It's Like Christmas

That's what opening the kiln up after a firing is supposed to be like.
I guess it's true, for it's like getting a gift from a loved one: good or bad, you are pretty much stuck with it.
It's either long term WOW! or short term disappointment.
One of the nice things about low fire is that the glaze firing is at a lower temperature than the bisque so you can re fire stuff if it doesn't come out like you expected.
I've been doing this so long that my feelings go sort of neutral.
At this point I either expect things to come out a certain way and if they don't, I know I can fix it or just make another one.
So, how did it go?
One planter was a disappointment:



This my first time using the primary glaze and as usual, I got it too thin.
You can see near the design band the darker sections even though I gave this thing three thick coats.
I don't know if it's worth firing it again or just chalking it up to experience and saying to hell with it. The planter is not for sale and only I'm going to be looking at it so it may be a good reminder to just leave it how it is.
The second planter came out as expected.
Not exactly a WOW! but pretty close:



I wanted a lighter color to pop against a black background. I also wanted some thing that reminded me of turquoise and that was the closest color I could find.
The color I used is called Caribbean Blue.
I like this combination so much I may use it again.
The black goes on pretty well and doesn't show brush marks like the lighter glazes(see above). I also like that blue.
Well, those planters are something my cactus plants can aspire to for they are sort big for them right now:



That's why I did those smaller planter thingys the other day.
For those, I just wanted to get them done so I could transplant the well, plants, so I just used a green I thought would sort of go nice with the cactus:



Those pots were hit with three coats too.
I think the next ones I do will get four thick coats as I don't like the brush marks.
Oh, and my other stuff came out okay too:



Remember the book I got on optical illusions?
Well, I wanted to try a pattern that broke up the geometry of the shape. Sort of a pottery camouflage if you will.
I like that black and white combination and will use it again.
Okay, so far it's been about right.
Half my stuff comes out okay, the other half, only so-so.
At least I didn't have to hammer anything out of this batch!
Off to the wheel to make more planters.