Covid Bulbs, Again

 

Covid balls from this last firing

In January I posted some Covid balls I made for New Year's gifts. A few friends requested their own, and I got right on making them (really! I sculpted the covids within a week or two), but it took me over 2 months to actually fire them. 

Covid balls partly glazed

 

I made about a dozen of these guys the second time around but was waiting until I finished some other work to get them fired. 

The most recent covid balls, before their strings and directions were attached

As it is wont to do, teaching kept getting in the way of finishing stuff, but I was eventually able to finish glazing some face bulbs from summer and a bunch of odds and ends that I made as demos for classes.

Some face bulbs from last summer

As I was glazing this batch weeks and weeks after making them, I got thinking it would be fun to use some Mt. St. Helen's Ash glaze to add some depth and texture to the ball. (I'd like to add some dimension to the bulbs too, but I made the first batch in a bit of a rush and the second to fulfill orders, so I figure I have room to experiment on the next batch.

Mt. St. Helens Boxes from last spring

The Mt. St. Helen's glaze comes from the set of boxes I made last year for the Mt. St. Helen's 40th Anniversary show at Boxx Gallery. I had some extra glaze leftover from that show. As I underfired it last time and was firing the covids to the same temperature, I figured it would work out ok.

Covid ball with ash glaze

I'm pretty happy with the texture that's been added to the green. But I wish I had mixed the low and higher fire glazes together a bit more like I did in the Mt. St. Helen's boxes, so I might do that next time.

Mt. St. Helens steam vent with ash glaze

Honestly, I forgot that I wanted to try the ash glaze until the last moment. At that point I had already added the red. When I got the ash on the red, I thought, no big deal, I'll see what happens, which means that some of the red parts that have the ash on them look a bit like they have a spill on them. 

Covid with ash glaze on red and green

But, to my suprise, no sooner had a posted pictures of the loaded kiln and fired work on social media, than I had sold nearly all of the covids. After I get these shipped or delivered, I'll be able to put the funds to good use: working from home makes me realize how much I miss the small photo booth setup at YVC. 

The small photo setup at YVC, a few years ago

At home I have a photo set up, but its really designed for big stuff. The small one at school can stay up all the time and is just the size I need for taking little photos like these (without setting up the table, backdrop, tripods, etc. And now that I'm working in this lovely remodeled home studio, I have space for it, too!

My home photo setup a few years ago

Next week is finals week at YVC. For once I've got my part of the studio kit stuff done (mostly done), I'll be teaching the same online studio classes next quarter. The online clay class, this second time around, went a lot smoother than when I taught it with zero prep time in Fall, so I don't anticipate having to spend spring break remaking it. All that to say, that with just over a week left to go, I'm really excited about getting into my studio during spring break!

My four ash Covids