Time, Time, Time

Here's a bowl getting ready to be glazed. It has writing etched into it-- and then white slip is brushed into the writing. All on phoenix clay. Will be interesting to see how this one turns out as I haven't done this slip work in awhile.

Time has been minimal in the studio lately. Lots of work; I have to work less- finding that balance is so hard sometimes. Still, I've made two big bowls recently. One of these will end up....

being the baptismal font bowl at the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Duke University. I may make a third as it's hard to judge how much they will shrink and I haven't seen the wooden font in person, and well, just because three is a holy number and it's a good thing to have extra big bowls. I like how these two are different already. These are the biggest pieces I've thrown-- all those hours of throwing smaller things really has prepared me for this! My deadline is May 1-- and with Holy Week and Eastertide around the corner, it is good that these are on their way to being done. And, I am away from the studio for about two weeks in this break time before the new spring semester starts. At least this break happens during the busiest time of work...

This will give me more time to go running... I'll post these once they are trimmed.

Stopped by the studio tonight to spray a bit of water on them and make sure they weren't getting dry.

Here's the same bowl from the first pic not that is now glazed-- new glaze colors for me! Blue/Green Celadon and then alfred's blue on the inside. Time and the kiln will tell!

Hoping to post more frequently. I've missed being away...

A Closer Look

Well, here are my not so good pictures of the pieces from the last studio firing. A few thoughts...

Three of my vases were in the bottom left back stack of the kiln. The catherine's oribe turned out more green than the bluish that I was accustomed to.

And these surprised me too...

All of these were first glazed in spotted shino. Some had reduction; others (whitish ones) experienced oxidation in the kiln. The yunomi... third from the left is my favorite.

The two vases on the left have tom's clear with catherine's oribe at the rim. As I mentioned briefly in the last post, he thinks that the lack of reduction all over the kiln was because of one big piece in the kiln, therefore the air was not distributed evenly during the reduction phase. This was all new learning for me. To see the big big pot, see my last post.

Yes, the bowl on the left was dipped in spotted shino and then had accents in catherine's oribe. It looks a bit albino.... but at closer glance, it's growing on me. The middle one is a small creamer. Firings are full of mystery! A good thing. Keeps life interesting!

Each One Is Unique

Here's how the first stack looked...right after the kiln door was opened.

Top of the shlef on the left; the cone packs and one of Greg's bowls.

That white piece is mine in the back. Interestingly some pieces got reduction and others didn't. That one had tom's clear glaze and was supposed to be that color though.

Some of John's butter trays and covers (not sure what the official name of them is called). Great shino colors.

A few big pieces...

The bottom of the kiln on the right and the cone pack. In the way back is the top of one of my yunomi cups.

As the pieces were unloaded, we discovered that some shinos got good reduction and others didn't. Greg explained that because of the big big piece in the back, that the air was not distributed as evenly, so that resulted in some areas where the oxygen stayed during the reduction phase (called oxidation). I personally was a bit disappointed.... Will post more pics tomorrow. Some of my shinos ended up with warm colors-- and almost white! Oh well...

Oh and yes these two cups were dipped in spotted shino. If there is good reduction they are brownish... not the case here.

Hence the mystery of kiln firing continues. One never knows what the kiln will bring.

On the left stack that bowl on the second shelf from the bottom that looks off whitish is mine. Was glazed with spotted shino. On the right is that small creamer too, glazed in tom's clear with the top dipped in catherine's oribe.

Still, the kiln shelves were pretty packed. I'm exhausted tonight and will post more pics tomorrow, especially of some of my individual pieces. A few of them had good reduction. Still overall, a good firing. None of my pieces cracked, broke or warped. This is all full of such learning! Oh, and the temp in the gas kiln reached 2300 degrees.

Too Long Yet Tomorrow Once Again

Yes, it's been way too long since I've spent a bunch of time at Clayworks. Lent has a way of keeping me away... Lots of work these days. Still, I managed to get ten pieces into the kiln that was loaded on Wednesday evening. Most of the pieces are in the back stack except...

Except that I could find two of my yunomis behind these big pieces-- the yunomi cups are on bricks on the right side of the stack. Usually, that is a great space for good colors on pots.

There's really two in there.

Here are the ten pieces that I glazed on Wednesday afternoon. Most are glazed in spotted shino with catherine's oribe, wood ash, and soda ash for accents. The ones that are white were dipped into tom's clear glaze and then catherine's oribe.

I put some splashes of the catherine's oribe on the inside of these vases. Each of the vases have inscriptions on the outside. I'm eager to see how these all will turn out.

Sprinkled a bit of wood ash on the inside of these pieces too. The wood ash is from my parent's fireplace and I really like the additional texture and color it gives.

Not sure why; I decided to smudge the wood ash a bit. I wonder what this will bring...

Sprinkled a small bit of wood ash on one of the vases. Will take pictures of the kiln unloading tomorrow once again... Stay tuned!