Mug Debut...More To Come
Earlier, I may have mentioned a mug order. Here is what 54 porcelain mugs look like when unloaded from their first firing to 1830 degrees F.
No glaze on them yet, but once cooled they are ready for a stain on the logo, a clear glaze over the logo, a wax over the clear glaze, and then a dip in a bucket of a newly- mixed glaze before a second firing. Found it a bit concerning that a label was on the dry glaze announcing that it is a "new formula." Hmmm...I sure hope the change is minuscule in appearance and behavior. (An aside. I just asked Siri how to spell miniscule and the audio response is "minuscule," although on the screen the word appears as "miniscule." A little research suggests, to my surprise, that minuscule is "correct" with miniscule being a "new-fangled" spelling considered a "variant" by many.) Admittedly, so easily sidetracked.
Back to mugs. These are made to be "no spill" in design and have a logo medallion of an exciting new business in Anchorage. Will share more about that when I have glazed, fired, and posted the mugs to show you.
Friend Becky Voris and I did some experimenting with adding Mason stains to porcelain and playing a bit with colored clay. Did put clear glaze on these and fired them at the bisque firing temp I use which is cone 06.
The color goes through the complete piece rather than being applied to the outside surface of the clay. We talked over what caused the difference in how intense the color appears and will likely do some more experimenting with nerikomi techniques which incorporate colored clay into pieces. We hand built these little samples; may try wheel throwing some small pieces next time. If working with colored clay is a process of interest to you, let John the Potter explain it in detail on You Tube.
Yes, there were some other fun pieces unloaded. Without telling you about the them, let me simply show you some at this stage. You'll see them, again, after they've been glazed and fired to about 2200 degrees F.
