Thursday, May 7, 2009

Good News and Tomorrow...

New yunomis in my etsy shop. Click the link on the right.
Trimmed several pieces today. Will spend much more time in the studio tomorrow.
I'm excited too that I've been accepted into a juried Arts & Crafts Show in Charlotte on Saturday/Sunday, June 13-14 at the Shoppes at University Place along with 50 + other artists. As time draws near, I'll share more details about this. This has been a favorite form of mine lately. Made it today.
Tomorrow's the kiln unloading. Can hardly wait!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Jar

Second post of the day: Here it is... my first jar! While I've made several forms like the base, I discovered last night that it wasn't as hard as I thought to make it into a jar.
I made several lids to go with the jar, and tomorrow I'll see which one looks best. Also made a teacup, just because. It's bigger than some of the others, so this one may end up being a summer iced tea mug.
Here is one of the lids on the wheel. This is it upside-down. Still need to put a knob on it and trim it when it's leatherhard.
I really like this form. Will be making many more jugs. :)

Yesterday's Class- Lids 101

Ron did a bunch of great demos in class yesterday evening. This pic has lots of posts: I've included these to remind myself of what to do, like Lids 101. This lid becomes...
this.... and then...
and then it's basically done (a little trimming to do later on the bottom part).
Here's one made flat on the wheel. After this, a small piece of paper towel and a clay ball are needed.
Take the piece off of the wheel...
andput it ontop of that papertowel on a ball of clay. THis will give the lid a rounded look (give it some curve) at the knob part.
Next, on this lid make this form...
Use calipers to measure the diameter of the lid on the pot and then measure the same on the actual lid being made.
Then make a hole in the center.
That top part is called the phlange... work on the height of it and the diameter of it, just making sure... Get the bottom curve of the lid (really the top as it's now upside down) Measure again the diameter and finish it off with....
A rib to make the angle of the soon to be inside part of the lid both perpendicular and clean.
Meanwhile, the kiln was being loaded. HEre are a few closeups of some of my yunomis. On the right, one is sitting by itself on a brick. That bottle is mine too. Three yunomis and a bottle.
Here's how the kiln looked before the door was shut. It's been humid ever since the kiln door was shut. This is a wonderflu thing, from what I've been told.
Julie, the studio manager, has been monitoring the firing closely and taking notes. She has a great attention to detail. 10 am on Friday, Christmas in May will come! :) (Three yunomis in the pic, plus the bottom part of one on the top shelf).
Back to class. All of these teapots were made by Ron and he brought them in to show us. The blue one and the green one are my favorites. While I have next to no interest in making teapots, jars are of great interest to me. I'll make jars for now instead.
So, last night I made this lid and as a warm-up, a simple yunomi form that will need a bunch of trimming.
Made these bowls too, and on the center and right one, am working on putting some curves into them. What a busy evening in the pottery world!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Kiln Day

Almost full---- Tonight the gas kiln was loaded. Rain and storms outside, so I think this will help in the firing.
Full! My yunomi teacups are scattered throughout the kiln. Tonight was class too. More about that tomorrow. It's been a long day.