work in progress Archives

Clay Studio Notes: July 2014

Ahhhh, I love summer break. I’ve been using as much of my time off as possible in the clay studio. I just completed a round of glazing and the kiln just passed 1000 degrees. I should have enough stuff for a 2nd firing if I get some of the big bowls glazed. I’ve actually been so busy doing other things that I put this blog entry on hold for almost two months. It was originally going to be Clay Studio Notes from May 2014.

Garage Sales!

It’s no secret that I love garage sales. Mostly because I can usually find something useful for, well, garage sale prices. Here are the latest items that I dug up from a couple different locations.

garage sale finds

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Currently In The Clay Studio

New Work

drying pots

I’ve been trying to get enough work scraped together for a bisque fire. Mostly weekend work. But soon that will change… It’s almost summer break! I’ve got Â a nice platter thrown and trimmed that is drying slowly. I also have a handful of PBL mugs, a couple berry bowls, and a bunch of other random pieces.

PBL mugs

drying shelf

I don’t think I have enough for a full bisque load but I plan to try some more decals. Hopefully I can fill in the empty spaces with those. I’m hoping to bisque fire by Tuesday or Wednesday. But there’s a chance that I might make a few more things if I have too much space to fill. We’ll see what happens.

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Pottery in Progress: July 2012

Say No to Cracks!

oval dish crack

I’ve decided to try a couple larger forms of the wider variety. I made some slightly-square baking dishes and a pie plate. The pie plate developed a tiny crack in the middle which I might have helped along by stretching the bottom too much while trimming it. The baking dishes also developed some small cracks in the corners inside. One was barely visible and it even survived the glaze firing. The other went all the way through to the outside during the bisque firing so i probably won’t even try to glaze it.

Then there was an oval dish that I tried to make… I followed the steps in the book Wheel-Thrown Pottery (DIY) but the dried pot had a crack so big I could see through it! I don’t think I added enough clay when I re-sealed the cut mark and it just pulled right apart.

large baking dish-in progress

I think I could have decreased the likelihood of some of these cracks a couple ways. First, I think some of the pots were a little too dry when I altered the forms. I also might have let them dry too quickly. I always hear to dry things, especially large flat things, very slowly. But the plates I’ve made have never cracked… and I’m impatient… and I wanted to fire the kiln! So I might have rushed it too much. Put this one under the things-I-already-knew-but-still-had-to-learn-the-hard-way category. I put handles on this large baking dish and I have two other pie plates drying… very… slowly. Maybe I can avoid the cracks this time…

Work in Progress

I’ve been making some test items at the Clay Guild in preparation for the crystalline glazing. But I’ve also been working on some things in the home studio.

after the cut

before the cut

I threw a couple tall vases. One looked a little funny to me, so I cut off the top part. Now… maybe I like the way it was before? The picture “before the cut” is actually after I cut the top part off. I just put it back on top so you have an idea what it looked like before. I think the top part was too small. I didn’t like something about the proportions.

cups with texture

I’ve also been making a lot of small cups to experiment with. The cups in the photo have textures which were all created from parts of the sprinkler that I took apart.

Today I hope to throw a few more cups and maybe some tumblers. And try out my new stamps. And finish another blog post about the clay studio… I better get busy.