Mistake to masterpiece

Last week I threw two roundish pots and as I was closing the tub, my thumb slipped off the catch and into one of the pots. Disaster you might think. No, I had a week to think about it and came up with a cunning plan. Jayne wasn't quite sure what I was up to today but I just said ah wait and see. So I turned the base on the wheel then flipped over the pot. I surveyed last week's damage and sourced a suitable cutting tool. I cut a hole in the side of the pot where the mistake was, rolled out some other clay on the slab roller and used my cake icing plungers to make two sizes of flowers. I used these to fill the hole. Mistake no more. I prefer masterpiece. I headed out into the 45 degrees Celcius heat and after a fifteen minute drive arrived home just in time to avoid a wild dust storm.

Acquisition..a Jayne Bawden original

You know when you see a painting or a piece of ceramics and you MUST have it? Well it was one of those moments when I saw Jayne's raku pot. Check it out...

It's so gorgeous! One day I hope to try out the raku process although not on this scale. This pot is 21cm high by 19cm wide to give you an idea of its size. I'm nowhere near making pots that large. I'm satisfied admiring my new acquisition.

Glazes, frangipani and a forgotten bunny

So finally I have new pottery to display here and I realise I have neglected to show this bunny bowl from a while ago. At least I think I forgot. I can't find it anyway.

I was inspired by the bunny stamp I bought some time back.
Meanwhile more recently out of the kiln are a few bowls I used as glaze experiments, reason being that the bowls themselves were so ugly and I couldn't believe I even let them go in the kiln.
Firstly, copper rust glaze in two thicknesses:

I prefer the darker shade.
Next up, as seen on Jayne's blog, tenmoku/satin white and tenmoku/hyacinth blue/satin white:

Really interesting effects.

I love the variations you can get with the tenmoku/hyacinth combination. Here is an older bowl and a newer bowl with the same glazes but quite different results:

I have always liked to make a hollowed out base but I thought I would try a flat finish for a change. In the process Jayne has helped me improve my turning so that the shape continues on rather than stopping abruptly. You might see the difference here:

Off topic, I have always loved frangipani flowers and recently we planted some cuttings which look like they will be successful. I am fascinated by the development of the growth and decided to document it.
1. Tips of branches turn green and pointy things appear. (excuse lack of technical language)

2. Pointy things turn out to be leaves!

3. Something unusual starts to appear amongst the leaves.

4. It gets taller.

5. Look closely as it grows and I'm fairly confident that each of these twirly things is a flower bud!!!

Practical pottery

Hasn't been much to report. It's been a bit cold to head into the studio. Did pop in and pick up a sugar bowl fresh out of the kiln. I love the beauty of pottery but it's great when it becomes functional. I noticed a stem of orchids hanging down in one of my pot plants and it was in a spot where it hardly gets noticed or appreciated. So I cut the stem and brought it inside. It now has pride of place in my Gary Rith vase.

Gary Rith Pottery

I got to open my Gary Rith Pottery! Check it out...

So beautiful. The first thing I noticed was the weight. As I picked up the packages I thought "This can't be pottery." I am so used to handling my own amateur pieces which still have quite thick sides because I am too scared to go any thinner. I love the little flecks/grains in the clay. I've seen Jayne get this effect and I've always admired it. Can't wait to get some flowers into the vase. What to put in the bowl? Hmm.
Here is a shot of the pottery in place in front of my white timber shutters. Amazing the difference in the photo with different lighting.

Oh and I got a bonus Godzilla fridge magnet! :) (Have neglected to take a photograph.)

Bigger bowl and the latest pendants

Away from the studio lately but have managed to get a larger (for me) bowl out of the kiln and a couple of new pendants. The bowl opens out to 15cm or 6inches to give you an idea of the size. It's not enormous, but it is a step up from my little bowls. I am finding that I am not needing to cut the tops off these days to level out my bowls. This in itself is an achievement!

Not sure about the tree pendant. I think the colour on the leaves needs to be darker to stand out more.

In other news, I get to open my Gary Rith pottery soon! Yay!!!
And here's a photo of one of my crimson rosellas...

More pendants

Haven't created much lately, lots of other things going on. But I have managed to get two pendants out of the kiln. I made the images using my handmade polymer stamps from Giselle No5 on etsy. Painting the images with underglaze (three times each of course!) was an effort with my shaky hands but well worth it once I saw the finished items.