All summer I made and bisqued pieces. I was surrounded by a sea of stark white forms. Now suddenly it's fall and I am back in Berkeley and I am glazing like a crazy lady. Here is my first glaze load ready to be taken from the kiln (I am having to fire at home , using my small kiln as I am still struggling with the City of Berkeley to get the electricity put in fouth & clay...UGH...another story).
It's exciting to see color again - and boy are these bright colors! I switched clays this summer from the creamy, coarser, much stiffer (it killed my wimpy hands) Laguna Greystone to whiter, softer B-mix with grog which is so much more fun to throw. My colors are coming out much cleaner and brighter. I'll have to get used to this. I kind of liked the warmer, funkier tones of the Greystone and also the "halo" effect that happened with certain glazes. With the B-mix there doesn't seem to be the glaze pyrotechnics which were unexpected but made the pieces just sing when they happened. The last thing I want to do is make work that is predictable or make things too easy. What is the thrill in that - no glaze running off the pieces, no "shivering" but no vibrant color mixing either? We'll see...change is good... right?
