I betcha thought I'd stopped making pots!

Stay home, cough, go to lunch, cough, go to doctor, cough, drop by studio, cough.... Whenever the brochiectasis flares up, I tend to drop away from many of my usual activities.

Then I was dealing with side effects of antibiotics, which I had no need to actually take, but someone at the pulmonoligist office prescribed for me...until I finally went in and saw a doctor who said, you never needed those in the first place!

Anyway, here are a couple of little vases that just came out of the kiln.

A lemniscate shows a bit of infinity.  Other designs just show off!

Black Matte Glaze

Another of my small vases formed with torn slabs and coils, but the black glaze kind of hides how it was made!

This second black vase only has one red button.  And a bit of another glaze was added around the rim, flowing with some misty greys.

The black glaze was a bit too thick on this vase, covering some of the decorations, and adding a drip to the kiln shelf.  A bit of another glaze on the top rim did give some drippy fog against the black.  But my biggest surprise was that this vase shrunk so much...much more than 15% that I usually expect.  From a 7" height it now is only 4.5 inches.

Oh oh, kiln mishap last week

First glance doesn't look too bad, but it's sure waaay too shiny for matt black.

And you can't pick it up off the shelf...completely glazed to it...as were several other pots.

The kiln had new elements in it, and when our studio manager re-set the firing sequence, one of the numbers was wrong, so it held for too long, turning the glaze, and the clay to glass.  After hammering it off the shelf, (which had kiln wash on it) the base was ruined.

Inside the glaze was thicker, but had boiled into an ugly mess.  Getting the lid off also meant the clay of the rim shattered.  Clay against clay had fused.

I kept the lid to remember my first attempt at Mishima.  Then Charles put the pot in the trash and hammered it (upon my wishes) to shards.  I also retrieved the handle.  It wasn't made all that well, as seeing the cross section told me.

I'm just grateful to have another chance to work on another teapot.  I've got 2 waiting to be glaze fired as this was written, and one of them will be in a show next week at Black Mountain Center for the Arts (Sept 10 opening) of "What's the Buzz."  I'll be showing you what it looks like when it's finished.  There are also some little tea bowls and honey pots.

Today's Quote:

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

Helen Keller

pitchers

The ongoing quest for a pitcher which pours properly.

Keep on trying.

I like the Matt Bronze Green glaze, and especially with this new accent test of a black matt glaze.

Both of them run to brown where they are thin.  But the matt quality is pretty.  The liner is a Satin White.

Here the white satin comes outside and down the body and handle also.

The black where it was brushed on as thick as I could make it, came out looking pretty hoakey.  Unless you're trying for patchy streaks.

But the thing I do like is how the white and black interact where the white was dipped over the brushed on black.  Whow.  That's the kind of blend and separation of colors I like.

Yes, it's focused...you can even see the highlight is in focus.  Kind of impressionistic coloration happening there.  I want to do more with this!

Incidentally, the second pitcher pours with constant dribble down the side.  The top one can pour the last half of a pitcher-full but the first half will dribble.

Guess what I did after these two abject "learning experiences?"  Made a bunch of test pitchers.  They are in the bisque kiln today.