Ho Hum Plates

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I took a peek at the test plates in the kiln and I was not overwhelmed by the results.   They are alright, but they are not what I hoped for.  This is what I get for working off the colors in a brochure instead of physical test tiles.  This is also the reason to do these tests before committing to a whole dish set.   So I think my next project will be to take all my colors and make small color chips out of them.  I already made a few but there is a whole shelf of colors yet to be made.  It will be a project all by itself.

For the next test plate, I think I will stick with bright colors instead of trying to tone them down.   The colors that came out bright on the plates are the ones I like the most.   That and the purple came out a bit too close to the color blue.

Auditioning Plate Designs

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Last night, I was using some of the small saucers as testers for a new plate design.   These will be used in my house and I want them to be colorful, but muted.  So I selected a rainbow of underglazes but I toned down each color.  Instead of Red, I went with a Ruby.  Instead of Green, I went with a Forest Green…. you get the idea.  For some of these colors, I didn’t have a darker shade so I made my best guess and will just hope for the best.   I also rearranged the colors so it wasn’t such an obvious rainbow.  Hopefully, I like the outcome and can move on to the dinner plates and glasses.

The test plates were bisque fired in the kiln last night to set the underglaze.  Tonight, I should be able to glaze them and shove them right back in for the final result.

Stay tuned.