I blew it

You just can't rush the clay...

I had this bead rack all made and ready to bisque fire...

But when I opened the kiln it was a mess -

The joins were a bit thick where I wanted the uprights supported and I guess they just were not fully dry.  The water expands inside the clay and this can be the result...

Lesson learned.

On a brighter note the special project pieces are fine and will just need a good clean before glazing.

Initial stages of project complete, a bead rack and nature's wall feature

This week has seen the completion of the soft clay part of my project completed with 90 individual pieces pressed moulded.  Each of those 90 is made up of two pieces and then details are applied and a metal loop inserted to allow each one to be suspended.  They are suspended during the glaze firing which allows glaze all over and will be fitted with jewellery findings and suspended again for presentation.

hidden secret mould and tools

When I glaze fired the last batch I ran out of space on my bead racks so decided I had better make another one.

previously used bead racks.. some slab some wheel thrown types

making the slabs

I have found that the slab built type takes up less space on the shelf while allowing for a double row of suspended pieces.

New bead rack on top shelf. Cones on adjoining shelf

the ones I made originally didn't support the wire well enough (it softens at the high temperatures) so this one is a little longer overall but has a support in the centre...

Slabs are tricky when you don't make with them on a regular basis... I've managed to bend them a bit so I hope they don't bend any more in the firing.

These pots have come through the last two glaze firings and I should have them ready for sale with the Port Hacking Potters Group on Thursday 25 February at Sutherland Hospital in the foyer from 9am if you are in the area. (ready for sale means their bottoms smoothed and then priced and listed).


We have had a relatively wet summer this year which makes a nice change from the past drought years.  The garden has gone crazy and the wall outside my studio has become a living wall installation... where did those ferns come from?  We haven't grown any fishbone fern for years.

Back online and the project continues

We have been without internet at home for two weeks!

A thunderstorm in the area put out phones and internet and it has taken Telstra all this time to get us reconnected! We also needed to buy a new modem but we couldn't tell until they fixed the connection...

So that has meant no blogging and limited time on Facebook too...

But hey, we are back now...

The secret project continues...  I worked in the kitchen while the kiln was firing a bisque

working on the kitchen table... some handy tools, some bought and some gifts and some found

The bisque included some new bead rack type supports which I have coated with kiln wash today

The new ones are the taller cones in the middle of this picture..

 these are the first of the bottle pourers through the glaze firing



















The rest of the pourers were in the latest bisque firing and I plan on glazing these and some of my special project pieces tomorrow.

The weather has dried out and warmed up again bringing out many extra flowers and ripening the berries on our palm trees and lillypilly trees

it makes for a colourful time in the garden..

fingers crossed for the next glaze firing and I've almost completed the initial making of the number of pieces needed for the special project...