Glazed Mugs for Storytelling Show

I used pencil to plan the mug decoration

Thursday I glazed. All day. I had to work hard to keep myself focused. I had 13 bisque fired mugs and I got them all decorated and glazed in one day. That doesn't sound as impressive as it feels.

Then I drew in the outlines with black underglaze in a slip trailer

Glazing took a little longer than usual because I actually needed to plan the decoration. These mugs are for a show at Boxx Gallery in Tieton featuring "storytellers". My idea is to keep the decoration similar to other cone 6 pieces I have done this summer, but make it sequential.

some of the designs use multiple colors for the "story"

I had sketched some ideas earlier this month, while I was waiting in the doctor's office, but was procrastinating getting them on the mugs. The idea for each mug is based on my slip trailed dripping balloons that I've been playing with this summer and last. In these new storytelling designs, the balloons move and change or other simple drawings interact with the balloons.

here you can see my slip trailer bottle and a design with a bug

Each mug has a different "story" told around the mug. In some, the colored balls fall from the strings down onto leafy stems. Others have the balls move around the cup or up and down in boxes and on strings. I have a bug that eats a balloon and another bug that was the balloon. I also have some plants that shoot stuff at the balloons.

these mugs have the decoration, interior and rim glazed

Each mug has a black slip trailed outline and uses green, blue, and/or pink celadon glaze for the action and the interior and rim. A few have decorations that interact with the handle.

here you can see the finished glaze colors (foreground, right)

I know what to expect from my glazes, but some of these decorations are more complex than I've done before, so I'm hoping everything looks okay once it is fired. I sometimes fire the slip in place before glazing over the top to prevent smearing, but I think I avoided trouble this time. However, I may have misjudged the thickness of the glaze on some of the early mugs before I switched brushes.

these mugs have clear glaze over the decoration

I hope to have these guys out of the kiln next week or the week after. The best looking selection should be going to Tieton to Boxx Gallery for an opening August 27.