This morning we were supposed to get rain. Lots of rain. I planned to have breakfast with Christian, then off to the studio to glaze the last bisque load. That load included several pieces I’ve promised folks for Christmas, so today was the day. We did have breakfast. It didn’t rain. I did get in to the studio before noon. It was about 45°F, and took the milkhouse heaters a while to warm things up. While they were working, I moved stuff around and got organized.
Last night, I rinsed and waxed all the bisque ware, so it was just a matter of setting up for glazing, and getting to work. The first step is sorting out what gets which glaze. Once things were grouped, it was just a matter of working through the groups. There were a set of 12 small pot-de-creme bowls, all white. A set of 9 wasabi dishes, all blue came next. Then the bigger pieces. And then came the cable keepers. I use them as experiments for combinations of glazes. That took a while, but they should be fun.
This glaze load included a few pieces testing a new dark blue glaze. Everyone has a dark blue glaze, and I haven’t had one since I was working with Melanie Waters at Double Diamond Pottery. This is a different blue, and will probably take a little more work, but I have high hopes. I’ll post photos of the results, as usual.
Once cleanup was complete, I still had to load the kiln. Amazingly, it all fit. And it’s firing now on a slow glaze program. It should be finished about 2:00am, if all goes well. It might be cool enough to peek tomorrow evening, but I don’t think we’ll open until Monday.
Of special interest to me in this load are a set of pieces for the 2x2x2″ show at the Overland Gallery. They have to be submitted by Friday, so my fingers are crossed. Should be fun.
Given all the things going on this time of year, this may be the last glaze load of 2013. It has been a great year, and a lot of fun work has emerged from the kiln. I hope it’s been a good year for all my pottery friends, and I look forward to seeing what you make next year.
Enjoy all the season’s festivities!
Barley Hollow Pottery 
Great minds think alike Joel. I’ve just made a start on my final lot of glazing before the holidays (although my first glaze firing in the new kiln). I only had a few hours in the studio today so need to do some second dips and clean up tomorrow. Hoping to have the kiln loaded tomorrow night, but that might be wishful thinking. Hope the kiln gods are kind to you.
Thanks, Juliet. It ran right to schedule, so my fingers are crossed. It’s still too warm to peek, but that means tomorrow morning will be more fun. Congrats on your new kiln, too!
I am working on my last kiln load for 2013 as well. I can not wait to see the pictures. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Hey Connie! Good luck with your final 2013 kiln firing. Post pictures for us.
My firing came out pretty well and I should have photos online tomorrow-ish. Some fun things happened. Overall, a good firing.