Clay – Page 4

Polar Vortex Inspired Pottery

I recently shot some photos of the most recent glaze fire. These were mostly completed during the polar vortex winter that kept us cooped up inside for months. Which is always okay with me, as long as I have enough clay! Everything was fired to ^6 in oxidation. Clay is either Warm Brown Stoneware or Buff Stoneware or a combination of both. For more details, click on the images.

Favorites

This was my favorite surface from this kiln load. I like the Jen’s Juicy Fruit and Waterfall Brown combo better on the Warm Brown Stoneware but it looks pretty good here too on the Buff Stoneware running over my light brown glaze. It might even run a little more on the Buff Stoneware?

side fired bowl

I was commissioned to make 6 small coffee mugs so I made a bunch. It was nice to do a series and work with some subtle variations. I hope to do some more multiples soon.

series of small mugs

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Last Glaze Fires of 2013

The penultimate and final glaze loads before the end of the year have been fired revealingÂ mixed results. About half of the stuff in this last two loads were projects from Clay Camp which all came out pretty well. The stuff that I managed to squeeze in mostly consisted of mugs,cups and tumblers. I had two different Amaco clay bodies present: My old favorite, Warm BrownÂ Stoneware and the smooth and bright Buff Firing Stoneware.

The Good

buff stoneware cups

I think these are two of my favorites from the last two loads. The cup on the left is my most Lehman-esqe piece yet and the glaze did some amazing things. The cup on the right also has some awesome crystal-y things happening with the glaze. So I slapped the macro attachment on my lens and got some detail shots.

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5 Reasons to Keep Making Pottery

Not that I need any more reasons to make more pots!Â 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…]

New Pots: September 2013

I’ve been a little busy lately… but here are some pics of my latest pots. Which seem like old news to me since these were finished in September, just in time for the Middlebury Fall Festival. Pretty good results though.