Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing well. Since my last post, I’ve been busy in the studio mixing glazes, throwing tons of pieces, learning to fire a kiln, and planning future projects. Hopefully we’ll have some pieces ready to start glazing soon so I can show you all some finished products! For now, here’s a bit more detail about what I’ve been up to.

Last week I dedicated an entire day to mixing up glazes! Mixing glaze isn’t my favorite, mostly because it’s pretty tedious, but it’s always worth it in the end. I mixed up my own batch of white glaze because it’s always a popular choice in the studio, and I like to have my own supply. I also mixed up a huge batch of my beloved teal. Then, I mixed up three test glazes for my new cone 6 clay! If they work out, I’ll have purple, mint green & burgundy (I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it’s pretty!) and dark turquoise to play around with. So, once I get my test tiles out of the bisque kiln, I’m going to try those out! I also have a few glazes a student left behind when they graduated, so I’m going to test what those look like as well! Other than that, I still have a couple of glazes I’ll eventually need to mix more of, but for now they’re fine. I do need to measure the water content in the glazes, though, because I’ve been having a lot of issues with my glazes being too thick. So, before I glaze anything this semester, I need to do that! Here’s a photo of my test glazes!

I’ve also been in a bit of a production mode the last couple of weeks. I want to come out of my final year here with lots of individual, unique pieces, but also plenty to sell at craft fairs and shows when I get there. I haven’t found that balance yet, but I’m hoping I will soon. In the meantime, I’ve made a lot of mugs, tumblers, and other functional pieces along with a few random things that I just thought would be fun to make. For example, the series of lamps I talked about in my last post, stacking storage jars, mini pots, and wonky vases. Here are some photos.

Speaking of this being my final year here at Marywood’s Art Department, I’ve been learning as much as possible to be prepared to be on my own. For me, that started with kilns and firing them because, wow, that’s intimidating! Mark Chuck has been a savior, helping me understand everything there is to know about kilns. We spent a while discussing the do’s and don’ts and what to buy and what not to buy. Let’s say there’s a lot to learn, and I’m glad I still have lots of time to get as much information out of Mark as I can!

Finally, I’ve been sketching out ideas for forms and even ideas for glazing certain pieces. I’ve been trying to consume a lot of pottery content for inspiration, and it’s been helping me a ton. I’m finding techniques for all sorts of things I hadn’t thought about. Especially with decoration, I tend to dip pieces in glaze and call it a day, so finding ways to make my pieces more interesting without intricate designs is especially helpful.

Well, that’s all I have for this week. I should hopefully have some glazing process updates for you all in my next post! Thank you for reading, and stay creative, everyone 🙂

-Jenna