Let the Beauty of what you Love be what you Do...
~Rumi

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Out of the Kiln!

Finally, after a month of class... we're getting some finished work out of the kiln. This is both exciting & frustrating. Exciting of course 'cause after a month it's really fun to see a big pile of finished work... fruits of your labor if you will. Frustrating because we have only 2 weeks left of throwing (the last 2 weeks of class are critiques/glazing & studio clean up) & since I've decided to try out many different clay bodies, the time for testing to see how each glaze works with each clay body is severely limited. :( !   
Here's a bit of work~



I wasn't really happy with the glazes I chose for the small dipping dishes on the left, but was pretty happy with the rest.  These below were my favorite of the bowls~



And some cups... our assignment was to do half with handles, half with "built in handles"


I keep a ceramics journal so I can keep track of what glazes I'm using on what clay bodies & how they turn out. So far, I've tried 4 different types of clay this quarter: Stony White for the bowls, Soldate 60 for the cups, B-mix for some plates, & Dark Red for some larger bowls I'm working on. I decided for future reference it would be a good idea to photograph the work w/notes rather than rely on my memory down the road, so I took many images like this~


Oy~ on this last one... I liked the results, but forgot to write down which glaze I used & had to guess. We do have a series of test tiles, but this didn't look much like any of them! It has been a fun process overall, and I'm getting tons of work done... though sometimes I'm a bit frustrated at my lack of ability to center & pull up my walls consistently. Practice, practice, practice!

5 comments:

Wanda..... said...

My son-in-law makes pottery, so I understand the complicated process and how sometimes gyou get surprises! I love the mugs with the built in handles, Becky!
♥...Wanda

Barb said...

Hi Becky, You have been busy - i'm shocked by how much you've accomplished! Oh - the one you can't remember the glaze is my favorite - it reminds me of sky in a bowl. I also love the fat mug on the right and the middle tall, thin speckled one. You should be so pleased - you've gotten so much done! Can you use the kiln even when you finish the class?

becky said...

Wanda~ thanks! I would love to see your son-in-laws pottery... does he do it for a living? I love seeing other's work. You definitely get surprises... I like the happy ones! :)

Barb~ I wish I still had access to the kiln when I finish the class, but I believe this is my last quarter here. My dream is to have one of my own someday! I liked that glaze, too... felt "earthy" to me. :)

Susan said...

How fun! I dabbled in pottery until I moved and haven't had the "means" since. This looks so fun!

becky said...

Susan~ thanks for visiting my blog! It is fun playing in the clay & hopefully the pieces will make nice Christmas gifts~ I'm thinking WAY ahead here... I hope you get a chance to get back to it !