WillowAK Pottery

Goblets in blues and green All those white, porcelain pieces you saw in the last posting are now glazed and fired again. For the most part, all went well, but one nutmeg yarn bowl, the last piece to go in the kiln before I fired her up, was a trouble maker.  Her glaze appeared to have jumped off, pooling on the kiln shelf and influencing a few nearby pieces, including a mug on the shelf below since some glaze dripped through the crack between the two half-shelves!  Weird!  When I say "pieces with personality" I mean good personalities.  Seems I had a "bad bowl" in this group; although she didn't do a lot of damage, she was certainly a negative influence. Admittedly, I probably did not prepare her properly for the firing. A lesson learned -- and one, hopefully, remembered.  Fired 74 pieces -- including a few refirings of earlier work.  Here are the new pieces: Bottom shelf before firing...three more added above Another serving bowl with fish ...

Yes, I did unload 79 items from the kiln; all were fine, and the new circular kiln shelf made it through its first firing just fine.  After having one crack in half on its first firing, and a second one damaged in shipping, I was relieved that the third time was the charm and the kiln now has a 26" full circle shelf. 79 new pieces with personality...now bisqued. Here are photos of the new bisqueware which will be rinsed, embellished, glazed, and fired a second time.  Next, the bottoms will be ground to be sure they are smooth.  Then, the pottery will be ready for adoption. With Mother's Day coming up next month, hopefully these pieces will find new homes easily.  Gift certificates are available for WillowAK Pottery.  If that's of interest, drop me an email note and we'll work out the details in a way that's convenient for you. So, let the glazing begin!  Think there is enough bisqueware on hand for two kilns of glaze firing Yarn bowls.  A n...

Have had a huge moose visiting lately.  See him? Gee, we've had St. Patrick's Day, some birthdays, a wine tasting party, Spring Break, Easter, and April Fools' Day since I last posted, as well as some significant snowfall and knee healing. April should be pretty quiet in comparison. The melting has begun and we've had nice sunny days that last well into the evening. Winter talk will soon give way to garden and landscaping talk, but as you can see, we're not quite there yet! Lots of snow fell the week before Easter.  Keith has about 125 hours on his tractor with the snow blower, so all's under control and looking great. Ice and snow awning over birdhouse. In the photo of the studio there's a birdhouse up under the eave, with a large overhang of ice and snow looking like a white awning.  The black-capped chickadees were interested in going in and out of the birdhouse today, but that was tricky with this big overhang.  When it does release from the ...