Pumpkins (and other things) for Christmas...

After a busy week or two in the studio, I was excited to empty the kiln yesterday.

The little pumpkin cane-toppers look great and have helped me to sort out some underglaze colours and glaze combinations that will survive the rigours of a 1280ºC reduction firing.

With the seed-head cane-toppers, I only glazed the top part so the base shows off the clay body. Of course it is still frostproof after a high temperature firing.

There are some great autumn leaves around, and although reproducing the colours is a challenge too far, I have enjoyed pressing them into soft clay and forming some retro-style platters.

Experimenting with oxides under various glazes should lead to some exciting results - one or two are already fired but most of them are awaiting the next kiln load.

A large bag of leaves is ready to take to the local primary school: Year 1 will be working with these today in the first of a series of pottery workshops.

Also, I am excited to be working soon with Year 2 with a China theme - what could be more appropriate for pottery workshops? There were too many ideas ...look out soon for the results!

Although I am reluctant to abandon autumn, there are several Craft Fairs lined up and the regular Bookham Country Market is starting to look decidedly Christmassy so my seasonal focus must move forward... Although you can always give pumpkin cane-toppers and leaf-platters for Christmas!