Opening the kiln the other day was, as usual, rather exciting. Not only did it contain the tiles painted by TriCity Potters but there were a dozen of my jugbirds in it too. The freshly mixed glaze behaved properly. I set the end ‘soak’ for 30 mins this time to try to make sure there were no bubbles from the melting, and no, there weren’t. The glaze is rich and shiny.

I had fun assembling this jugbird, with its head-top opening and big feet. It is made from five wheel-thrown components, count them, plus the handle. I’ve painted him with colours to resemble a Purple Gallinule water bird. They don’t live here, but heck, I might go to Florida one day! A friend says she saw some in Costa Rica. I noticed I switched from ‘it’ to ‘him’ after he was painted!

Yesterday I took him in to the Gallery of BC Ceramics so that he can be part of ‘Put a Bird On It’, the members’ show that opens there on Thursday. My other entries are a ‘Bird-handled Chalice’ and a small oval plate painted with a reflecting loon. I saw some of the other entries and I think the show will be lots of fun.

I’ll post pics of some of the other new jugbirds in my next blog.