Some Pics...

Some recent pics. It was cold last Saturday but that didn't stop Becky, Elaine, John, and Susan from having a sale outside at John's house. This pic is evidence that it really was cold.... :)

Not sure how sales went.... good pots were available, for sure!

Some of John's pottery.

Sunday I glazed several cups and a jar in the afternoon. All have spotted shino glaze and a bit of catherine's oribe with soda ash.

Put some glass on the top of this lid for a jar.

Put some wax resist on the outside of some cups. That changes the color of the shino a bit.

The cups, the jar, and the supplies used to glaze...

A few different surface designs. I really like the form of the one in the middle. The darker big dot is the wax resist.

Some more yunomi cups. The next gas kiln will be loaded on Thursday. Maybe some or all of these will make it into the kiln this round.

Today I trimmed a tall vase (forgot to take a pic) and made there bowls. I was tired and it's hard to throw when one's tired. Still good time in the studio. More soon...

The Pottery World

Life in the pottery world is simply wonderful. Here are some not so good pictures of some incredible pots! Amazing colors.... Three chalices.

Four cups. All have spotted shino for a base glaze and then catherine's oribe on top, along with some soda ash sprinkled...

The variation in the color is in part, due to the amount of reduction in different areas of the kiln.
When the amount of oxygen is reduced in the kiln, the flame pulls oxygen molecules out of the clay bodies and glazes, changing their character.

Sometimes the catherine's oribe turns out blue; at other times purple. The silver crystallized area is from the soda ash sprinkled on top of catherine's oribe glaze.

These pics were taken at the studio.... on a somewhat wet table. I think I'll stick with these same glazes for awhile at least.

Two of my favorites; actually, these all are keepers for now.

That purple and green on the right cup is the same glaze. :) If only there were more hours for time in the studio. My next goal is to save $ for a new digital camera. The cups are still ping-pinging (is that a word?) which is simply a beautiful sound.

Glazing and Loading

Glazed some chalices and small plates earlier this week, along with a bowl. They joined others in waiting to see if they'd get into the kiln which was loaded and fired beginning on Monday.

Part of the back stack of the kiln. Two yunomis.

There are two yunomis behind these big pieces.

One yunomi is on a brick on the right side of the kiln. Usually, this is a place that gives great colors--- and good reduction (lack of air) during the firing, which means great colors!

The back stack of the kiln. I wasn't there when the front stack was loaded. Kiln will be unloaded tomorrow. I'm really interested to see how these pieces turned out. I went and checked to see which pieces made it into the firing and unfortunately, the three plates didn't make it in and the three goblets did. :( Who knows what this means for the colors and whether they'll match. Oh well.... and I even asked that they be fired in pairs. There's always something going on in the pottery world.

Meanwhile, I'm running again after a short break. It's good to be back at that. I'm looking forward to being back in the studio again.

Back in the Studio

Back in the studio this afternoon after it was closed for 3 days. Made these six teacups. I'm back at it and am loving it. :) Will trim these tomorrow and make some bowls. Most are pretty much identical; I continue to like that form... and the one with the thumb indentation; I was trying a new form. Hmmm.....