Dangerously Drippy

These pots went through two glaze firings. The first glaze firing did not fire to temperature for some reason and the pots were crusty and flaky. So I touched up some bare spots with glaze and hoped for the best. The second firing went into a much newer kiln which fired differently than the first, older kiln (10+ years old) and got a very differently drippy results than I usually get with this glaze combination of  C.W. Plumb under Snowflake. The lidded pot stuck to the shelf and a bit broke off at the base and the lid fit is wobbly now but how dramatic! I am going to make some test pieces and use a  bisque dish under it as a glaze catch. I have my doubts as far as duplicating this look, but try I must!

My blog is my bubble

When I started this blog almost a year ago, I made a conscious decision to stick mostly to pottery and the artistic influences (such as sunsets) that have inspired me and helped my pots to evolve. I decided, for one, that I wouldn't post photos of the family. For one, they would disown me if I did and secondly, I would be infringing on their rights to privacy, which I wholeheartedly respect.  The only family members that are okay with it all is my pottery assistant the cat and my parrot. No complaints there ;)  I would not discuss politics or make comments about the horrendous news events that have happened in the past and as of late. This little pottery world  I have created is something that I enjoy sharing ...locally and around the world according to ClustrMaps, which never ceases to amaze me.  Meeting others who create with clay has been awesome since it is my experience that they are few and far between; in the circles I travel in anyway. But  also keeping it isolated in the clay world is increasingly a challenge. I could double my posts if I didn't censor myself, but then I would be breaking my own rule. So my blog is my bubble. The local and world news is so sad on so many levels, that keeping this blog very focused seems more important than ever. Maybe this seems shallow to some, but sometimes you've got to do, what you've got to do.

Waves upon the shore

I shall have to call this pot "Waves upon the shore". It took two glaze firings to get this result. I tried for this result in one glaze firing but I didn't get that wave action that I was looking for. The base glaze is Coyote shino and the green is a tweeked Amaco glaze.

Squat pot

One palm-sized pot and two back drops. Just having fun with the camera while forever looking for that perfect background. This glaze is Coyote shino over C.W. plumb with a swoosh and some dabs of Coyote Saturated Iron on the band by the lip and around the shoulder.

Little red dish

Just a little dish I made that has turned into my cat's "mooching" dish. Kitty gets to use this little dish when she wants a little piece of cheese or a bigger piece of turkey from my bigger dish. The glaze is Coyote's Cherry Satin with Toshi Brown overlapping on the edge and down the side. I like that satin finish and the fact that it is not an "even" red. That could be because I brushed it on instead of dipping and some areas were inevitably thicker than others. I tried to get kitty to look up and show off her pretty blue eyes but the turkey was much more important.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Nothing like a ceramic turkey from the 1960's to decorate my Thanksgiving table. I have been working on clay but posting has eluded me. I hope to remedy that once Turkey day is done but before Christmas is upon us. Oh holidays, holidays!!! It gets more difficult as time passes to get family together to eat a meal together so that alone, is something that I am thankful for. Not to mention a bounty of food. My family and I have much to be thankful for and I hope the same for you. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

A vase with a twist

This is one of those pieces that had been sitting on my black shelf in the bisqueware condition for quite a while. When I was learning on the wheel, I had a knack of getting an upper area of the pot to twist without collapsing. This wasn't exactly on purpose at first.  I really liked the look of that twist but I wasn't sure about the best glazes needed to accentuate it. Coyote shino breaks to rust quite reliably when applied thin, so that's what I used. A little Iron Saturate on the lip and in the upper part of the twist made it even darker and a bit rougher where the glaze ran. The black is C.W. Wolf Plum. How do you like the backdrop for this pot? I found some beautifully weathered barn boards that I thought would work for this purpose once I brushed off the old spider webs and spiders. The boards themselves have such a great look, I have to make sure they don't look better than my pottery.