Thursday, April 17, 2008

Glazed Mud

Glazed but not fired


The weather has been simply delightful. I glazed up a few vessels and let them air dry in the warm spring air. This was the second batch of vessels I glazed. The first batch didn't receive enough glaze and each piece looks as if they were painted with mustard. The result was a very brown, dried up kind of color not worthy of a photo. So, I decided to really pile on the glaze with this batch. I'm happy to say that adding two more layers of glaze worked. The color shines through over this mocha colored clay. In some spots the clay even looks rather pretty peeking out from the glaze.

Color after glazing


Unfortunately, the mug I made for myself and glazed in shocking blue cracked during the glaze firing. I suspect I had placed this piece too close to the kiln wall. I really jammed quite a bit into the kiln this time. I even tried to fit the sake bottle in there and was disappointed I couldn't figure out how to get all these piece to fit. I'm now very glad I didn't squeeze that bottle in. Out of all the pieces I made from this batch I was most proud of the narrow necked piece.

Chipped mug


I'm slowly preparing my garden for another season of planting and our willow tree is almost in full bloom. Isn't it beautiful? This is where my son and I have been spending most of our time during the afternoons. The sun, green grass and dirt of my garden have been rejuvenating me for work on commissions this week. Yes, I finally put my foot down, pulled out the lingering pieces on commission and worked for several hours on a dappled grey Arabian resin. I am happy I put my foot down. I fear this pottery stuff is totally taking me over. I know I must sound like a broken record about how Im in love with my wheel, but its really true. I'm being romantically swept away at every step.

Spring in the backyard

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