On Sunday (after the sleep) I picked raspberries. I’d planned on blueberries, but there aren’t many out yet in my neighbourhood, so I got raspberries instead.
I had to wade through thorns and thistles and got bitten by a massive spider[1], but I nevertheless returned home in triumph. Here is my victory feast:
The cup in the picture was a failed mug (the handle cracked off during drying) that was used to test out my shiny new pink underglaze. The colour came out more seventies “dusty rose” than the “bright pink” the label promised. And it only turned pink where it was applied very thickly; everywhere else, it’s white.
A little research and a tip from Alexis suggested the problem might be the lack of calcium in the clear I’m using. Since I can’t just add some calcium to the glaze without messing up the expansion ratio and potentially turning my clear opaque, I decided to just add it straight to the underglaze and see if that made a difference.
The result:
The colour’s much brighter, but still only comes through when applied thickly, so it’s still kinda blotchy. At least three customers didn’t mind the blotchiness, as they were willing to spend money on pink Robot wares at the Folk Festival, but all the same I’d like to see if a wee bit more calcium doesn’t help.
[1] Which left me with a massive allergic reaction for my troubles. I’ve got a two-inch section of leg that’s red and swollen and welty and won’t. Stop. Itching.
