Testing testing

I mixed up some raku glazes for Claymakers on Tuesday and fired some tests today. Nothing too exciting but some good basic studio glazes. There is a goldish yellow, very nice, an apple green but a bit on the darker side, maybe more like moss, but I used vandium stain instead of vanadium pentoxide and it wasn't as nice, a new base glaze that I added lavender mason stain to, but not enough so it is very pale, the base is nice though- it had some tiny crystals of gold form in the corners and it is a really nice white with not a lot of crackle, I may add that one to my studio glazes, it also might be a nice 04 base, and then some soldner copper red, one with copper carb and one with black iron oxide, no difference at all. I'm having trouble getting reduction in three of my cans, so I may have to get new ones. The small can I bought at Lowes Home Improvement is giving me the best reduction. Oh yeah, there was the rain, tiny droplets fell onto some of my pieces as I was carrying them to the kiln and they have little dots on them, not pretty, don't like it. Maybe I can re fire them. I did re fire a chartreuse pear that fell on the kiln shelf last firing while it was still molten, looks even better this time around. OK, well, I'm tired and smell like smoke, so off to bathe and then maybe look for a movie on TV with Wes. Gerry is back to shooting Hurricanes hockey so not much seeing him in the evenings from now until March. I'll try to get some pics of the test tiles but I don't know if they will show the glazes very well. Maybe wait and put the good ones on some pieces and then offer up the recipes. I made some roundy vases yesterday and two very cute little non functional teapots. Actually the teapots came about because one of my beginner students asked for a hand building demo of a teapot. Why do all beginners want to make a teapot, I don't even make teapots and I am much past the beginner stage. Every class I teach, there is someone that wants to make a teapot, oh the torture of that on the mind!! So I did hand build one and it is soooo cute. I need to photo those as well. Lots to do, I'm taking a workshop tomorrow at Claymakers with Po Wen Pei, learning to paddle big lumps of clay to center and making large platters. Po Wen is a great presenter so it should be a good day. Look for lots of photos next week!!!