No tree left behind

I believe every tree in Draper City Park was wrapped with lights of every color. Instead of bringing in an evergreen to decorate, they used every deciduous tree they could find. The photo doesn't do it justice but I had to share.

Mug shot!

I had the most difficult time getting a good photo of this very glossy green mug....Shadow Green glaze accented with Iron Red. This photo has the most realistic color rendition so I went with that. I like the shadow and light shimmers even though they may be a bit distracting from the subject matter.

Glaze combos

I have come to the conclusion that a successful glazed pot seems to involve at least three glazes. Even a thin line of an accent glaze along the edge of a rim is enough to make a positive difference in the result. The body of the vase is actually a scrap glaze, the darker brown bands are an iron red glaze and the rest is the result of a dip of Colonial White.

Job completed

Here's my random collection of stoneware pendants. They are fun to make but some are surprisingly time consuming despite their small size. I put a high temperature loop of wire in each piece at the greenware stage. That makes the glazing much easier since an s hook through the loop can be hung on a rod. All high temperature, of course. The drippier crackle glazes require a trivet, however. I hope the recipients enjoy them.

Great day for soup and bowls

The day was cloudy and cold and beginning to drizzle/snow...in other words, a perfect afternoon for soup. All 50 plus (I lost count) soup bowls were purchased and filled with delicious soups that were generously donated by local restaurants and a friend of mine. It was nice to see how happy people were with their pottery purchases and to hear how they were drawn to certain bowls. So does this mean I need to start making bowls for next year? I'll find out soon.

Last of the bowls

Just wanted to post photos of the completed slip-decorated bowls. Some of the dark slip burned away in the cone five firing which I think was a happy accident. Dark slip, white slip, oak leaves and a clear glaze....does it all.

The date has been set

The date for the Draper Senior Center fundraiser is Saturday, November 16 11:00 AM -- 1:00 PM. Purchase a fabulous soup bowl made by members of the Clay Class. Fill and refill the bowl from a variety of hot soups, plus green salad and bread sticks. Keep the fabulous bowl--all for only $10. Such a great deal. All ages welcome and all proceeds support the activities of the center. Here is the address for those Utahns who haven't visited the center yet 1148 East Pioneer Road, Draper Utah 84020. The building is right behind the library, across the road from the IFA store (look for the landmark corn silo) and walking distance from Draper Town Center Trax stop which is the last stop on the Blue Line. Hope to see you there.

Another new glaze

Look at that mirror finish on the center of that bowl. The glaze is Shadow Green from Seattle Pottery Supply. You get a fluid green with brown speckles if applied thinner and a metallic silver mirror finish where it pools. The "rust" on the rim is an iron red glaze that melted-in better than I had hoped for. After the bowl had cooled, took it out of the kiln and took it home, I kept hearing little ticking, tinging noises coming from the bowl!  This bowl was actually noisy and clearly not done with "business". I worried that the glaze might crackle and even crack apart! A day later it quieted down and the glaze is still beautifully intact. But should I be listening to my pottery now?

New glazes on a soup bowl

Another Senior Center bought some glazes to test. Seattle Pottery Supply glazes seem to paint on well even when mixed from dry powder. Here we have Burnt Orange and Turquoise. My favorite color is where the two colors combine in the grooved lip.

Lots of glazing

We have completed our soup bowls for the fundraiser. We've got quite a nice collection of bowl with some pretty glaze surprises. The top two photos are of one bowl that gave interesting results due to circumstances. I shall explain. This bowl has two layers of Celadon Froth and then a somewhat thick layer of Colonial white that was poured when everything was quite damp. Since that bowl seemed to be taking forever to dry, I moved it over to an adjoining table not realizing that a friend of mind would be kneading her clay. As the table shook, so did the glaze. But as the glaze slid down inside the bowl, the little green spots of glaze worked through the white layer. It was cool how it became immortalized in the glaze firing. I will have to try that again and see if I can repeat it.

The bowl with the leaf resist shows more green of the Celadon Froth than I had expected. Also, I am surprised how much of the dark brown slip burns away in the cone 5 firing. The result is attractive, none the less.  I will post the finished glazed results of the bottom photo next time.

Glazed soup bowls

 I have revisited some glazing combinations for these soup bowls. You never know what people will like, so variety is the way to go. The bowl above with the grooved lips have Colonial white over Turkish amber glaze cone 5/6.

 A heavy dose of cream over plumb make the bowls look like they are already full of soup.

I like the matte finish that bamboo ash matte glaze gave this bowl (not made by me).  The lip and the circles are an applications of an Iron Red glaze on top. It is a glossy glaze which is a nice compliment to the matte.

Soup bowls

I've been very busy working on soup bowls for a fundraiser. Here's just a few of them. I have much respect for those who make pottery for a living....it's hard work, no doubt about it, and I am not even near the iceberg, let alone touching the tip of it, as the expressions goes.

Television inspiration

While watching television a few weeks ago, I saw an infomercial for a stoneware piece of pottery! It has a hollow handle and a hole in the knob so the steam can vent while microwaving your food. So I said to myself, "I can make that." It soft cooks an egg nicely, but that is the only thing I've tried so far. The glaze on the inside is a nice shiny white....Colonial White by Laguna and the outside is my scrap glaze that is a years collection of cleaned glazing brushes. I like where white overlaps the brown and pulls some brown with it. I'll have to try that combination again. Just looking at this make me think of the future fall season that I've been looking forward to all summer. Utah had the hottest summer on record...3 straight months of over 90 degrees. I don't care how cold or how much snow we get...I will not complain! I promise!

A little bit of crackle

Wow, does time fly when you're not blogging. Here are some pieces I've completed as of late. The glaze is Laguna's Catalina Crackle and Tang Lime crackle. If your pieces lay flat, the glazes pool nicely and blend with the plumb glaze to soften the edges, which I like. If you put the crackle on a bowl, it runs like it's in a marathon! So my pottery mentor, Jack Jarvie, "tweeked" the Catalina Crackle for the bird. He used some feldspar (alkaline) so I was told. It did the trick and made the glaze behave itself at cone 5/6.

No melt down here

This is a Jack Jarvie pot that I selected and purchased from his home collection. It was done back in the day, when he did a lot of teaching demonstrations and very creative/experimental pottery. I think that paddled  area with the in-set  cat tail design is a very clever and beautiful detail. I am really enjoying the fact that he comes in regularly to my Thursday clay class. It is a great opportunity for me to chat-it-up about clay and glazes...especially about their chemical make-up and what ingredients to add to adjust their characteristics. How often does that usually happen?!  He has a wealth of knowledge and I am thrilled he is still able and interested in sharing it with me. A teacher for the teacher....how great is that!

Almost doesn't count

The vase above was made and glazed by my friend and master potter, Jack Jarvie. He has been making pottery almost all his life and he now comes to the senior center to impart some of his vast expertise and knowledge in the clay arts...hence my nickname for him "the professor". Well the professor has tons of clay he has dug from all around Utah. We tested a few batches to see if it would make it to cone 5/6 and we thought we were all set. Well, it almost had a melt down. It slumped and bubbled and buckled at cone 5/6. (I'm thinking we might have had a clay mix-up) Even though the glaze is quite blistered, and the firing actually immortalized some clay bubbles, it still holds water somehow and looks beautiful next to my petunias and dianthus. No shelf was harmed in this firing. As I like to say, "almost" doesn't count.

Summer Inspiration

This is the work of a potter I met at the Utah Arts Festival. Of all the pottery, his work caught my eye. Both eyes actually, lol, and I had to come back to his booth to buy a pot. The work had a lively, spontaneous look that I strive to have in my own work, colorful glaze combinations and a gloss/matte finish I really enjoy. I appreciate that he gave me permission to photograph his booth, which was lovely, I might add....booth set-up is an art in itself. Check out his website at www.bradhenrypottery.com  The pottery is his, the daisies are mine.

Utah Arts Festival

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed attending  this festival in downtown Salt Lake City with some friends. The high level of quality of the artwork was very impressive. I appreciate that the set-up did not focus on food vendors and that the art booths dominated the festival. Of course, I enjoyed focusing on the pottery. Some potters were local but many, to my surprise were from, Washington State, Oregon and California. All was very inspirational. Next year, I hope to attend in the evening when the temperature is cooler and catch some of the music at the same time.

A close up

A little gem

Believe it or not, this is the only piece I managed to get in the last glaze firing. I've got to do better next time. Anyway, this little pot exceeded my expectations and is, in my opinion, a little gem. Since I tend to over think the glazing process, I took a page from a friend of mine who likes to splash it on and let it fly. She's the one who needs to write it down because she comes up with some great combinations. With this pot and that in mind, I textured the clay, then layered on glazes (with a combination from a previous test in mind) to follow the pattern .....sort of. Just two Mayco glazes were used despite the variations in color and finish of matte and gloss. Check out this website for Mayco cone 6 glaze combinations.  http://maycocolors.com/index.php?option=com_igallery&view=igcategory&id=18

A little inspiration from mom nature

The photo doesn't reveal how intense and full it was. The best I've ever seen. I had to share.

Slow going

I enjoy making these pendants as of late but it is surprisingly slow going. I am, what I call, a fuss-pot potter. Using stamps to get the basic shape is quick and straight forward enough, but it's not enough for me. I find it necessary to curl the edges, carve the flat areas, and tweak and burnish. I know that I am fortunate in that I do not have to rush through the process and just enjoy being in the "creating" moment.

A full glaze firing

Here's a view of the kiln loaded with glaze fired pottery and pendants. In the past I had used Nichrome wire to make the small "s" hooks to hang the pendants on the larger rods, but I noticed that some of the larger, heavier pendants would sag enough to almost touch the shelf (which is covered in clay flats to protect the shelf). So with some internet research, I found and ordered some A-1 annealed 16 gauge Kanthal wire. I am not sure of the high-end of its temperature tolerances but, according to some forums, it is at least to cone 7. No sagging was evident in this cone 5/6 firing. So far so good.

Pottery with a view

Just came back from the Draper Senior Center. I unloaded the kiln and enjoyed the view. The class is creating some beautiful work. I consider myself very fortunate to have a very talented, creative and self-motivated group of people that make me look forward to every Thursday. I will eventually post some of their work on the Utah Arts blog and make glaze notations for future reference and also for everyones viewing pleasure. I will have to talk to them first about their glaze combinations and either hope they have a good memory or took notes. A potter at a local festival said he had 10 years worth of firing/glaze notes. So I told my friend, in sort of an annoying way, "Seeeeee! You've got to write it down." We are all working on it. I write it down but then I lose the paper!

Stoneware pendant

Now to make 25 more. No matter how hard I try, no two will be identical and that is the beauty of it.

Never miss an opportunity...

Since tomorrow is Mothers Day, I selected one of Andy Romero's pieces for my husband to give me. I make it too easy for him but since I get exactly what I want, I'm happy....that's all that matters, right? So when Andy is a famous potter, I can say,"I knew him when I could still afford his pottery!" And by the way, Happy Mother's day ladies.

Andy Romero Ceramic Arts

Hard to miss his magnificently humongous pottery. We met at the Draper Senior Center where he is there to teach a Saturday class. It was great to see him and his work.

First annual Draper Arts and Crafts Festival

It was a beautiful day for the event. Of course I was scouting out for some pottery.

Pavilion at Draper Arts & Crafts Festival

Details of the previous

I was very pleased with the results of this firing. I do consider everything an experiment no matter how many times I've used a certain glaze. So I have made flat bisqued shapes to put under the hanging pendants. Those commercial glazes, especially the new Mayco stoneware, seem very forgiving but since we are layering and blending glazes, I thought I would be extra careful. A little sagging went on with the longer, thinner wire, but doesn't that happen to the best of us, lol.  Next time I will put a post in the middle, but I am liking the thicker high temperature rods with little hooks to hang the pendants. The pyrometric cone on the left is for cone 5 and was at the top shelf of this Skutt digital kiln; the one on the right also being cone 5, was on the bottom shelf.  For this firing, I added a 15 minute hold so that the bottom of the kiln would reach cone 5. Since the glazes are for cone 5/6, this worked out.