These were the remaining pieces I had left over from Barbara McDermid’s class at BPG.

Casserole without lugs (handles on the sides).

Butter With Iron glaze. Iron oxide brush work. Nice, smooth Dinnerset White glaze inside.

I stepped on Barbara’s, Sue’s and Donna’s coat tails to get them in the firing, by trading some “grunt work” with the kiln shelves. It gave me an opportunity to shadow the small fiber kiln operation once more. I had previously shadowed this kiln in other runs, but this time I took great detail and interest in the notes written by Sue and Barbara.

Deeper Casserole with “reptile” lugs.

Temmoku glaze outside with Dinnerset White inside, cascading over rim and lugs creating a “reptile” looking skin.

Each session, I learn and absorb as much of the technical aspects of the process as possible. I had an interesting conversation with another commercial designer regarding this endeavor and my current work as a graphic artist. The gist of it was – not much has changed within the ceramic art tools and equipment from the past. Whereas, the commercial design field – advertising, publication, web, interactive meda.. etc – is in a constant flux. Case in-point: the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription service to stay current with client needs. Not to mention the hardware needed.

It’s an interesting dichotomy between the two creative fields that has me excited to see what results I can muster when I push myself/the mud a little further down the line. Although… I still enjoy just playing in it and making a functional piece here and there.