Lots out of the kiln

Haven't posted for a while, so I have lots of photos to upload. First up, another go at using the popular tenmoku/hyacinth combination but adding satin white to the mix.

Then my finished cocky bowl. Not so sure about the grey bowl anymore.

A new cockatiel bowl too:

Chook bowls!

Two birds on a bowl:

And I finally made an eclectus bowl I'm satisfied with.

Pottering along

I thought I would revisit some glaze combinations and I'm glad I did. The hyacinth/satin white was not to my liking last time I tried it (although everyone else seemed to love it) but this time it was more blended. Previously it was described as reminding people of clouds, I guess because it was sort of patchy. Anyway, I quite like the result this time. The tenmoku/satin white which we like to think of as a leopard print result has some really gold looking effects this time round and I have another bowl in the kiln with a combination of this and the much used and loved tenmoku/hyacinth.

Of course there were more bird bowls out of the kiln...

Ages ago, I made this crazy thing, a tip of it broke off, I tried to throw it away, Jayne mended it and it sat in the studio for some time. Well Jayne convinced me to glaze it and here it is.

Finally, here you can see what I bought while away in Hahndorf to display my bird mobiles/hangers which I will be taking to the bird show in June.

(A couple of the birds have slipped down. They will be glued back in place soon.)

Flowing flowers vase

This design has been in my head for ages and has finally come to fruition.

I was worried the flowers would break apart as everything shrunk but amazingly everyone stayed as I wanted and I didn't even break anything while painting the glaze on. Although for sanity I think I bisque fired it beforehand.

Another bird bowl, adding to the collection:

And some ready for bisque firing, including my new improved chicken shape:

Pooling Glaze

Something I have been wanting to experiment with for a while...pooling glaze. Problem being that we high fire which does not suit the pooling glaze. I like the high firing as I want my bowls to be as strong as possible but I really wanted to experiment with the pooling glaze. So I decided to make some pendants using it, as I don't feel they need to be so strong. I may decide to make some bowls later and just remind myself that the finished product will be more fragile.
So, initial results below:

There were some others, but the glaze was applied too thinly and they are going back into the kiln with more glaze on. I can't use clear glaze on the underglazed bits as our club's clear glaze is for high firing. I'm looking into buying some clear glaze for bisque firing. So far I've only found it in bulk though.

Other items out of the kiln this week:

The lavender coloured bowl was an experiment with spraying my gloss blue glaze onto the lavender glaze. I didn't get a speckled effect at all, it all just blended in together. I wasn't expecting the full speckles like with the underglaze, but I thought there would be something more interesting than this.

Bird bowls, new shapes and a cat bowl

I am trying to increase my collection of bird bowls, with the annual Bird Show in mind.

Strangely (for me) I have made a cat bowl. Shock, horror! Ah, but it is a commission! It is very satisfying to be asked to make something and paid money for it.

I thought I would try a second bowl with the combination of tenmoku, hyacinth and satin white. Just to see if the results varied greatly from the previous time I tried this out. Pretty much the same.

Next up, a couple of vase experiments. These are small, made from only 600 grams of clay.

Stay tuned for current projects...pendants with pooling glaze, bird mobiles and mist sprayed glaze using an atomizer.

Disasters and solutions

Shiny new wheel, so much fun I thought. Ah, but frustration set in. Not only was centering driving me INSANE but the thing that happened only to other people had started happening to me. The clay was sliding off before I even got going. What the heck?! So I had a good long think after trying to be persistent for a week or two. What was I doing differently? Hmm. Well at the studio I had been forcefully throwing the clay onto the wheel. Was I doing that here? No. Why not? I'm not sure, but I think a combination of things led to this. I had watched a youtube clip where someone said you don't need to throw it, just press it on. (Hey, I thought, this will make it easier to get it centered before I even start.) Secondly, I think I figured the shiny new wheel would grab the clay better. Ah no, probably it was actually less likely to grab it as it is in fact shiny and new.

As for the centering going worse than ever before (it's always been my weak point) well I had been telling myself I should use up the old half used bag of clay that had been sitting in my cupboard for ages before I started on the nice fresh new bag. Sure, it seemed a big harder than usual but it made sense to finish it first. Oh no, bad idea. Having just broken into the new bag, well what a difference.

So here I was this morning, new SOFT clay, throwing the clay forcefully onto the wheel and thirdly, just for luck, using a smaller piece of clay than I have been lately (bigger pieces are still a challenge.) I literally just threw an almost perfectly centred bowl in MINUTES.

I'm heading back to the wheel. Wish me luck. Here are some pics of my latest stuff.

What's new?

Considering I have my own wheel now I should be posting all the goodies coming out of the kiln. But as usual, other things get in the way. Life has been pretty hectic with end of year dinners, awards nights, concerts, etc. Although the last few days have slowed me right down as I developed first rosacea then BAD rosacea combined with a full body rash. The joy! Past the worst now, I am looking to catch up on things such as posting images of my newest pottery...