Pottery, Photography, Design - Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz
A selection of cups from recent firings. All fired to cone 6 in oxidation.
These four juice cups are made with Buff Stoneware by Amaco. Light Brown glaze on the inside and Dark Brown on the outside with Jen’s Juicy Fruit around the tops, running down.
Not that I need any more reasons to make more pots! Anyway, here are 5 reasons that I continue to press on. I’ve made a lot of bad pots but I feel like these recent pots give me some new direction and inspiration for my future work.
Dripping (C)up
Do you see what I did there? The ‘C’ is optional so it can be read “dripping cup” or “dripping up.” Get it?
Technical Info: Fired to ^6 in oxidation, Warm Brown Stoneware. Glazes: Licorice inside, Jen’s Juicy Fruit and Waterfall Brown outside.
Inspired by: Justin Rothshank’s seconds shelf dripping mug and a discussion with Dick Lehman about firing lids on teapots.
Why I like it: Fairly unique?, interesting color patterns, the glaze becomes part of the structure. I like how a little bit of bare clay shows through near the rim even though that was probably an accident.
Where to go next: I’ll continue to fire things upside down. And explore “glaze as structure” instead of just a surface decoration. I think that I could get some longer glaze drips if I get the right firing program set up. I’ll also look into different shapes and textures to see how that affects the glaze drips. I just made a pinch pot with some grooves and stamps just for this purpose. This is actually my third or fourth attempt at this. I have one that is in The Cup: An Interpreted Object. It was my first attempt at firing something upside down and I had some blistering glaze issues which actually look pretty cool. I only finished one before the entries were due or I would have entered this one, above. [Read more…]
Glaze Experiments
I fired up the kiln a few days ago with a load full of experimental work. Most of it involved new glaze combinations involving Jen’s Juicy Fruit.
I guess it’s about time to upload some pictures of pots from the last kiln load since the kiln is currently cooling with a fresh load of pots. All are Warm Brown Stoneware, wheel thrown and fired to cone 6 on June 23rd. The decal pots were put through the next bisque fire after the decals were applied.
I’ve had a chance to try some more decals recently. This time on real pots, not just test tiles. I really like how they look on the Bone White from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. Even though the Bone White is a little too yellow after a glaze fire with a normal cool down I really like how it looks after going through an extra bisque fire required to fire the decals onto the piece. It becomes less glossy and brighter white. It reminds me a little bit of old paper.
Father’s Day Gifts
These were a big hit during the Father’s Day festivities. I used black and white photos of Q and printed them off on decal paper. They came out pretty well. There is enough detail in the midtones to tell what the subject is but there are a few rough spots. Maybe if the glaze was more glossy the images would be a little smoother? It actually adds to the old paper look.