How can we be so far into January? I had planned to get a kiln load of earthenware pieces, including some more plates for Raiders made by now. At this point I have some jugbirds and yunomis waiting to be painted and I've thrown and assembled two special Rhytons. The latter just need to dry now and the plan is for Eric to paint them…
One of the jugbirds I took to England in September was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. They are native to England, not North America. As soon as she saw it on Facebook, local Port Moody artist Maggie White asked for one too. Like me, Maggie grew up in England so was probably feeling nostalgic. My most recent flock of birds included her GS Woodpecker and today…
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…
Last Wednesday we, the Soda Workshop people, were invited to show up at the Shadbolt kiln for the big reveal. We waited until everybody was there before removing any of the delicious new ware. Perhaps because we were only eight participants (due to a couple of last-minute drop-outs) there was lots of space around each pot and there seemed to be orange peeling or warm…
On the very day that we arrived home from England I was notified that an extra Soda Firing Workshop had been arranged at Shadbolt Centre because there were so many people on the waiting list. Of course I signed up there and then. But it meant that I needed to make my two cubic feet of ware between then, late September, and now. In the…