I just unloaded a glaze firing and wow!!! It's amazing how a successful glaze firing can be so refreshing! I have had so many other things going on in my life, and I have been feeling so pulled away from my pottery. This firing really helped me to feel better.This firing contained a variety of items: some jewelry that I made recently, ornaments that I made last fall, a few ikebana dishes and a couple of mugs that I made late last summer and even a couple of vases and a planter that I made early last summer.
I really love the planter!!! I glazed and fired it because there is a planter competition coming up in the etsy mud team. I may end up keeping this one just for me and not listing it for sale on etsy. I love the form, the flow, the depth of detail, the colors...everything about it! It is so full of life! The huge leaf catch-plate really compliments the pot and adds even more liveliness. I love the primary leaf that covers the pot and extends so far above the rim. It possesses gorgeous curves and depth. It really draws the eye through the work and beyond. The smaller leaves seem to float around the pot like butterflies or faeries. This is the type of work that I really love creating! It feels really good to stand back and look at a piece that I made and say wow.
I am also really pleased with the ikebana dishes. I love the way the white slip on the brown clay looks like a real lace doily. The colors on the leaves came out so vivid and...Victorian. They compliment the lace effect very well. My favorite form is this one: where the bowl form remains obvious, yet the lace drapes and curves around it like a skirt rustling in the wind. I also really like the way the ivy leaves flow across it like a vine.
My husband, Roger, likes the form of this one better: It came out really nice too. Again, I love the vine effect with the ivy leaves.
The ornaments came out pleasantly different than I expected. These are my favorites: Believe it or not, they were finished with a purple pansy mason stain combined with frit 3134 and washed back. I was quite surprised to see such a lovely shade of iris blue as the result! I really love the light glazing effect where the color is heavier (that was the result of the frit). It gives an almost 
iridescent look. 
The ornaments and jewelry components that I finished with only underglazes and no frit have a softer, more pastel look to them. They turned out more like I expected, but the cinnamon did turn more brown-purple and less red-brown than I expected. I am still very pleased with the results. In the future, though, I want to work more with the mason stains and frit combination in a variety of other colors. I think that should be more cost effective although with the tiny pieces, the cost either way will not be considerable per each piece. The initial cost can be considerable, but then the supplies last for a lot of pieces. I really want to play with the stains-frit combo to achieve that light glazing. Completely glazing these tiny pieces would not compliment them well and would be impractical. I think this is a better way to go.With this successful firing, I will be reopening my etsy shop! I wanted to have some new pieces to list along with the previously displayed work. I will try to add a couple of new pieces as often as possible. I am looking forward to completing the necklaces that I have been working on all year, but that may still take me a little bit since I still have so many other things going on in my life. I will add them as they are completed. I'm looking forward to sharing my newest successes with everyone!
