Pierced bowl

The glaze application is so frustrating, pouring because it was just a smidge to big to dip into the bucket.  I wish the glossy green glaze didn't have that bare looking spot on the inside sweep of the bowl.  It really detracts from the design.  Oh well...

Chickens and cats and birds

The critters are finished

Now what do I do with them?  Have them hanging around the living room or studio for ages?  I hope not.
So far I'm taking them to tailgate market tomorrow morning. After that...who knows.

But first, I really love the glaze changes on this plate.  It is hard to sponge glaze and get that pebbled texture.  Why doesn't anyone else like that?

Since I've heard others complain that blogger/internet is limiting posts, making things disappear...I'll post the cats, chickens and birds tomorrow!

Barbara's Critters get glazed

Whether these bisqued critters are chicken, fish, kitten or blue bird, this is how they look before glazing.

All the glaze work is done in Mayco's Stroke and Coat, which matures fine in our cone 6 glaze kilns.

What you've never seen a robin that fat?  How about the blue bird?

 At the same time, I get to walk by these lovely petals that sweep through the room smelling so wonderful.  (This was the rose that was supposed to be yellow)  

My work space is a bit of a clutter, eh?  My magnifying clip-on glasses are at the bottom on the bat next to cat.  I clip them on my close-up glasses and get another 1X magnification.  These old eyes need that.

More glazes will be applied at the BMCA studio tomorrow...like a nice blue for Mr. Fish, and white on the white areas that actually have no glaze at this time.

And now I finally get to tell you, this is posted as part of the Mud Colony meme...come over to see what other potters are doing these days!

white and red

Here's another small "blossom bowl" which nestles in it's slightly bigger one of the same design.

And a nice big casserole dish with a split rim detail.

Cherry Blossom vase

It doesn't show that well, but the turquoise glaze has a metalic shine to it.  The photos look too yellow for the actual color of the vase.  Close up below is closer to the turquoise.

Cherry blossoms with Maco Stroke N Coat and some satin white glaze, tree done with wax resist before glazing.

Clay body is Little Loafers, fired to cone 6.

I'm taking this to the Tailgate Market today, though I dare say I'll also bring it home.  But I do like to let people see my pretty things (yep, I bow my head in embarrassment.)

plates

detail of glaze merging...

More fun in drawing with glaze pencil, then waxing the dragon and dipping in shiny green glaze. Charles (BMCA clay teacher) thought I should have wiped the glaze off the dragon completely (though he was painted with clear glaze to make it food safe.  What do you think?

Having fun with clay

So one day I just made a bunch of little critters for the fun of it!

Vases group 3

The lower combination of glazes is almost impossible to focus a camera upon...it's green over satin white.  This altered form could hold a nice dozen of sweetheart roses.

Another smallish vase with some fun blues happening where two glazes are applied over each other.  The form was thrown, then altered, and then the knotted rope of clay was applied.  This vase might hold some smaller flowers in a nice bouquet.

More vases

A small bud vase with three colors, which could hold 2-4 short Daffodil or Iris stems

This is my classic form, a medium size white satin vase which can easily hold 2 dozen roses, daffodils, or your favorite blossoms.

Another altered form, with two glazes overlapping to form a neat merging of colors.  Because of the neck being small, this would be great for a half dozen daffodils at most.

Small primitive vases

I enjoyed making these primitive forms, most of which hold water.  The one on the left has too many spaces between those colored pebbles, so it's for dried arrangements only.

As you can see, I've been loosening up my style a bit, not attempting to have things totally vertical, and leaving some of the stain color on the white areas sometimes.

Top right piece was an experiment using both stoneware clay and a white clay together.  They seemed to work together well.  Nice to know my speckled brownstone plays well with little loafers, both cone 6.

Colors are from Mayco Stroke N Coat glazes, which are usable from cone 06 to cone 6.  The black stain in the cracks of the sculptural areas is the same as used on the black piece, just Stroke N Coat color Black Tuxedo.  For stain effect, I just sponged it off the raised areas before applying a clear glaze over the whole thing.  Each piece has a white satin liner.

At last some pottery

Not felt like making much for a while, but have been puttering and pottering a bit.
Finally got some pictures taken.  Thanks to Sarah for loaning me her photo cube, which helped immensely (now if I can only figure out how to collapse the thing).

Deep altered bowls, I'm calling blossom bowls.

I appologize for the quality of the photos.  I took them with plenty of resolution, but blogger refuses to upload any photos that have large file size...thus the quality is greatly reduced.  I'll have to think whether I want to continue trying to show you anything when it looks so grainy.