wall hangings and pendants

I put a picture of these wall hangings in an Aug. 2 posting when they were in the greenware stage.  Sometimes there is competition among pieces as to which gets priority when it's kiln loading time.  I do try to get as much in the kiln as I can and this usually means accumulating more items in preparation for a firing than there is room for.  These tile/wall hangings often find themselves on a waiting list, but here are a couple that made it into the last firing.

I took a break while were having such beautiful weather last week to get some outdoor chores out of the way.  Not much got done pottery-wise those days.  I'm back to work now that we're firmly into cold and rainy, though. I took advantage of a rainy day yesterday to take some pictures.  These shiny glazes are so difficult to shoot.  Any bit of light turns into a blinding glare.  The first layer on this tile is the white slip.  I suppose you could use a white clay, but I noticed the brush marks of the slip almost look like the weave of fabric.  I next laid the doily down like a stencil and painted on a black engobe.  After bisque firing I brushed on a clear glaze tinted with a bit of iron oxide. Later I played around with the idea of using the doilies as clouds in the sky and cut some bird stencils to fly under or into the clouds.  Those, however, are still on the waiting list.

Here's a bird that made it to the firing.  Actually , both it and the doily wall hanging have twins at the farmer's market.  I set these aside in case I decide to list them on etsy.

Something a little different for me.  Kate, who has jewelry down at the market, suggested that I make some pendants.  She could then put them together with some other elements to make a finished product.  I did make and fire a few and they turned out fine, but I wanted to try this almost white stoneware clay to see what it does with some of my glazes.  My usual fires to a toasty beige color.