Lots of Green

In this firing I had lots of pieces with green celadon glaze. These pieces are much prettier in person. My photo color is off and I can't figure out how to fix it. The green's are brighter and richer than the photos. This first one is a Queen Anne's Lace oblong bowl.

This is a round Queen Anne's Lace bowl. I am still surprised when I open the kiln at how much pieces shrink in the firings.

Here's a small Queen Anne's Lace platter. I need to make more of these Queen Anne's Lace pieces, hope there is still some blooming. I guess I could grow some carrots just for their flowers.

Here's a Queen Anne's Lace serving tray. You just may be able to see in the middle of each of the long sides the remnants of a handle which fell off when I was glazing. It made it through the bisque but I guess it wasn't attached very well. I sanded the attachment points and fired it anyway. For this tray and the platter above I rubbed RIO on the leaves. For the other's I didn't use RIO. Not sure which I like better.

Here's another leaf bowl with different leaves. You'll notice a slight difference in the color of the green's. I've used two different celadon glazes. One's a more blue green and the other a more Spring green.

One of my leaf dishes. I fired lots of them this time. A few with glaze tests. Got to go back over my notes to see which is which.

 Here are four green leaf dishes.

Here are the experimental tiles. I'll work on my lettering and I also plan to leave a bit more open space with more defined leaf impressions on the tile. Stay tuned for more from this firing coming up soon. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Lots of Pots Drying

Lots of pots are drying under plastic. We've had to use our air conditioning since it's been getting up to 90 F on several occasions. At least it cools down at night.

I'm making my leaf plates again which can be used for spoon holders, soap dishes or what have you.

I made a few of these touristy tiles since we get a lot of out of town visitors to the farmer's market. I am trying to think of items to sell that are at different price points. I'll use RIO (red iron oxide) in the letters and put a transparent glaze over these. I've inserted a little wire hanger.

Here's my first attempt at a simple design for a sponge holder. May need to make some type of a jig to keep these from splaying out. Oh I know I could have draped them over a 2 x 4 and taped them down, next time.

I used my Queen Anne's lace to impress a few large platters, bowls and baskets. I plan to use transparent glazes over these and hopefully the glaze will pool in the impressions. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Leaves and Mermaids

We've had crisp cool nights and warm dry days which makes for some good fall color here in Florida. This is an ornamental pear in our front yard with darker vein color.

Here's a native Florida maple still hanging on to a few leaves which are a wondrous rosy pink color. I'm still seeing frogs, toads, and baby lizards hopping and running around in the yard. And the black snake has made a home in the side yard.

Looks like I have to make more leaf dishes since I sold two more leaves on Etsy. Miracles never cease as they say. Speaking of Etsy, Michele put together a wonderful treasury featuring pottery of pottery bloggers. While you're checking out Etsy see Michele's shop for her piggy banks and more wonderful pottery; she also has a mermaid orb which really caught my eye.

Do folks still use stockings? I remember as a kid we had stockings and it was so much fun looking inside to see what small gift might be hidden in there. I think a handmade piece of pottery would make a great stocking stuffer. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

A Little Dab Will Do You

Are you ever hungry for a snack but don't want to make something elaborate? That's what happened the other day. So I fixed myself a rice cracker with some almond butter and a dollop of apricot preserves. The almond butter wasn't inexpensive, but at the rate I'm using it, it will last for more than a year. A little dab will do you. I keep it in the refrigerator and it doesn't get solid in there either.

These leaf dishes are perfect for serving a light snack and it turns out they are good for many other uses too. At the farmer's market one of the folks who purchased several of my leaf dishes came by to thank me. It seems the woman uses a leaf dish for her tea bags and one for tea lights and she said her husband uses a leaf dish for his teeth. Now every time I think of my leaf dishes I'll have more than visions of sugar plums in my head. Ha. That's the beautyberry above which is now in full radiant color. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.