Post #637403 by danlovestikis on Tue, May 22, 2012 9:27 AM

Sorry for Blurry Photos

Hi Friends, I'm back in the swing of things. Dan's waiting for us to go on a walk before the heat hits but it is a lot cooler here than in Palm Springs. Even still I took my electric blanket and long johns for the trip to Caliente because Dan loves air conditioning.

anthonymaye its true Dan's passion is tiki collecting and that's how I pay him to do all the mopping and other chores that come with my ceramics hobby. His motto is Will Work For Tikis. I also let him pick out things for his 34th anniversary presents. He's a happy man and he gives me joy every day.

hang10tiki I was still beat yesterday but I managed to do a few things, see below. I feel that I got a visit with Jonelle too after looking at all the photos on the Caliente page. She sure is a doll and she's married to one too.

tigertail777 every day is new and a challenge. One of these days is going to be a special one for you. Keep doing your beautiful art.

Tavarua Tiki it was so much fun to meet you and to have you watch Atomic Chick get her mugs. Your excitement was contagious.

Tiki G I had seen so many photos of you that it was easy to pick you out of the crowd. It's fun to have met and I look forward to the next time.

Progress Report for the Wish List and more:

The kiln was cold the morning of our trip. I opened it up and everything looked good at a distance.


I needed to get this small alter bowl out to transport for Loki Tiki to Caliente. It came out just as I hoped. Even with the crack Loki was fine with it and took that Missionary's Downfall Alter, bowl and woman.

As I set the items on the counter I could see small and large problems that I'll need to correct now that I'm back home.

I sure did take blurry photos. I must have been excited to get on the road.

So now we are back and it is time to get serious. But alas Dan is calling. I need to go on the walk. I'll post more when we return. That's when I'll post my disasters! Cheers, Wendy

Hi we had a wonderful walk but it was hot, hot, hot.

So you saw the unloaded kiln. I left knowing that I had work to do but I was happy with what did work out.

So first of all I set up the photographic studio that MadDogMike gifted us with at Caliente.
I took a photo of Sandra Dee's TNT mug for Tiki Oasis. I used a flash. Not so hot.

Next I turned on the lights for the studio. They shine through the cloth.

I turned off the flash and wow what a great photo. Thank you Mike!

I still need to cold paint the TNT black later today.
She also ordered a Bumatay necklace

and a regular Bob. All her orders were fine.

My next lesson with the Studio is background color choice. I may just stick with black but the studio had a stack of colored fabric to choose from. I stuck with the blue to see how MurphDog's little super carved Bob would look.
Check out the difference between blue and black backgrounds.


The black background let the Carribean Blue be more true in the photos. In real life it is even better.

The next successful mug is for mymotiki. I hope you like the color for the inside of the mug. Since Loki Tiki took the Missionary's Downfall Alter that I brought for him to Caliente yours is the next one in line.





I am going to try the paper clay that Grog told me about. It is on order. I'm getting 25 pounds so that I'll have it on hand for future cracks. MadDogMike gave me a wonderful lesson on how it works so I'm ready when it's available.

mymotiki your brown Bob bowl is really done but I'm going to add a bit more glaze and fire it again just to smooth it out. I think it has the vintage look you wanted.

BaconSM your bowl needs another coat of the satin black and two more coats of rust at the bottom. Otherwise it came out fine.

Deb's bowl I am not happy with. The thick paint for runs down the side did not mix. It did however stand out. I'll re-glaze to see if I can cover it and the inside of the bowl and make them pretty.

The purple Bob bowl has a couple of glaze skips to fix.

So I have work to do but the worst defect was on Psycho Tikis Missionary's Downfall Bowl. When we took it out of the kiln it was 90 degrees. The bowl looked wonderful except I couldn't see the words. The glaze had filled them in. Oh well. But when we returned from Caliente the bowl had shrunk as it cooled and had exploded the glaze off the bottom. When you bisque fire you should always have it hole for 15 minutes at the end so you get the clay to shrink to its max but I guess it didn't happen. So when I glazed it the clay again shrank and popped off the glaze. Now I will try to pry off any lose glaze and then re-apply it and fire.

Tomorrow we go to Grass Valley to see Roge. My Bumatay lamp is finished and we will bring it home to hang. I have also almost finished adding bases to the tikis that he casts for the lamps. He wants to offer them as stand alone statues that would look great in a window with the sun shining through. You may choose any color and he'll cast it.

Today I'll work on the Bob/Pele/Volcano/Swap mug and start planning how I'll do the PacMan and Creature of the Bob Lagoon mugs for BaconSM and Tavarua Tiki.

I have Missionary's Downfall bowls in the works. Things to re-glaze and to glaze for the first time. Bare with me I'll keep working hard and one day yours will be the one that is finished. I did deliver 10 mugs at Caliente.

I'm off to work, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-22 12:48 ]