I bought a used kiln from a friend, and got the wiring all set up, so hopefully I’ll be firing some stuff for myself soon. I think the first things I fire in my “new” kiln will be some images onto some finished pieces. In the meantime here’s some pics of my newest stuff I’ve been working on.
Taco Salad bowls
For my clay class at the Art Center we are all making pottery in preperation for a taco potluck at the end of the session, so I decided to make some bowls for taco salad. I’ve also tried out a new kind of Clay with out grog in it. It’s taking some getting used to because it feels totally different while throwing on the wheel, but I think it may be a good clay for hand building. I also got a small icosahedron covered in a clear glaze to show the mixing of the white and brown clay.
Fixin to put some bees on some pottery
I got this bowl from the kiln with some swallow tails on it, and now I’m going to put some bees on this bowl and cup. I also managed to throw some new bowls over the holidays
Finally figured out this decal thing!
So I finally figured out how to transfer my images onto my pieces! Here’s a quick look at some of pottery made while figuring out this process.
Mantis Pic
Snapped this picture while on a walk with my son!
Bee pics
I got a few pictures of some bees while camping this fall. They really like apples!
Chicken scratch
This morning I did a sketch of one of my favorite chickens. Captain is a special chicken because she is a small bantum hen that shares a coop with a brood of larger hens. Captain has a big personality, and can hold her own in a crowd of hens much larger than her. I want to be like Captain someday.
Making a studio at home
So I'm currently working on trying to make more pottery at home, instead of going to the Art Center everytime I make something. I'm proud of myself. So far I've underglazed some bowls, and made another Icosahedral form. Since I was at home I was able to snag a picture of Luna sleeping and not chewing a shoe. Look, it's just sitting there, right in front of her, and she's not chewing it!
Pictures of little things
Last weekend I took some nature photos, and thought I might post them. I got a new lens for the camera on my phone that lets me take pictures of things really close up. It was on clearance and I wasn't sure if it would work at all, but as it turns out, I am loving it!
Fail and try again... repeat...
I got my first piece back with a decal fired onto it. So, it turns out I used the wrong kind of decal paper. You know how it is... Fail.. try again... repeat... So I think I know what kind of paper I need now, so hopefully the next one will turn out how I want. Guess I should learn to stop jumping in headfirst and do some tests first, someday I'll learn.
Butterflies
I sketched a couple new butterflies to put on my ceramic pieces.
Big Buddy
My little icosahedron is about to have a new friend!
Couple new sketches for decals
The first sketch is of some wild blackberries I found on section 9 on the OHT a few weeks ago. If you're itching for some wild blackberries; around the first week of July go to the stretch of the OHT where the trail meets the road on it's last stretch to the Buffalo River. There's a whole mess of them growing on the fence line.
The second sketch is of a green heron I spotted at the lake in my neighborhood. It was a beautiful bird! My favorite thing about this bird was the way that it ruffled its top feathers before it jumped.
Catfish
I just finished sketching a catfish to try a decal transfer onto a mug for my sister. I drew this off a poor quality photo I took of a catfish in the aquarium at the Game and Fish Center. Crossing my fingers for it to work! Think I'm going to put a Wendell Berry quote on it too.
Bowl got cracked
I used my new icosahedron mold to make a bowl. Right as I was finishing it up last night it got a crack on the rim. So, instead of just chucking the whole thing, I decided to "own it". I carved out the crack and made it more predominent. I kind of like it.
Half an icosahedron
Last weekend I tried to make a better icosahedron to use as a mold. It's a bit rough, but I think it'll work. It's mostly held together with wood glue and a prayer. I got half of one built, so now I need to assemble the other half to make a mold for a complete icosahedron!
Scraffito out of the kiln
I got my "test" pieces out of the kiln. This isn't the best quality photo, but I like how the dragonlfy turned out. Think I might do more of this on some of my pieces.
Playing with some undergaze
I really enjoyed doing scraffito with black underglaze on these tiles. The blue and gray drawings were done with some underglaze pencils made by Celia. Can't wait to see how it all turns out after coming out of the kiln.
Sketching between classes
I've been itching to get back into the clay studio for the past couple weeks. In the meantime, while waiting for the next session to start, I've been sketching a bit in anticipation to dive into experimenting with decal transfer on to my pieces.
2 New mugs and a pour over
I am loving my new underglaze pencil! Overall I like how my pieces turned out, but I do want to explore some ways to make it smudge less in places, but sometimes I like the smudging when I want more of an atmospheric effect. Think I'm going to try some other transfer methods. More to come......soon.....I hope. btw, the quotes on the mugs are, "Quiet the mind and the Soul will speak" -Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati
"Do small things with great love" -Mother Teresa
