After a busy few days of glaze mixing and glazing I was finally able to fire Kevin on Tuesday. It takes a long time to cool down (and I wasn’t going to risk opening him too soon) so I wasn’t able to fully unload him until late on Wednesday – but thankfully it was worth the wait. A big commission has come out well in a mix of cream and red (to match their kitchen) and I’ve had some really successful test results in the whites and blues range. Yippee!
I thought I’d highlight in this post one of the pastel shades I’ve been looking for. I’m really happy with how this glaze has come out – it is not just blue, but also has hints of green and yellow. It’s got a real feeling of being up above Askham, looking out over the lake when the sky is blue and the buttercups are out in the meadows. I’m thrilled with it and it means I can start making pieces with it in mind – starting with bud vases. Only one small problem, I can’t work out how to photograph it! No one photo has quite done it justice as you can see below – that’s all the same pot, honest! I put a slightly stronger blue shade inside and I love how the two colours pop. Now I’m happy with this glaze I’ll be starting on some bud vases in earnest as I also have a matching pastel green glaze that coordinates nicely.
But it’s not just glazing this month. I’ve been delighted with the interest in my swimming mugs since appearing in Outdoor Swimmer Magazine (thank you to everyone who has ordered) and so I’ve got another batch on the go. I’ve just glazed these and, since I’ve made a bit of a change to the white glaze that goes inside the mug and around the rim, I’ll be waiting anxiously now to see how they come out in the firing next week. If all goes well, I will top up my shelf at Interlude Ceramics, Brougham Hall and add to my shop stock.
Next on the to do list:
- Writing up the glaze results testing from this session before I forget what I did
- Working out what needs tweaking for future testing and what glazes I want to make in larger batches, so I can plan my next order of materials from the pottery suppliers.
- Making some more bud vases because I’m so excited to be using the new blue!
- Making some mugs
- Preparing for Penrith show in July. It will come around sooner than I think.
