Pottery pendants hot out of the kiln

Bisqueware and waxwings

   

The other day I saw a flock of Cedar Waxwing taking over our backyard birdbath. The Robins were not too thrilled but they were out numbered. I only managed to photograph half of the flock before they regrouped in a tree and then flew off. There are many crab apple trees in my neighborhood which have the last of the dried fruit on their branches but I think water was more desperately in need. I've only seen them once before, so it was a real treat to see them again and I had to share. The clay pieces above have been fired. Now. . . how to glaze them???

Fred Flintstone's bowl

I've been working on some projects that would help a clay novice, get a "feel" for the material while still making something of merit. My Fred Flintstone bowl is an idea I borrowed from a library book on clay but, of course, added some of my own touches. The clay coils are built on a plaster mold. If Utah had even a miniscule amount of moisture in the air, it probably would have been okay to work on the plaster alone. But I discovered, as I was working on it, the coils were drying and stiffening too quickly for my liking. Next time, I shall work on a dome wrapped in plastic wrap with a water spray bottle at the ready. After I smoothed the coil, the back of a spoon gave the bottom of the bowl a nice hammered affect. While it is still gray and stone-like in appearance, I can't help but think of Fred Flintstone eating his Pebbles cereal out of it.

Glaze firing completed

These are the beads I had on the top shelf. The pendants with white and green centers were set on trivets (previous post) and had glass in the center and glaze on the edges and backs. The other three hung on a wire. The two larger pendants are glazed with Mayco's Bluesurf. I love the rich blue which breaks green in the design. It took 3 coats. It looks juicy but no drips.

This 4" bowl was also glazed with Mayco's Bluesurf. No green due to no designs to break the blue glaze up. It's a beautiful mottled blue just the same but something to keep in mind for next time.

With closer scrutiny, this crazy glaze test bowl reveals some interesting overlaps of 4 Mayco glazes: Alabaster, Bluesurf, Northwoods, and Maycoshino. More testing to be done!

I am very pleased with the results of this firing but also puzzled. I put in self supporting cone 5 cones just for the heck of it....one on the top shelf and one on the very bottom. The cone on the left was on the top shelf. The cone on the right did not look like it reached cone 5 but the pottery looked good, with a nice  glaze melt...no blisters or pinholes. Maybe the glazes I used are very forgiving and have a larger firing range than they claim. Any thoughts?

Glaze firing set-up

First glaze firing of the Skutt kiln at the center. Digital kilns are very easy to fire unless of course you press the wrong button! I was trying to clear the previous settings and pressed the Menu button. Bad idea. That, turns out, is designed to set specific temperature programs and possibly over ride and change default settings. Did Not want to do that but then couldn't exit that particular Menu. Somehow, I did manage to exit without changing any settings (wish I knew how I did that!). Set it up for a cone 5 firing, no pre-heats, no holds and then got a digital read out that was no where to be found on the on-line manual or anywhere on the internet for that matter. "COST" Could it mean the obvious. ..the cost of each firing or was it initials with meaning such as "cone offset system toggle" ???? I didn't feel safe pressing "start" until I knew what it meant. I emailed Skutt customer service, which is great, by the way. Yes, it was the cost of each firing! A very new feature that will calculate the cost of each firing if you enter the cost of your kilowatts. Good to know.

A lifetime of work

Well, it turns out the Professor was truly a professor. He taught himself how to make pottery when he found some clay on the banks of a river when he was in the service. Turns out he was a natural and he wound up teaching pottery on the wheel and sculptural pottery at BYU and at the University of Utah. Clay became his life's work even though he had a degree in engineering. I was thrilled to get a chance to see his work and was awestruck when I saw how much there was. At this point he needs his own gallery! Many, many moons ago, I studied illustration in school but never took a clay class...not a one. So I am pleased by the irony of the situation.... that I have come to the center to teach but I am learning so much.

Utah clay

I made a mini (2 1/4 tall") and a micro mini pot ( 3/4") to test some Utah clay. A gentleman, who I shall call the Professor, brought some to the center for me to try. The clay starts out a light brown, but fires to a very attractive warm tone. He's testing a bisqueware piece with some cone 5/6  glazes to see what happens. He has fired his clay up to cone 3 but not past that. I hope it makes it.