You Never Know Until the Very End
The Fighters have finally advanced to the final stage.
It feels like just the other day that I was so excited about that.
After losing the first two games, they were backed into a corner, and I started to give up.
They just couldn't close the deal when it mattered most.
It was like watching my own work, and it made me want to cry.
Then, they finally won the third game with a shutout.
But then they kept winning, pulling off three straight victories that no one could have imagined.
Watching that momentum, you start to think, 'Maybe... just maybe...'
Perhaps some Hawks fans were having the same thought.
And then, the final showdown...
The Fighters fell to Moinelo by a single run.
The golden rule of competition is that you never know until the very end.
Thank you for entertaining us until the very last moment.
Meanwhile, my miniature pottery work is also
right in the middle of a 'you never know until the very end' situation.
To add white-out lettering to 'binbo-tokkuri' (poor man's sake bottles) or 'kayoi-tokkuri' (returnable sake bottles),
the common method is to draw the letters with a water repellent to resist the glaze,
but this is difficult to use for small letters.
When it comes to miniature sizes, it's completely impossible.
So, I decided to take the plunge and switch from 'resisting' to
a 'carving' approach.
First, I build up the letters using a powdery substance and fire them.
Then, I apply an oil-based substance over it to make the glaze repel as much as possible,
fire it again, and then carve away the raised parts.
The materials I had on hand were baking soda, baby powder, diatomaceous earth powder,
pine ash, gelatin, and ceramic paper glue.
The ones that survived were the diatomaceous earth powder and the ceramic paper glue.
The others either flattened out or disappeared.
In terms of toughness, these two are on par with the Fighters.
Once again, I built up the surviving diatomaceous earth powder, the ceramic paper glue, and
a mixture of the two, and fired them to set.
I applied three types of oil-based substances to them:
mink oil, overglaze oil, and super pen oil.
I tried applying glaze to this, but
it didn't repel it the way I thought it would.
At this rate, there might be no point in using oil-based oil.
Half-resigned, I put it back into the kiln.
When I brushed it off lightly after it cooled down...
Well, wouldn't you know it, a perfect white outline appeared!
Man, I was even happier than when the Fighters won three in a row.
The result was that the ceramic paper paste came off almost perfectly,
and it seems that oil for overglaze colors is the best thing to apply on top.
Maybe I've finally "crossed the finish line" with this.