work!

A Quick One

I've been searching for ideas to improve the look of my booth, and of course, Pinterest has a bunch of ideas!

Coffin plans via bookalicio.us blog.

The goal? Sucker someone in to help me make a few coffin-shaped shelves out of old pallet wood. My new work has a plethora of pallets that come in almost weekly, it seems, and I have a small load of it in the garage, waiting to be made into something cool.

Oh, and Pinterest has a load of pallet project ideas, too, for when you're done building your props! So much fun!

Testing, Testing...

I'm in the process of testing some new underglazes for Hallowe'en use on some mugs I made a couple of weeks ago. This underglaze is suitable for greenware (clay that's been dried out but not fired) which will help keep the edges of my designs from looking smudged from doing both color and clear coat in the same step. I just have to be very, very careful about handling anything in this state, as greenware is super-fragile at that stage. One wrong bump and it's crumble city! I'm also looking to see how the orange turns out, as I've never used this one before. It may well turn out to be too bright, in which case, I need to search for another one I can apply to greenware. I'm not ready to start making my own quite yet, as that involves testing the glaze for stability and other things, which is a time-consuming process. Maybe this winter I can get to that!

I like making cups. The problem is actually selling cups, as one of the things I hear from customers over and over again is, "Oh, I have plenty of cups!" or "I have way too many cups!" I'm hoping that thematic cups like this may change their minds.

Any thoughts, peeps?

Creative Mess

I've been mixing it up this weekend with both work and play. The 4th of July holiday on the block was fantastic, with the usual neighborhood crew making the day really fun. Lots of laughs to be had!

Since I was off work on Friday, I started doing some underglazing of some of my greenware, too. I threw a couple of earthenware cups and let them dry (which is what "greenware" is, by the way) and am going to try out a couple of Hallowe'en designs to see how they turn out before making a bunch more.

Mr. ShellHawk has also been asking for some numbered tiles for the house for at least a year, now, so I bought a few pre-bisqued tiles (making them from scratch can be a bit tricky if you don't dry them slowly and in the right atmosphere, and 110 degree weather makes them dry way too fast!), searched the internet for some ideas for ceramic house tile numbers and came up with the above Alphonse Mucha-inspired design. (I do so love the clean lines and design of Art Nouveau!) The tiles need both clean-up and touch-up today. I'm really hoping they turn out well! If they come out of the first firing satisfactorily, they'll get a clear coat of glaze over them and get a final firing. I'm considering designing some tiles with the street name, too. I'll have to think about it!

Meanwhile, here's a totally random picture of a cat. Enjoy! 

Halloween in Okinawa

Photo by MAQLATA.

Halloween Home Haunts-First Review!

It looks like the first review for Halloween Home Haunts is on Amazon! I actually took a look and saw my name in the credits, which was pretty surreal.

Hey, it's not Mr. Jones, but it's going to be fun!