Howdy Folks,
What a nice weekend it was here. It was cloudy and warm for much of it, but today the sun has returned and temps are super comfortable, even chilly this morning. Typical September!
I built several dozen mugs this summer, but it will take some time to get them all glazed and finished. This is just a handful that I was able to get done in the past week. More will be coming as the weeks go on so stay tuned. :)
We had some trouble at the studio lately with many of our staple glazes running out. Because many old time glaze recipes call for special natural minerals that are mined, some of the mines have run out and now glazes have to be reformulated with the new minerals that are available so that they will melt out correctly and also "fit the ceramic bodies". It is very tricky because there are four different clay bodies at the studio so the glazes need to be able to work with all four of the different clays. Small tweaks in the recipe can make a huge difference in how the glaze interacts with the clay body and it doesn't always work out.
My friend Irene at the studio has been working on making a new line of glazes for us. So far the green and the blue are great, but I did ruin two mugs with another of the reformulated glazes, so not all of them can be trusted yet. As the fall progresses several other glazes she is working on will get worked out and I should be able to get some other colors going. My challenge is that I have all these cool textures and stamps that I'm working with, so I need translucent finishes that will allow you to see highlights of the images through the glassy surface, lighter where the glaze is thinner and darker where it pools up.
These latest mugs are coming out great. I have a good hand building routine down now and I have been able to get more consistent sizes and shapes going with this series. Most of these have three images stamped around the mug, and then a fourth image inside which often gets filled in partially with melted glaze. Bottoms are all textured and are given an iron oxide wash to give contrast and color. They are about 13 oz on average, which is a good size for coffee, and I tend to roll the slabs out thickly so the mugs are quite hefty and will keep the heat in a bit longer. I've been having a blast telling little stories with combinations of images so expect some very interesting and unexpected subjects coming up.
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Mug #1: Cows and CowGirl. Really fun images with a barbed wire border. This piece is slightly smaller at 12 oz... $65 plus shipping:
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