Glaze loads

I just love glaze firings.
Not the process so much as the results.

It's always with anxiety, that I open the kiln to see
how the load turned out. (Especially when there's a couple of
pieces being fired for someone else.)

Here's a link of all the pieces from this load, (scroll over each
item to read more about it.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12928209@N04/4198973856/

The kiln gods must be appeased. If enough of me has gone
into the work, they usually turn out well.
But there's often a piece or two that don't quite work out,
or (as in this case) a lovely piece that gets damaged.
One of my sun faces had a witness cone melt onto it. DAMN!
A small disappointment, that can easily be resolved.

I made some wall scones, for dried flowers, and they turned out very well.
I also made a couple of little bowls with a heart in the middle.
I like the smaller one, and will experiment with the darker one. I'm gonna
touch up the heart a bit & re-fire it.
The lily candleholder is complete & I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
The eyeball is a bit weird, but cool.

Some of the smaller pieces are for jewelry, so they will need to be assembled.

Eventually I'll probably list some of these items in my etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/smilingbluedog

But if you are interested in something, just contact me: smilingbluedog@yahoo.ca

Hatching baby dinosaur

I've neglected my blog for some time now.

*wondering if anyone even noticed*.

My excuses?

I've been busy working at my day job, dealing with day to day life,

which keeps me busy, but it's not particularly interesting to write or read

about.

My "spare"time has been spent learning to use my new computer, but I'm

catching on, and have even spent some creative time in my studio again.

That's the stuff I'd like to be writing about.

I thought I'd show-off my newest listing in my etsy shop.

It's a hatching baby dinosaur! I think it's a pterodactyl, (does spelling count?)

I bought the greenware from a ceramic store, a long time ago.

I cleaned, underglazed and fired it promptly (thank goodness), because it's a lot easier

to store bisque than greenware, especially if you end up moving, like we did.

So I glazed the eggshell, and fired it again. Then packed it away in a box with many

other partially completed pieces.

Now that I have my studio space set up, I've been unpacking these boxes and am determined

to complete most, if not all, of my unfinished work.

This baby was a labour of love, and I hope someone will treasure it.

I also have a couple of hatching baby dragons that I need to finish up as well.

They're adorable too.

I find it takes such a long time from start to finish, let alone photographing & listing

on my etsy shop. At least I don't have to worry about them "growing up" in the mean-time.

I'll try & add a photo here, but just in case that doesn't work,

here's the link to my new listing of the hatching baby dinosaur: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34281886