This week at Connie’s, I started a new task which was glazing the soap-dishes I’ve been working on and the earring studs I stamped out last week. I knew I was going to be glazing this week, but I had thought that meant applying some kind of clear polish or something that wouldn’t take much skill! However, I quickly realised it meant more like painting the products ready to be fired in the kiln. I was a bit terrified when I found that out because I so didn’t want to make any mistakes, but Connie demonstrated each thing for me and I don’t think I messed anything up too badly!
First of all, the earrings. I had to do about twenty batches of turquoise ones and twenty orangey ones. They each have the colour on about three quarters and a brown glaze on the remaining quarter, with a little overlapping so that once fired, the colours will blend into each other nicely and create a really pretty effect. (I know this because Connie kindly gave me a finished pair a few weeks ago which are stunning!)
Then I moved onto the soap-dishes which I’ve been making for a couple of weeks now. I glazed three in Connie’s signature “volcano” design, which means orangey coloured on one third, turquoise on the other and gray in the middle across a sweep of the little clays bumps I attached on last week. (It’s difficult to describe but I’ll attach pictures when they’re all fired and done.) Then I did two orange with grey dots, and two turquoise with grey dots. You have to use stickers to get the dot effect (put stickers on, paint whole thing orange, peel stickers off, paint gaps grey. Peeling off the stickers is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done ever). Connie did have names for those two designs too but I may or may not have forgotten them.
Last but not least, I painted the underside of the dishes with a clear glaze. The whole process takes a while as you have to do two or three coats depending on the glaze, and wait for it all to dry in between. It’s wonderful to be able to see the dishes getting closer to being finished every week, and to know that I had a part in creating them every step of the way! I can’t wait to see them when they’re out of the kiln and on Connie’s shop shelves. For now, they don’t look like much, but Connie promises me that the colour will get more pigmented and smooth-looking while firing in the kiln. Trust the process!
