Pendant for Tutorial Exchange

I just got an email from Lucid Moon Studio, another of my participants in the Totally Tutorials Exchange program. Here is the link to the necklace she made with one of my favorite pendants, the Violet Flower.
http://lucidmoonstudio.blogspot.com/2009/10/another-jewerly-tutorial.html

Have a great day and stop by soon! I've got a great load of greenware I'm getting ready to fire for lots of new pendants and donuts.

Enter to Win 2nd Give Away

I will be drawing another name at 3:15, the winner will receive this lovely flower pendant.


You still have a chance to win, just leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.
All previous commenters will be entered in the second drawing as well.


Thanks and good luck. Remember to visit http://www.shaterra.esty.com/ to get 20% off anything but close outs until midnight tonight.

Enter to Win

I will be drawing names at 2:15 to pick the winner of this lovely ceramic piece! Just leave a comment to enter the drawing. Thanks and good luck!

Congratulations to SIGNE, you are the winner of this pendant!

Also visit my Etsy store, http://www.shaterra.etsy.com/ to enjoy 20% off anything in the store, excluding close outs. through midnight tonight.

Visit http://www.beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/ to continue the tour and enter more drawings.

Bead Tree

Here is a close up of a bead tree. The pendants/beads are threaded onto the rod so that they don't touch. The pendant and bead holes have to be kept clean of glaze. If there is glaze inside the hole, the piece will fuse to the rod. Sometimes I can get them loose if this happens, by carefully twisting them off the rod. But many times they break.

Loading the kiln is rather tedious. It is easy to touch a loaded rod and cause the pieces to move and touch. After loading everything, I do a final check to make sure nothing is touching the bead trees, the kiln or each other.

The final firing is to 1828 and takes about 6 1/2 hours. The pieces must cool down before unloading. That takes another 6 hours or so. Lots of patience is required!

The Kiln

Here is a picture of the inside of my kiln. You can see the glaze drips in it! I have a couple of glazes that run a lot. Learning the characteristics of the individual glazes takes trial and error. Once I understand what a certain glaze will do, I can use it more creatively. For instance, if I want a lot of blending of the colors, I will use a glaze that drips and moves a lot. If I want sharp detail, I use underglazes, which don't move at all.

Inside the kiln you see my bead trees. Once pieces have been glazed, they have to be kept separated. If they touch during firing, they will fuse together and be ruined.

Bisque Stage

After drying and cleaning, the pieces are fired to 1920 degrees (cone 04). This takes about 7 hours. When they come out of the kiln, they are hard and white, and ready for glazing. Not so fragile anymore. Greenware doesn't stick to other pieces during firing, so a lot of pieces can be fired at once. I pile them into pots.

This is what they look like after the bisque firing.

Cleaning the Pieces

After the clay dries into greenware, it must be cleaned, the rough edges smoothed off. Sandpaper works, but it creates alot of clay dust, which is hazardous to the lungs. I use a rag dipped in water for the cleaning. This is also a difficult step, because the clay is so fragile. I usually loose 6 or 7 pieces per batch during this step. The pieces just break so easily.