I have often described the fun of opening the kiln to see how the pieces that I have made turned out as being like “Christmas”. That excitement brought on by having worked so hard over weeks to create an item and knowing that all that work may bring an AWE moment of joy or, an Oh NO! moment of disappointment. There are many steps in making a piece and something can go wrong at any stage. Once you have made a piece, dried it for days (not to fast or it might crack), bisque fired (13 or so hours plus cooling time), glazed it (depending on the piece I might brush on the glaze, dip the piece or spray the glaze) the excitement of opening the kiln after waiting 25+ hours and seeing the results of your hard work is just like opening presents at Christmas when you were a kid. Each glaze firing results (for me, anyway) with one or two pieces that I am thrilled with, most I really like and am pleased with the results and ……. One or two that just didn’t make it.
These shots are of some pieces from my most recent firing. I was particularly excited to see the result of 3 pieces. I made a few birdhouses this spring – playing around with design and size. I glazed two of them to test out a couple of glaze choices and I am very pleased with how both turned out. The third piece I was excited to see was my first go at a soap dispenser for my newly decorated bathroom. I tried out a glaze that I thought would be a good compliment and was thrilled with how it turned out.
Now that the kiln is empty, it is time to start the process again – back to the studio to make, dry, bisque, glaze, glaze fire and Christmas again!

Janet McDougall
www.earthandvines.com