My title sounds a bit like a risqué petticoat, but no, it refers to the special, very liquid slips that are sprayed onto bone dry or bisqued stoneware pieces prior to a soda or salt or wood firing. They react to the surrounding flames and will lend a delicious opaque colour, often red-brown, orange or blue, or will encourage orange peeling. There’s so much to learn about how much to apply, which ones enhance an underlying slip and which will give areas of blue, green or gold.

I am interested in achieving a traditional blue orange peel on some pieces but I’m also intrigued with the idea of having a clear dividing line between different colours and textures. So, for the one or two times a year that I have the opportunity to participate in a soda firing I tend to overdo the experiments. In my notebook I have a drawing of each piece, duplicates are numbered and I record which slips I’ve sprayed on each. Then I note which glaze is used as a liner (a reminder: I don’t apply glaze on the outsides at all – whatever you see on the exterior surfaces is caused by sprayed, painted or splooshed slips). I generally use my own shino but I have used Shadbolt Centre’s excellent Tesha and ‘Robin’s Clear’ for super contrasts to the outsides.

All this is to explain why there are so many different colours on my latest soda-fired pieces. Perhaps, with the help of my notes, I will decide on a selection of the best for the next firing and you’ll see more consistency in my work.

I’m very pleased with at least two from this firing. The grooved lidded jar which is on display at Shadbolt at present was sprayed with ‘Blair’s Red’, a slip that my salt buddy Claude and I mixed up at Medalta in 2010. Over that I sprayed a little of ‘Ruggles & Rankin green/blue’ and that produced the gentle blue orange peel.

The other piece that I shall keep here for a while is the biggest jugbird. Like my Salt Spring Island one it has a red bill/spout which was painted with Speedball red underglaze. The body is the warm orange-red of ‘Blair’s Red’ again and there are accents/feathers painted with an OM4 terra sig/rutile mix.

The Rhyton will probably stay with me for a while as it’s a prototype for a number of similar interpretations of the Ancient Greek form that I intend to make. Eric and I have a plan..

The silly tea-pot was made because Jeremy at Primavera is hoping I’ll made some Bird teapots. This is just the first, and I already have ideas on how to make it more bird-y.

Mainly for my own reference I’ll include photos of all the pieces. I’d enjoy reading any thoughts you’d like to offer – whether a colour is OTT or if a combination appeals to you. In a day or two I’ll take some jugbirds down to Circle Craft, along with some new brightly coloured earthenware ones that I took out of the glaze kiln this afternoon.