Art by Fuzzy

Pottery, Photography, Design - Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz

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Drying: plates, mugs, vases

mugs, set of plates drying

mugs, set of plates drying

I’ve had a chance to spend a few hours in the clay studio over the past few weeks.  I threw a set of simple plates for my wife.  The only other set that I’ve thrown were part of my senior exhibit in college 7 years ago.  I’ve thrown a plate or platter every once in a while, to remember how to do it or so I have a large flat area to do something fancy with glazes, so I think I’ve improved slightly since then.  I’ll reserve judgement until after they are all glazed and fired to see how they hold up, and how they stack, and if I like the functionality of the set.  I threw 9 total.  They are all pretty similar in size but as I was trimming the bottom it was interesting to see the slight differences along the outside edges.  I also tried a few root beer mugs (or beer steins, depending on your choice of beverage).  I think I started with about two pounds of clay and added some thick handles with thumb rests.

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Last Glaze Fire of 2010

Well, here are a few photos of the latest items to come out of the kiln.  Plenty of mugs, a few vases, some bowls and a few other pieces.

wide bottom vase
wide bottom vase
wheel thrown mug blues
wheel thrown mug blues
wheel thrown drip vase
wheel thrown drip vase
triangle plate
triangle plate
tall sunburst bowl
tall sunburst bowl
sunburst bowl
sunburst bowl
straight sided vase
straight sided vase

stoneware soup bowl
stoneware soup bowl
stoneware mugs
stoneware mugs
short wide mugs
short wide mugs
short mugs
short mugs
Pam's Iron stoneware mugs
Pam’s Iron stoneware mugs
Pam's Iron Mug Set
Pam’s Iron Mug Set
mixing bowl
mixing bowl

handmade mugs
handmade mugs
flare mugs
flare mugs
Cone Mugs
Cone Mugs
toothbrush holder and soap dish
brown bathroom set
bathroom set for two
bathroom set for two
altered vase
altered vase
2 bathroom sets
2 bathroom sets

If you missed it, there was a previous post about glazing and firing.

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Like an Early Christmas!

I opened up the kiln today after yesterday’s glaze fire.  Early Christmas?  Early Christmas!

glazed pots - December 2010

glazed pots – December 2010

I spent almost all of Saturday preparing and glazing and kiln washing.  Everything went pretty smoothly.   I mixed up 10lbs. of Coyote’s Saturated Iron on Friday so it was ready to go.  That, along with my previously mixed Pam’s Blue, gave me two buckets of glaze to dip and pour.  I used a little bit of Coyote Red Gold and one vase has some Espresso Bean but other than that, just about everything else is part of the Pam’s Iron Collection.  (Pam’s Blue and/or Saturated Iron).

glaze fired pottery

glaze fired mugs, vases, bowls

I was happy with the way everything turned out.  No major flaws, no glaze drips, no visible glaze defects, no worries.  The Pam’s Blue running down over Red Gold effect that I achieved last glaze firing came through pretty well in the two bowls that I tried it with this time.   The Saturated Iron came out exactly the same as the pre-mixed pint I used previously.  It might have been just a little thick for dipping because I had to brush off some excess.  This usually left some darker areas compared to the reddish brown in most areas.  Could be something to experiment with next time.  I hope to shoot some decent photos of these pieces tomorrow or the next day and get them posted here (my apologies for the terrible lighting and yellow cast of this photo).

I had a small Holiday Pottery Sale at Ligonier Elementary the past few days.  I got some positive feedback when I stopped and talked to a few people today.  I might have even made enough money to buy more glaze materials!

In unrelated news I’ve been tweaking the design of the blog theme.  I’ll continue to fix things as I discover them.  If you have any feedback for the appearance of the blog I’d love to hear it.

Bisque Fire in Progress

ready to bisque fire

ready to bisque fire

The kiln is on and was at 104F when I checked a few minutes ago.  I’m bisque firing a load of mugs, bowls, vases, and a few other items.  I’ve been busy the last two weeks trying to get everything thrown, assembled and dried so I can get it fired today.  Next weekend I hope to glaze fire so I can have a good selection of Christmas presents to choose from.

clay tools

clay tools

My school was canceled last Monday so I had a chance to do some online shopping at the clay supply stores.  Clay-King sent me a $5 off coupon in their email newsletter and they had glazes on sale so I decided to go with them.  I ordered a few small tools, a pint of clear glaze, some kiln posts, and a 10lb. bag of Saturated Iron dry glaze mix.  Everything except the dry glaze powder was at my house on Wednesday (only 2 days!) and the dry mix ships direct from the factory so it will arrive separately.

Stoneware Mugs and Bowls

I glaze fired a number of pieces two weekends ago.  Mostly mugs with a few bowls of different sizes.  I used Pam’s Blue on most of the work since I still have half a bucket left.  It came out as a blue-green on most of the pieces.  I put it over Coyote Red Gold on the inside of one bowl and it made a spectacular flowing combination.  I also dripped some Red Gold on the Pam’s Blue platter and got some interesting white streaks.  I have another toothbrush holder prototype which seems to work okay and the last pair of “word mugs” are finally finished.

Word Mugs - Peace Faith
Word Mugs – Peace Faith
Stoneware Mugs
Stoneware Mugs
Speckled Stoneware Mugs
Speckled Stoneware Mugs
Small Lidded Container
Small Lidded Container
Toothbrush Holder
Toothbrush Holder
Pam's Blue Platter with white drips
Pam’s Blue Platter with white drips
Pam's Blue over Red Gold
Pam’s Blue over Red Gold
Pam's Blue Mugs
Pam’s Blue Mugs
Pam's Blue Bowl
Pam’s Blue Bowl

Deco Brown Mugs
Deco Brown Mugs
Blue-Green Bowls with handles
Bowls with handles

Missing from the pictures are a tea mug that was already sold and a few mugs that were  re-fired to fix some glaze defects from a previous glaze firing.

I’m hoping to get some more items made before Christmas.  A lot of wheel thrown things are planned and I might try some bigger slab platters.

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