Kiln Results - Good

Ok, I forgot to take pics while the pieces were still in the kiln, so I have some piled-up pieces here:  First, all the "newbies' stuff was in the bottom of the kiln, and theirs came out fine and they'll be by soon to paint and glaze them, even the piece that had an almost 3/4"-deep base (I dried it for weeks!)

The next-bottom bisqued pieces are already piled on my paint table, but they're a bit visible in the photo below.  I'll start painting them this weekend.  

And the top couple of layers had glazed-fired pieces, which all came out well, too.  So my mixed load, bisque and glaze pieces, once again worked well, again at a slow glaze schedule.  I am NOT recommending this process; but in a pinch, which I felt this was, it worked out well.  Again, I've been doing this stuff for a long, long time, so I have more of a feeling for what will work, and I'm sometimes willing to take the chance.  There was one piece in there that was a customer request, and it was already late with it.  So she'll get her piece listed Monday, and all is well :)

Sorry, my paint table is always, always a mess, but it serves me well.  I think I've mentioned:  I sit in one place, and the table turns, and each round platform on the table turns as well.  Very convenient.

I'll be listing these pieces on Etsy over the next couple of weeks.  During the summer when business is slow, I only list a few pieces a week -- and I don't make as many pieces, either, although I try to make myself work more because, as with every year, the holiday season is just around the corner.  September-February are my best months of the year.  (I guess January-February are people who received gift certificates.)

Firing the Kiln Today, and Summer Doldrums

 Summer doldrums have already set in for me, and it's not even officially summer yet.  But I did finally get a mixed kiln-load of pieces finished.  (The following info might be too much for an experienced clay artist but possibly informative for a beginner.) What I mean by a mixed load is that part of the kiln (the bottom) is packed really tightly with pieces that are raw clay that has been completely dried; and since they aren't glazed, can be touching each other, even lying on top of each other in some instances.  The upper part of the kiln has been carefully loaded with bisqued (prefired) pieces, painted, and glazed.  I put the glazed pieces in the top of the kiln so that  in the unlikely chance that a raw piece would blow, my glazed pieces wouldn't be damaged.  (That has only happened once or maybe twice early in my over 30-year career as a clay artist.  Has it really been that long??) 

For firing, I set the firing schedule for a slow glaze fire, which causes less of a temperature shock to the bisque pieces.  Tomorrow, I'll report on the outcome.  A mixed load is not something I normally do, but I have been working slowly lately (retail sales are slow in the summer, and I've already finished my gallery orders for the summer, and I'm spending as much time outdoors as I possibly can because working in my gardens is fun).  I'll show a shot of the finished kiln either tomorrow or the next day, depending on how cool it is.

Another thing lately that is a little disappointing is that some of my new works aren't receiving as much interest as my standard pieces that I've worked on and perfected sometimes for decades, such as my dog, cat, and fish wall pieces.  I still love them all and make them regularly, but I also want to try new pieces that haven't been perfected.  Unfortunately, those new pieces just aren't as well received.  Plus, because each one is very unique, they take a lot, lot longer to make, and hence I have to charge more for them.  I'll continue to make them, though, because I enjoy doing it, it stretches my creative parts of my brain, and somewhere, somewhere out there is someone who is going to fall in love with at least a few of them from time to time.  It's something I've wanted to do for many years, but for the most part, I was doing only what the public wanted, and they wanted a lot of my standard pieces.  

I absolutely love these two cuties! Their names are Simon Slick and Samantha Louann, by the way.

I think I've mentioned that I used to have a quite large wholesale business, including employees, a huge studio to die for, lots of kilns, etc., etc.  It probably sounds great, but it was a miserable existence, I must say.  "All work and no play ....."  And for reasons that I have probably already mentioned, it all came crashing down (coincidentally, it coincided with the 9/11 attack, which just added salt to the wound)  After my business crash happened and I got over the shock, which took a while, I slowly and carefully, on a much smaller scale, started selling to some of my galleries again.  Only in the last few years have I mostly stopped selling to any galleries (I have only two now, one of which has come on very recently, and there won't ever be more).  

This is a rambling post, mostly because it's the "summer doldrums" and because I tend to wander.  It's so odd to know what I can safely say and what I cannot say, so I just wander instead.  Anyway, I'll report my firing results when I can.  In the meantime, check out some of my less standard pieces on Etsy sometime if you like (https://www.etsy.com/shop/DottieDracos).  If no one buys them, it's okay; I'll continue to make them anyway and display them in my own house because I think they're adorable.  Nothing too edgy or political; I don't go there at least publicly, sad to say.