Okay, if at first you don't succeed...

...be thankful there will soon be another glaze kilnload.

So the last batch of test tiles? Not so much. The red underglaze I was trying to use ends up not really being red as much as...well...rhubarb-coloured. Not really what I had in mind. Ew. So back to square one on that note. And the new green? Ugh. See, the glaze on the Green line of pots has been getting kinda strange since the move, and while it's technically fine, we think there is room for improvement. So we are trying to work out some alternatives, and it's taxing Va's many years of experience as well as my fresh-faced enthusiasm and research-philia.

And we're still trying to pin down the glaze for the new Ceilidh pots. There are a bunch of options, but none yet jump up and down and go, "pick me! pick me!" So that's to be worked out still.

And I'm still working on that buttery yellow, and a rich chocolate brown that doesn't look like a leftover from a batch of 1979 ashtrays. (ugh, again.) So this all means that I've got to make a "metric butt-ton" (technical term) of test glazes before the next kilnload goes in on Tuesday.

Tomorrow morn, I have to fix a decorative sculpted face I made a few days ago; it shrank as it dried, and the supports it was sculpted on didn't, and therefore it cracked. I want it to be ready to go into a bisque kiln whenever there is space; there are two that I've finished, and you never know when one will fit jenga-like into a kiln, so I really want to be ready. They are both planned as big centerpieces of decoration when I plaster and paint the walls in my studio; I am planning to incorporate some Italian carved plaster embellishment on one of the walls, and the faces are a big part of that. And, good lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I will be working on the walls soon. Right now we're still working on the elex and plumbing up in what we're starting to call "The Crow's Nest", and while that's cool and all, since this is me we are talking about it should really come as no surprise that I can't wait to get on to the aesthetics.

You thought you wanted to know, eh?

So, lessee. It's another jam-packed day of fun our here on Tul Creggen, haus of strange work and stranger slack. We're scurrying to get ready for the Western PA Faerie Fest this weekend, as well as Potomac Celtic Festival. Split stock means we have a lot of work to do. In fact, it means that other things get pushed back until loads of pots are in the kilns, and the only thing we can do is wait.

That being said, waiting is not something we are going today. I finished up making a batch of glaze, and I'm about to go out to the studio to glaze another kiln of pots. I'm thinking of devising a rating system to evaluate the relative difficulty of glazing some kilnloads over others. The rating system will not only help me support my geeky reputation, but will allow me to winge more effectively. See, some kiln loads are a breeze; mostly mugs or bottles, which mostly go smoothly and require very little fiddling. Then there are kilnloads like today's, which big huge bowls and berry bowls and other pots which require extra steps and finesse (which it seems sometimes has gone out to lunch leaving me going, "hey! come back here! i'm gonna mess this up without you! hey!" Anyway, having a short hand for when Va gives me the news might be entertaining.

B: So, what kind of stuff is it today? A, B, or C?
V: I'm afraid it's D today, mon amie.
(Not that Va says "mon amie", but I'm extemporizing here.)
B: A kilnload entirely made up of butter-keeps and teapots? Omigawd. Okay, that's cool, but I'm picking the music. "Temple of the Dog" it is.
V: ohwailywailywaily! Why do you hate me so!?
B: Mwahahahaha...

So while the current bisque kiln cools off enough that I can glaze it later, I'm going to spoil myself by going out to the studio now and making some new glazes to test. I'm working on a rich red, a buttery smooth yellow, and revamping the green. Yay!

-end geek transmission-