If you were keeping score at home, I struck out more times than Michael Jordan playing baseball when it came to keeping my blog updated in 2015. So I’ll show you a few of my favorite pots from the entire year here in one post. To see more selected work from 2015 click here.
Top Pots of 2014
Here are some of my favorite pots that I made in 2014. Other than the wood fired cups these are all fired to ^6 oxidation.
Small Wheel Thrown Bottles
I’ve made a few small bottles during the last couple throwing cycles. They are fun to make and a good form to improve my throwing skills.
5 Reasons to Keep Making Pottery
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…]