Getting Near the End

I had a very nasty stomach flu over the weekend, so missed pottery class on Sunday, in which the class was spraying flashing slips on their pieces, prior to the bisque firing.  So I started the class today under a bit of pressure to catch up on Sunday's class, and also I finally got my bag of clay designed for the soda class, and I had not had a chance to throw anything with it.  Not to mention, I needed to run away for almost an hour for an appointment in the morning.

But first things first.  I went to visit my dragon vase.  It was looking very good.

I asked Jay to help me lift it for a moment, so I could run my finger around the bottom edge, to clean it up, but the bottom looked already pretty good.  I had cut it clean and level off the bat (which is not always the case).  So I transferred it to a square board, and rotated it a few times, to clean up the bottom even more.  But I think it can be considered done.  It just needs to take its time to dry now.  I can't wait to see it finished.  Although there is much to consider about glazing it.  I bounced a few options with a classmate, and think I may have decided on my plan.

Then I needed to catch up by spraying the flashing slips on my soda pieces.  I am confident I have enough for the 2 cubic foot allotment, with perhaps some pieces to spare, so I that is good.

Spraying turned out to be very time consuming, since I wanted to check the notes on all my pieces, and figure out  which ones already had the No. 6 soda slip on them.  Then decide between the 6 flashing slips which were available to me.  I ended up doing a few of each, all except one which was a dark blue, and didn't suit any of my pieces.  It was 2PM by the time I finished this exercise, at which point it didn't feel like enough time to throw any new pieces, since I'd need to start cleanup at 5PM.  But after waffling back and forth, I finally decided to go for it.

I trimmed and cleaned up the bowl which I had thrown originally to be a base for the monster vase, but I like the trimming and carving I ended up doing on it:

Then I finally opened that bag of soda clay, and surprised myself by throwing 6 pieces in the remaining time :

Since they all need to be trimmed, I don't believe there is chance of trimming them, and getting them turned around from the bisque firing soon enough for the soda firing.  However, I could always save them for a future soda firing, or just fire then in the cone 10 gas firing.  Amber Celadon would make a great glaze choice for those deep textures.

One piece, though, particularly pleased me, and had a bit too thin of a bottom, so I decided to force dry the rim and upper part with a hair dryer, so I could add a bit of clay to the bottom and trim / throw a foot.  Which is what I did, and I am very pleased by the result :

So in the end, what started as a daunting catch up day turned out to be fairly satisfying, and very productive.  I had better start building more shelves for my pottery.