I did it, y’all! My friend, who is a beautiful, brilliant, kind woman, asked me to make her a chip and dip. I said yes because my toxic trait is “I can make anything” 😅 Well, I had never thrown one before, and she specifically wanted the divisions so she can put taco toppings in each section. I struggled! First, my bats were terrible (they were a type of board that I thought would be great to use, but instead never released the clay!) I failed there twice before deciding the bats were the problem. Then I threw another one, but the places where I attached the separations kept cracking, the bowl was too leather hard for the attachments, I guessed. So then I made another one, but with shrinkage, it ended up far too small—she wanted something BIG! And then, I made one that I thought was perfect, but the middle section was far too thin on the bottom and it cracked. Cracked in half at the glaze fire! So here, my grand finale, is the last chip and dip with sections that I will ever make 😅🤣 My friend is a big fan of bright and bold colors, often seen wearing a tie dye or ice dye garment that her amazing mother hand-makes for her. I know this was a great learning opportunity. However, I only persevered because I love this person! This was the most clay I’ve ever thrown, it is around 11 pounds of reclaim. I did: Honey Flux all over x3 Then x3 splotches and waves of: Spectrum Cactus, Floating Turquoise, Tiger’s Eye, Bougainvillea, and Amaco Smoky Merlot. Then some splotches of Honey Flux x2 in random locations on top. What do you think?! Did I hit the “tie dye look” target??!!

I’ve just uploaded Part 2 of a kiln opening that very nearly broke me. Part 1 went out a couple of days ago and honestly, it started so well… but because Blaze was packed so full, I split the kiln opening into two halves, and this second half was probably the worst kiln opening I’ve had in 5 years. It was beyond horrific. It included the mug swap pieces I had made for Suza and Ronda, plus a replacement bottle for Lucy at West2Ceramics, who I was visiting just 3 days later. If you watched our meet-up video, you may have spotted two of the pieces in their finished/saved form, but this video shows what actually happened when they first came out of the kiln… and it was not pretty. Pieces had fused together, glazes had run everywhere, there were cracks, pinholes, an exploded plate, and I was so close to tears. That same evening I frantically started grinding and Dremelling, then put the kiln back on for a refire because I had nothing to lose. Tomorrow I’ll release Part 3, showing the reglazing, the refire kiln opening, and whether I managed to save anything at all. Come and share in my distress, anxiety and absolute worst-ever kiln opening with me… because surely this is why we test, learn, cry a little, and then try again 💜 Its only clay after all....(apparently!) 198. Kiln Opening Part 2 | My Worst Kiln Results in 5 Years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDUvMkggzfc

Just uploaded another kiln opening

Just uploaded a kiln opening

For the garden or a potted plant. These came out of the kiln today. And they brought friends! Inspired by @Ona Papageorgiou @Maxine Colleypit Pottery and @Diana Kio