Well, OK, there are a few people I love even more than creating my ceramics, but it does come pretty high up the list ! Am sure all you creatives out there feel exactly the same way about what you do. What I do is all here - well most of it. Have bypassed the messy bit where I am up to the elbows in clay but once made, the pieces are left to dry, placed in the kiln and then (above) taken out 24 hours later when they are 'bisque' fired. That gives me lots of blank pieces to then decorate
So I get to work with my glazes on the bare pieces. I put different colour tiles up against each other to see what they'll look like, though I pretty much know by now what works and what doesn't.
Glazing the bisqued piece can be tricky as the unfired glaze colour bares no resemblance to what it will finally look like.
And then comes the exciting bit. Once the glazed pieces have been fired a second time and the kiln has cooled down, I can open it and hope and pray that it all looks as I'd imagined ... or even better.
There are three shelves which normally would be FULL of work, but here I needed to produce some pieces in a hurry and didn't have time to make a proper kiln load (which I hate cos its such a waste!).
And then I attach my bits and bobs to the piece - buttons, embroidery thread, wire to hang the little hearts up with, etc. And there you have it - simple! And I just love it. Just wish I had more hours in a day to do it, though! Sometimes 'normal' life has a habit of interfering.
Hello Catherine - congratulations, you're one of the lucky winners of the Dove competition! Please can you drop me an email (info@thatsnotmyage.com) with your address so that I can get them to send you the prize.
ReplyDeleteOpening your kiln must be a little like opening a present?
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