Clay Flowers - Two

For more info on Art in Bloom, look at this link.

A simple floral shrine, with snowflake crystal glaze in flower.

More of the snowflake crystals...with orange highlights.

Or red streaks under the pale turquoise glaze with all its crackle layers.

Clay Flowers One

In honor of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts events, Art in Bloom, I'll share some of my clay flowers this week here.

Remember flowers can be rather sensual.  And textural.  And colorful.  Oh, you already know all that.

This is the first pot I made when returning to clay after 15 years or so working as a counselor and activity director.  I did do some work in paint, colored pencils, and mandalas during that time, but missed clay.  This is a pinch pot which was carved, bisque fired, then painted inside with acrylic paint.  The exterior is unfinished.

These are more recent decorative tumblers, with Phalaenopsis orchids as theme.

Art in Bloom events are described here. 

New pots

Jars with some squash hints.
A friend asked if I was doing pumpkin jars still.  Nah, that's an October thing.  However, these have the same grooves, so maybe they are related.

Waiting a long time to be loaded into glaze kiln.

The only one that was finished as of June 5.  A repeat for those who saw a previous post about lidded jars.

2 small pitchers are mine, waiting to be bisqued

I made a couple of sugar/creamer sets last week.  Let's see how long before they can make it to market! 

A couple of finger figures...undefined but fun to make quickly!

Other people made the soap dish and the sponge holders.  I just have some in stock and am not making any new ones.

Experimenting a bit

Just to show you I do use straight glaze colors sometimes without mixing them.

And here's my experiment.

I did some test tiles to come up with a pale turquoise, and this is the result.  Bermuda Green mason stain from Highwater mixed about 2 oz dry into a wet batch (about 1/2 gallon) of Satin White.  It's much lighter than our celadon.  And I haven't tried it on stoneware yet, just on the white clay.  There are a few speckles of darker color, but it doesn't pit, is evenly spread, and doesn't break very much on the grooves.

More tests to follow.  I like the glacier or ice berg quality this gives.

and more practice

I forgot why I started talking about practice.
I made 21 tiny pots off the hump...well several humps actually.
And what I finally was able to do (almost) is cut the pot off the hump with a smooth even bottom.

When I started, it was lopsided, and needed a lot of trimming.  What!  As much work as making a full size vase, center and trim each little darling.  And you can't sell anything less than 2 inches high for anywhere more than $10.

Then I found even those with skinny necks were hard to trim, unless I threw a chuck that it would stand inside.  So I figured out a short cut...using the rasp that leaves a bit of texture, but is quick enough to take that extra clay off the bottom sides.

Glaze to left is a combo with first being dipped in Floating Blue, then in Raspberry.  The one to the right starts with Floating Blue, then Clear to get a mottled blue effect.  Green in front is Matt Bronze Green on the right, and Glossy Green on the left.  All of these tiny pots were with Little Loafer's clay.

Another favorite glaze combo...these three greenish vases were first dipped in Glossy Green, then into Satin White.  Love the runny mottled mix that comes out!

Practice practice practice

I've made 21 new small/tiny forms in the last few days.  Here's one of my favorite glaze combos...which is really runny, so I never put it on lower half inch of a pot.  The first coat is Matt Bronze Green.  Just a short dip.  On Little Loafer's Clay, a nice creamy white cone 6 clay.
Then I dip it quickly into Raspberry glaze.  Thus the gorgeous black oilspots.

Raspberry is the one that is most runny, while the Matt Bronze Green is a stable glaze that doesn't go much of anywhere!

A chalice by any other name

Lidded jars

 

Just one finished so far... and it might not be any of the ones above!  I made 6 in all.

Speckled brownstone cone 6 stoneware.  Eggshell glaze, rubbed off with sponge in places to give the burnt look.

I forgot to celebrate my 800th post as my last post.  But since it was the double rainbow, I think it's alright.

MudBuddies last week

Beautiful setting, plenty of parking, great market

Lesson of the day, wind will tear flowers to shreds!

Marsha setting up her pots

Cathy considering her set up

Bette is our raku and jewelry artist

Barb's mugs and tumblers (and one of Marsha's casseroles too)

Pat's diverse creations

Our little co-op of five potters who started out at Black Mountain's Clay Studio at the Center for the Arts...we've got just about everything made in clay available here at the Tailgate Markets...each Sat. 9-12 all summer long.

Glossy green with cherry trees

Tumblers in glossy green glaze have a hand painted cherry tree on the side.

Wine red mugs with orchids

I've been working on an order of tumblers in this color, with hand painted phalaenopsis orchids on the side.  So I had to make a few mugs as well.

 Did I mention they will be at the Tailgate Market from 9-12 today, Sat. May 17! 

PS, I thought I could just carry them out to the car without wrapping them in any padding.  But I couldn't get the door open and bang, two of them fell against each other and broke off the handles.  I called myself a lot of not very pleasant names.  All that work for crumbled clay!  (But it's pretty!)

Juice or milk?

Suggestion of cherry blossoms on tree shapes...plum blossoms?  Then just on the rim some sky color.  And roots that go down into earthy green.

This set is done with speckled brownstone clay, a celadon glaze which is translucent to show the spotting in the clay, and Mayco Stroke and Coat for the plum blossoms.  I couldn't find a good pink that wouldn't wash out in cone 6, so mixed a white with some of the red, and it's a bit more red than I was hoping for...but that's alright.  The Black Mountain Clay Studio (part of the Center for the Arts) has lots of studio glazes, including the celadon, the glossy green, and the rim called plum...confusing I know.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Part of me sees this as an ugly little chunky vase.

Then part of me sees the crystaline shapes, the deep pits, the depth of glaze that varies as it breaks on the rim, showing the stoneware through it's transparency...and maybe there's beauty there as well.

 

Here the same glaze was applied, somewhat thinner, on white clay.  The wine red was put on the rim first, I think.  The interior clear had already been applied.  And then the bottom was dipped into the celadon crystaline glaze.  I love that lip where the combined glazes still look fluid. Seeing the red through the crazing is also a fun thing to do.

 

So I'm glad to have tried this glaze out.  And I'll keep experimenting with some new things.  Looking always for beauty...it sneaks up on me and surprises me sometimes.

Dear rain goddess

No one knows your name.  But I know you exist, and are responsive (sometimes, when you feel just like doing so) to my requests to wait a bit, or move over a half mile...there was that wedding where the choir all held their hands above their heads and asked you to stay away during our festivities, and you did.  Today you were good enough to wait while the Tailgate market was having such a good turnout.  I am so grateful that you are now giving us periodic downpours, as you may wish, where you may wish.

Thank you whoever you are.  (And if someone reading this is offended, you can thank your own source of weather.)

I am very grateful that our Tailgate Market sales went well...much better than last week for myself anyway.

Some of these tiny vase pots sold May 10, Thanks!

There were our usual families and children and people of all kinds with dogs of all kinds.  And great musicians singing in the middle of the main area. 

Sold May 10 to a good cook.

We don't have all of the vendors we had last year.  And I do know it's early for vegetables and produce of any kind.  So there are plants, honey, chocolate, pies, eggs, necklaces, meat, pots, rugs, baked goods (2 vendors of rolls and breads) and fresh fish.  There're a couple of new booths, one is of beautiful yarns, one is of flours that are non-GMO.

Sold May 10...thank you so much!

I am so  proud to be part of this group of dedicated people, serving our community, becoming friends with so many!