[gold rim mug]

The gold was old and I did shake it and thin a bit with essence but it still went on thick and tried to pool in spots.  I tried to remove the pooling with a clean gold brush but I doubt this would have caused the stilts to melt all the way through the bottom on my  piece?

[gold rim mug]

HELP !

 

[gold rim mug]

I fired my first piece of glazed ceramics with the red brilliant gold to a cone 018.    It did not shut off until after four hours and my piece was ruined.   What did I do wrong ?   I have orders for several of these pieces.   Help.   The cone looked as if it had barely bent ?