The best news was the oxide finish that I applied to the leather hard pieces worked perfectly. If I had know how well it would turn out, all the pieces would have gotten that oxide wash. It's a 50/50 suspension wash of red and black oxide in water, brushed on the leather-hard clay, then wiped off carefully. The dark patina in the crevices of the little sculptures then become part of the clay instead of an after-firing surface finish.
Here are the results on the two pieces I tested, Cielo #11 and #12, straight out of the kiln:
Compare these to two others from the same firing without the oxide wash and you can see why I'm excited - these will need some surface treatment to enhance the contours:
