From the Sale... Part 4: Set of Four Electricity Bowls

Set of 4 Electricity Bowls
Red/white clay mix; mocha glaze with hobbit hazel-dipped upper; 5" diameter and 2.5" high
Purchased for the Collection of an Anonymous Patron

One saturday I decided I wanted to make a set of bowls that actually MATCHED. A terrific feat, to be sure. In the morning, I threw the bowls. I moved on to something else while they hardened, and then I trimmed them at the end of the day. I think these are the only things I've ever really made completely in one day! They came out SO similar, I was very proud of them. They stacked alright, though next time I would make the curve more severe so that they stacked more closely.

I used a favorite combination - mocha brown glaze with some hobbit hazel. I dipped each bowl's rim about 0.5 to 1.5" deep in the hobbit glaze, doing each quarter of the rim so that it would be slightly uneven. I call these my "electricity" bowls because the hobbit formed these neat electric-blue squiggles around the rim inside and out.

Of course, these were the first things to sell at the sale. Yay for selling stuff!

From the Show... Part 3: Carved Squiggle Bowl

Carved Squiggle Blue and Brown Mixing Bowl
Red/white clay with black slip on outer; 9" diameter and 6" high; hobbit hazel glaze

This was a simple bowl that wasnt QUITE symmetrical. I tried to hide that by making some crazy designs :)

After I trimmed the piece I coated the outside in some black slip (watered down clay with black colorants in it) and then let that get leather hard. Then I took a small loop tool and carved out designs, so that the lighter clay would show underneath. I glazed the whole thing in Hobbit Hazel,a glaze which reacts differently to different textures and colors (yes, it reacts with the color of the clay.) Suprisingly, it came out a bright electric blue where it was on top of the black clay, and then a light white where it pooled in the carvings. I thought this was a neat effect I'll try again on a piece that isnt sloppy and lopsided.

From the Show... Part 2: Small Bronzed Vase I thought was "eh"

Small Bronzed Vase
Red/white clay; 4" diameter and 6" tall; bronze-green glaze with lithium neck
Gift to the collection of Mr. T. Covert of the Back Bay

This was something I made a few months ago and never thought much of. When it came out of the glaze kiln I thought "Huh? eh, whatever. I'll just put it on the shelf." For kicks, I put it out on my table at the pottery sale. My friend Thom came by and offered to buy it (but, since I've known him for 10 years, how could I take his money??) My mom also liked it a lot. I dont get it. oh well.

From the Show... Part 1: Covered Casserole Dish

Covered Casserole Dish with Ribbed Detailing
Red clay; Randy's Red glaze; 11" diameter and 5" tall; 13" by 7" including detailing
Purchased for the Collection of an Anonymous Patron

This was my first attempt at a large covered vessel. Umm, I think it was successfull. And by Successfull I mean ROCKED.

This was made in two pieces - the bottom casserole part was made first on a large wheel-head and then I dipped a wood rib in to make the platform/edge. The cover was then made as an upside-down bowl. I wanted it to be very deep so that it could hold a lot.

After the base and cover were made and trimmed, I attached a large, thick log of clay to the top as the cover handle and a large, thick log to each side as the side handles. When these were attached and not completely wet, i carved the ribs in each handel to give it some texture.

I thought it came out beautifully (if I do say myself) and was nice and heavey/weight, so I didnt want to do anything crazy with the glaze. Our studio has a GREAT glaze called 'Randy's Red' that is a brownish red, with lots of texture given for peaks and valleys (when it melts over high points, the glaze becomes thin and turns a dark brown blackish color.) It also becomes much more red when there is less oxygen in an area. One of the teachers in the studio suggested I use this glaze for the inside of the vessel because, if I fired the two pieces together (with the lid snugly on top) then less oxygen would get inside and it would become very red. A great idea (because red is hard to get in a high-fire kiln) so I did that inside but also wanted the glaze outside because of the first texturing feature mentioned above.

You can see on the inside of the lid and bottom how red they got, but also the circular ridges left from throwing.

I also really liked how smooth the glaze looked on top of the lid, and how it formed slightly brownish and reddish tints where there were mini-peaks and valleys.

(unfortunately) this was sold at the potter sale last week. I was so sad to see it go. As many of you know, while pottery is one of my great loves, my other great love is baking - I would have loved to bake something in this!!! So yesterday I went into the studio and started another large casserole :) The great thing about this is I can always make something again for myself.

And I loved this piece SO much that I'm posting all my pictures in full size. BAM.

Another mug... with a glaze experiment

Rainbow Belly Mug
Red/white clay mix; noxema blue glaze on upper outer part and some inner areas, overlayed with Randy's Red glaze over entire piece; 4" diameter and 6" tall
Gift to the collection of Mr. J Mullally of Seattle
This was a mug I made hoping to add a lot of texture. before I cut it off the wheel I used a small ridged wood tool to make the ridges on the belly of the mug. I like how that effect came out, will definitely do again.
With the glazing, I had done a little experiment on a flat test plate where I put this blue in certain parts and then covered the whole thing in red - it formed mostly red with some yellow and faint blue. I tried that effect here and got something even MORE interesting. Looks like the blue is retained on a vertical surface and the red forms yellow crystals at the intersection. The red also got VERY red on the interior of the piece since less oxygen got to that part and the red becomes redder under reduction circumstances.

I AM OFFICIALLY A SEMI-PROFESSIONAL POTTER

My First Pottery Sale!!

Today (November 17) was my first pottery sale.
The managers of my studio (at the Boston Center for Adult Education) organized a ceramics/craft sale for studio students and other area artists to show stuff and sell it leading up to the holidays.
I got a table to show my stuff. God (and my roomate) know I have too much stuff to keep it all myself!!
I sold several things which, given my low expectations, was very satisfying.

One girl at the very beginning was eyeing the 5 petal bowls (lower right in the top picture. and YES they are modeled after the original two now owend by C. Stanvick) and a few hours later brought her mom over to buy them.

Another woman was eyeing a few different things and decided to buy the 4 mocha/electricblue bowls (middle of top picture.) she went to the ATM to get cash and when she got back she decided to also buy the large covered casserole dish (very top right, top picture.) I was very psyched, those were my very favorite things on my table.

A friend came buy and said he'd buy the bronze-green vase (lowish left, top picture) but, of course, I'm giving it to him as a gift instead :)

Most of the stuff on my table was all new so I havent posted full pics on the blog - coming soon!

Also my parents came to the show, here is a pic of me and my dad

ACTION SHOT - Tea Set

Niece's Tea Set IN ACTION!

I gave the tea set I made a couple months ago to my niece Isabella when I went out to Seattle last week. She really seemed to like it - I am pretty sure we had about 35 tea parties in the 4 days I was visiting.

The cutest thing was that she kept saying "Cheers, Mommy- Cheers!" and clinking cups. CUTE!




The woman in these pictures is Isabella's Mom and my lovely sister, Holly.

Clayrose going on vacation!

Hello my faithful readers,
I am going on vacation for the next week and a half. Sadly, this means I will not be making pottery, and possibly wont be posting any. Dont cry! please dont cry.
i will try to post from the road if I can :)
love,
Clayrose

Sea-Green Soap Dish

Sea-Green Soap Dish
white clay; mint creme glaze with celadon over; 8" wide by 1" tall
Gift to the Collection of Ms. Molly Grabowski of Pacifica, California
I asked my family what they wanted in ceramic and my sister in law said "what do you have in the way of a soap dish?" I dont know if she was kidding, but I made her one anyway.
I made this on the wheel as a small plate and then cut off two edges. I also took a thick slip and added lines down the middle to secure the soap.

Wide Mint Serving Bowl

Wide Mint Serving Bowl
Red/white clay mix; mint creme glaze; 9" diameter and 3" tall

This was something i originally intended to be very wide with a flat rim, but I when I flattened the edge it looked... well, kinda funny. weird funny. So i crimped the edge a little to make a lip.
The glaze shows the red clay through when there are peaks and ridges... I cant decide if I like it or not.