Last Firing Before Going on Vacation

Glazed pieces drying in the sun.

 I'm flying south on February 14th! After the snow storm I'm more than ready to head down to the summer warmth of the Southern Hemisphere. Arriving in Buenos Aires on February 15th to enjoy a whole week visiting the city with my niece who lives there. We had planned a trip to Iguazú Falls but have been thwarted by Aedes aegypti. El Niño has caused a lot of flooding in northern Argentina leading to an increase in the mosquito population and a serious dengue epidemic. So we are staying well south in the Río de la Plata where, thankfully, there is no dengue and no zika. The week will culminate in a celebration of my niece's birthday. After that we are headed for two weeks in Uruguay.

It's 81 degrees F in Buenos Aires and 73 degrees F in Montevideo, compared to the 35 degrees F we have here in Alexandria, Virginia, tonight. So yes, I'm ready to go bask in the sun!

Bottom shelf.

But first, one last glaze firing. I have three orders still to fulfill and they're in this load. The kiln is running tonight and will be ready to open on Sunday.

I have an order for 3 serving bowls in purple, green and blue. One is on the bottom shelf, together with 3 berry bowls and 2 sponge holders. The domed piece is the top of a butter or cheese dish. I put fine sand under the piece so that it can move as it shrinks and it not warp. I've also put a glass marble in the knob. That will melt and, hopefully, make a beautiful lake of glass.

All the items on the bottom-middle shelf are orders. There are 2 more of the serving bowls, a yarn bowl and night light. The yarn bowl has a cutout of a moose and is glazed in purple. It's for a knitter who loves moose and the color purple (I'm told they call her "purple moose"). The night light is for a request for one that could hang on the wall. I made this one flatter than usual and made a foot ring that can hold a wire to hang it. We'll see how that turns out.

Bottom Middle Shelf.

The top-middle shelf has the extra serving bowl and the extra moose yarn bowl. I always make one extra just in case. Last time around, I didn't make an extra moose yarn bowl and, yes, it cracked. So this time I made two.

I've glazed all the night lights white this go around because all six white ones that came out of the last kiln load sold right away.

I made about six wide platters of different sizes this time and could only get 3 in this load. This one on the top-middle shelf is glazed in an iron matte glaze from John Britt's Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes. I sprinkled green and yellow glass frit on top of the glaze and also put in a glass marble. Let's see what happens.

Top Middle Shelf

The top shelf is in three stages. I've got a large platter that's barely visible... that'll be a surprise for next time. Another platter has a carved chrysanthemum and is glazed in waterfall brown (from the Hesselberth and Roy Mastering Cone Six Glazes book). Glass marbles on that one as well. At the very top are the coasters for the berry bowls.

This load is being run in a fast glaze to cone 5. I've had good luck with cone 5 firings so far. It is in the hands of the kiln gods now!

Top Shelf