It's not easy cramming all of the stuff that happened in the last few days into one post. Maybe I'll spare you.
Where to begin?
The Sunday firing had already been delayed for a day and couldn't be pushed back any further. The pots I needed to paint and glaze were everywhere. Inside and outside of the shop, in piles. It was pretty intimidating. I usually take at least 4 days to do the work, but reasonably it takes 5 or 6. This time I had 3! You can imagine the picture I would post if I had it. The picture of me sitting there at my bench with my brushes and all of those pots with a look not unlike a deer on my face. It's in those moments when I wish I could just dip the pots and be done.
After the painting, came the glaze-a-thon on Friday which went into early early Saturday a.m. I wouldn't recommend this approach to anyone, but it's what had to be done, unfortunately. My palette of glazes has to be divvied up not only for the sake of variety, but also for technical reasons. Some places in the kiln are hotter/cooler than others, some places get more salt fuming/glazing than others, etc. So it's hard to keep up with all of this stuff in head, but somehow I intuit all of this stuff. Maybe that is why I use a limited palette, just one slip and 3 glazes.
Throughout the process, I get new ideas about pattern, color, and various combos. The brushwork evolves, although it seems to evolve at a slower pace than before in these circumstances. One of the hazards from working under such pressure is that I paint impulsively. This can also yield some pretty fresh deco, too. Quick and spontaneous. I was pretty happy with the painting and deco ideas.
Maybe that's enough for tonight. I'm still pretty spent from the work. I'll continue tomorrow with the loading and firing.
z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z Night Night.
