Another bisque firing, another batch of mugs. Always with the mugs.

Among the wares emerging from the latest kiln firing are these four demitasse (“half cup”) cups and saucers. They’re about 4 oz. capacity, just the right size for espresso or Turkish coffee.

A little fun using a flashlight to light some bisqued pottery…

A full set of dinnerware place settings is in progress, a present for Michael and Kali.

Lori bisque-fired a collection of mugs, varied in size, shape, and design. Next, she will meticulously mask and glaze the mugs in preparation for final glaze firing.

These raku bottles show distinctive designs and different glaze combinations.

A busy weekend of firing resulted in a good selection of bisque-fired mugs ready for glazing and a raku firing session yielding some very nice raku bottles with unique and distinctive patterns.  The kiln gods were kind.

Stoneware coffee mugs wait for glazing.

When trying different glazes and techniques in pottery, things don’t always work out as intended. Sometimes you get disasters; sometimes you get happy accidents.

Or maybe this was intentional.  Yeah, that’s it: it was intentional!

This plate, from the most recent glaze firing, is an exploration of a curvier more organic design in the pattern and glazes.

The dining table is covered with drying bisqueware pottery that’s been treated with red iron oxide stain prior to glazing.

A drying rack (the dining table) is covered with bisqueware pieces that have been previously thrown, church-keyed, bisque-fired, and treated with red iron oxide stain to accentuate the patterns.  Next step is masking with liquid latex, glazing, and finally glaze firing.

Raku bottle with white crackle glaze.

It’s been about 2 years since the last raku session so this was overdue. Perfect weather, recent retirement, and renewed enthusiasm conspired to make a firing all but inevitable. Results were encouraging and, as always, new things were learned about this tricky and unpredictable technique. Thank you kiln gods!