49,50,51,52

I'm up and early this morning; could hardly wait to open my kiln! I just took out the first four bread and butter plates. I will be firing more this week...

Dried up, Stacked up and Firing away!

My kiln is loaded with greenware (completely dried pots) from bottom to top. The bread and butter plates are all nestled inside. Glazing begins next week, provided all goes well. I never take that for granted!! Have a great weekend. :)

All trimmed up!

The plates dried and came off the bats at just the right time. I was able to tend to other necessary things in my studio last week while they dried. All have now been trimmed-- along with a couple of extras "just in case"-- and are currently sitting on shelves, waiting to dry fully. I'm really tickled with them! They stack nicely and are a cute size. :)

The first picture shows me roughly trimming the bottom of a plate; by now you know what that means: removing excess clay off the bottom and creating a "foot" to stand on which gives it a nice finished look. When I do this I have to be sure that it will fit into the inside of the plate (right side up), for good stacking.

The second pic shows the plates all stacked up. When they are fully dry into the kiln they will go for their bisquing! I should have a full load ready to go next week. Progress, progress!

The final stretch...

It's been almost a month since I worked on this project and I really do appreciate my understanding customer. I needed to set this aside for a bit to work on other projects but today I was back at it! I promised said customer that I would have her 60 pieces done by Thanksgiving and I plan to stick to my word.

The Bread and Butter plates are now in the works-- the last 12 pieces of this 60 piece place setting. All 12 (plus some extras) are now drying on the masonite bats they were thrown on today. I have them in my damp room rather than out in the studio as I like them to dry slowly to minimize potential cracking and because I have a lot of other pieces that need to be trimmed first, before they get too dry. I also have some glazing to do tomorrow so I won't be getting these plates off to trim 'til the end of the week.

I took several pictures to show a couple of different stages of the plates. The best is pictured here which shows me using my fingers to form the lip of the plate by simply squeezing the clay 'til it's the width and thickness I want. I also use my right hand in this process but sorry, I only have 2 hands and I had to hold the camera. With my right hand I simply hold a sponge to keep it smooth and clean up some of the excess water.

I'm excited to be in the final stretch now. I'm anxious for my customer to have her complete set. This has been such a great project! Check back in 5 or 6 days to see about the trimming of these plates. All for now! Thanks for stopping by...

...and 6 make 48!

All dinner plates, salad plates, bowls and mugs accounted for!

An early Christmas for some...

The pieces keep arriving at their new home. I have just received pictures of their unwrapping so I thought I'd share with you. It's exciting to me to see that they are in the right hands; speaking of which-- nice nails!! Mine sure don't look like that with the abuse they take!

As I write this post, my last package of the "first 48" is enroute to my customer's home. I thought I would surprise her this time. Before I go back to packing up pots for a big show this weekend, I've got to tell you that I'm drooling over all that nice bubblewrap and peanuts! Have a great weekend everybody. :)

I'm on the prowl...

Business has been good. I'm very low on good packing materials. I've got my eyes and ears open for anyone in my vicinity throwing clean bubblewrap and peanuts into the landfill...

I have a feeling some comments are forthcoming from my customer, as I suggested in my last post. "C" tells me she doesn't find it intuitive so she hasn't been able to get it done. I have confidence in her though, don't you?

On the pottery front, lots of throwing, trimming, bisquing, glazing going on here. I've had lots of custom orders to manage. All I have left in this primo order is to glaze two more salad plates and then 48 pieces will be done. My fine, smart customer and I discussed getting the first 48 done and when I have time later this month after a big show in Rochester, I'll get started on the 12 bread and butters plates.

All for now. I'm glazing, loading and then setting off on the lookout for you-know-what. :)