Cookies in pottery

In another installment of random things I’ve learned since doing pottery as a business, COOKIES!

Cookies are little pieces of clay you fire and then have in the kiln as coasters. The main use is to catch glaze that might drip off a piece so it doesn’t get on the kiln shelf. It’s a lot easier to throw away a small piece of clay than to grind and re-kiln-wash a shelf. But I also use cookies so I can glaze all the way to the bottom of my pieces. Since glaze permanently sticks to anything it touches, you have to leave the “foot”, or the bottom part that touches the kiln shelf, unglazed. Since I don’t want to leave a visible ring of clay color at the bottom, I put a small cookie on the bottom of nearly every piece to raise the glazed ring up so it’s not touching.

Since doing this, I’m much happier with how my pieces look.

Before:

After:

It’s a small change, but one that I think makes a big difference when trying to look professional.