Fresh Work

It's all flowers and bubble gum colors for spring. When I lined up all my work I wished I had finished it for Easter. I've never been very good at planning for holidays, I'm hoping I'll get better at it as time goes on. So here is the infamous tulip bowl, stage one. Some of the work I made this firing was more about the form, and less about the surface. I tried restraining myself, which of course backfired because I became less interested in the work. I did, however come up with some good basic ideas.

Every firing elicits a different reaction from me. In the past firings I have peeked in the kiln and prepared myself for disaster, only to be pleasantly surprised; fired a kiln load almost completely full of pots for the shard pile; and most recently had every emotion possible about my work until arriving in a satisfied place. My good friend Mandy told me as I was about to fire my first load of glazes I had mixed myself, you won't get the glazes exactly how you want them until about ten years from now. At the time I was a little discouraged, but of course hindsight is 20/20. I know that I probably still won't get the glazes exactly how I went them, but that feeling now relaxes me, and sometimes allows the "happy accidents" I wouldn't otherwise experience.



In my next firing you will see some more of these bubbly gummy colors, and my new forms playing dress-up with different embellishments. As I was loading up the kiln this morning with student work, and I remembered a critique where someone commented on my work, "You're going to hate this, but it's like venus flying trap playing dress-up" Now who could hate that?