It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas... :)

Ok, perhaps this doesn't look like Christmas to most people, but to a clay loving Chica such as myself... it looks a whole lot like Christmas to me! Not to mention the fact that when you've been waiting in anticipation for weeks to see how your crazy glaze-dipping concoctions have turned out... well, It's kinda like that feeling the kids get waiting for Santa... hoping they get something from their Christmas list, and not for example, a lump of coal. Metaphorically speaking, I got both.

:)

I experimented with 4 different clay bodies and numerous glazes, which resulted in a large range of results, from super cool, to so ugly I'm glad I took good glaze notes so I'll know never to do that again!

Above~ a random sampling, and below, some of my favorites pieces.

This mug was my # 1 fave. I love the shape, size & glaze, but I especially love the handle. Have you ever notice how mugs fit in your hand? Some handles are two finger holds, some three, some four. The handle to hand fit often determines my favorite mugs.

The mug on the left was hand built & funky & I love it. The mug on the right was wheel thrown, way too small to be a proper coffee mug, but I totally dig the glaze combo.

Two of my favorite bowls.

:)

These? Well, I'm not the craziest about them. I've found with all the pieces I've gotten out of the kiln so far, the ones I like the best were made with darker clay bodies. These were done w/ a white clay, & I'm just not super excited about the way the lighter clay bodies interact w/ the glazes, and I tried a lot of different glaze combos! The feel to me is just not as earthy & natural as the effects achieved with the darker clays.

Above, a darker clay with a couple of different glazes works for me... a much more earthy feel.

And the finished bears~ I totally love them! 

:) 

 I tested different glazes on each one & came up w/ about 3 combos that I would definitely use again. 

My favorite!

:)

I've still got 2 larger bears & about 12 or so pieces (both white & dark clays) yet to glaze, which I'll get in to finish later during the week~ though those likely won't be out of the kiln 'til 2012! That's fine though, because I've got plenty to get started on for gifts... and have been as busy as a Christmas elf packing them up w/ goodies to ship "home" for Christmas!

Hope you're all having a wonderful December!

:)