Being creative is totally necessary to being me. I cannot live without breathing and I cannot live without being creative. It's nice to know this.
On the one hand, the final glaze firing of 2023 could be considered a mug disaster. Of the 40 mugs in the firing, only 10 came out successfully. I threw 16 in my midden and I'm giving 14 to the 2024 Empty Bowls dinner.
On the other hand, I figured out what I did wrong--I had combined two buckets of white glaze, one was brand new and had too much water in it, and I removed only 4 cups of water. The glaze was too thin and I knew it so I kept the mugs in the watery glaze longer than I usually do. I think two things happened--the mugs could not absorb that much water and I didn't let the pots dry long enough. I probably should have dipped them again in the glaze and let them dry completely. The glaze just slipped off many of the mugs onto the kiln shelves. Disaster.
The next glaze firing--in January of 2024, I took off 4 more cups of water and the pots turned out perfect. I am grateful to be able to learn from the clay and the making process.
Comments