Chapter 6 clay work of 2019

And that's about all...except I could look through all this year's blogs.  Nah.  These are what I thought would be worth showing you.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great holiday!

My humble pitcher

 It holds 2 cups, and pours without a drip or dribble!

I just thought I'd show a bit of my own efforts, along with the Sylva show (and much more professional) artists!

When a pitcher becomes a vase!

Horrible nightime lighting...when black and white don't read true.  Going to take some more daytime photos now!

 Now that's more like it. The red does reflect up, but is balanced by all the light coming in the window from green leaves on the trees.

 For detail of the Celtic Cross, you really see that red reflected into the black!

 The point of this one is to show the white glaze dot in the midst of the black glaze.  Don't know how that happened!

I often put a flower pot on top of these little stands...they elevate pots and keep from leaving dampness on the painted sills.

And on another note...this pitcher pours perfect the first and every time! No drips!

Another pitcher

Mayco Stroke N Coat "Jaded" on exterior, inside with Satin White studio glaze, and rim with Plum studio glaze.

Does it pour?

 This is a bad pour - dribble down the side...

After the first inch has poured, then the water flows over the edge without a dribble.  Bt it's not as good a pour as the last one I made.  Another learning experience.

Today's Quote:

What has this potter been making?

This last month has been a whopper...challenges keep coming at me, and they probably won't stop.

But I've got one thing under my control, and I'm sticking to it.  I can control my own attitude...and I'm really working on the positive aspect of everything that's coming my way.

I am not sure I always make the best choices.  And yet, given my circumstances I am really doing pretty darn well.

But I haven't had time to be in the studio as much as I'd like.

Survival issues do take precedence.

But between food/shelter/transportation/clothing/loss of loved pet, health issues, and a community of friends, I took time to go see my son and his wife and my grandchildren last Friday.  What a very fulfilling trip.

 A little pitcher with an infinity symbol.

It has a fluted detail around the base.

And my signature Celtic Cross as the thumb knob on the handle.

It only holds about 3 cups, and pours without any dribble, I'm proud to say.

Sorry the coloring is slanted to yellow of incandescent lights...I usually try to take my photos in natural lighting which gives a better sense of what the color really is.  Perhaps when the sun comes up tomorrow, I'll be able to take some better photos for you.

Pitcher piecing part two

This time I have some speckled brownstone clay (from Highwater Clays).

I threw the basic shape a few days ago, and I was worried that it had firmed up too much.  That meant when I cut it and removed the wedge for the handle area (on left above) I had to put a lot of slip and extra coils of clay into the "wound" while smoothing it out.  Since clay seems to have a memory, it may split apart at any stage in the rest of the assembly.

The curve cut-out on the right side at the top, of course, is where I'll apply a piece of curved slab of clay...and again put lots of slip and some coils along the seam to strengthen it up.

Looking through the cut you can see the "wound" repair on the inside opposite it.

A bit of guesswork here.  I mentioned to friends in the studio that if I'd been smart I would have a pattern to cut with.  Instead, I cut and guess.  I never claimed to be a pro!

Still damp, but into the kiln room to dry and then get into a bisque kiln-load.

Behind the scenes

Making pottery doesn't just happen.  There are two main ways that I do it (and probably many others). I call these ways as 1) Throwing on the Wheel, or 2) Hand Building.

If you like pottery, you may have a preference.  If you make it, you probably do too, but spend some time with both techniques.  I've been playing with combining them lately.

 A pitcher with some tucks taken, a handle added, and a pieced spout.  The basic pitcher was thrown. A pulled handle was added, and the tuck meant waiting till it was just firm enough to cut into it's side, remove a wedge, and push it back together, leaving the concave portion behind the handle.

A similar pitcher which I sold to a friend recently...and she would like another one like it. 

I'll show you tomorrow how I piece a slab into the pitcher to make the spout area.  I don't know how various pro potters do it, but this way seems to work for me.

Bells and pitcher

 A Million Bells, flowering through the summertime in a hanging planter

A medium pitcher waiting for new owner.  5" tall, $25

Getting my groove back

A tiny wine red pitcher.  For cream or some small nice condiment, I think.  Holds 1/2 cup, microwavable!

This is Little Loafer's clay.  Inside is satin white glaze, out is Raspberry, shop glazes at BMCA clay studio.


Quote for today:

Keep inviolate an area of light and peace within you.

Corazon Aquino

Three glazes on stoneware

Smallish jar of speckled brownstone clay with dip into 3 glaze colors

The inside is just matt bronze green

A matching pitcher, also smallish

It looks entirely different from different angles - and here you see the speckles from the clay come through the white satin glaze.

A bit of pitting where the matt bronze green was too heavy on the exterior.  Interior has no pits at least, but does have a big drip of the red coming inside over the rim.

Process from bisque to glaze fired (TWO)

Another question I had to decide, what to do with a pitcher that I was pleased with the shape, and I didn't want a glaze failure to take it into the "seconds" shelf.  I had enough there already.

I decided I would try once again for the pretty blue to purple blush of Floating Blue over Raspberry.  And I would even add a spiral with wax over the first coat of glaze, the Raspberry, which has worked well before.

So here's the first view, before applying glaze.

And here's what came out of the kiln last Sat.

Where is the purple?  Well in the spiral at least.

Nice handle comfortable to lift.  But what happened on this side?

A bit of blue on blue it seems.  That's what happens with pottery...and especially studio glazes.  Different people add more water sometimes, and this time apparently Raspberry was too thin compared to Floating Blue.  But I actually like the way this came out...giving the sense that a little imperfection is what life is all about. (how did that happen through many failed attempts to get what I planned?)

_{QUOTE FOR THE DAY:  May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being.}

_{Apache Blessing}