Major snowstorm keeps me inside thinking about pots

So its mid February and reading week.  Along with marking exams, assignments, reading PhD theses I sneaked in a couple of quick trips to the basement to make pots - as usual, trying new things.  I made a couple of small bowls using a slump mold I bisqued a while ago.  Once the foot was added and they came off the mold I cleaned them up a bit and let them dry overnight.  Then I coated the inside and a bit on the outside with slip and did some sgraffito decoration. I hadn't slipped and carved on a bone dry piece before - works pretty good as long as you start carving the second the slip has lost its sheen.

I think I'll add some underglaze colour and then bisque them, paint them all over with black underglaze to highlight the carving and then glaze with either a white or clear glaze.

A successful Kingston Potters' Guild Pottery Sale in the Tett Malting Tower

I continue to be impressed by the creativity of the potters who are members of the Kingston Potters' Guild.  Customers flooded into the Malting Tower on Thursday night and everyone left carrying something special. A steady stream of customers continued for the next 3 days.  I had a mishmash of glazed, carved, slip-trailed, pieces and should now spend some time trying to figure out what works and what didn't!

Table set up at beginning of sale

Shelving set up at beginning of sale

 

I'm desperately in need of a clear glaze that doesn't blister when  applied over a porcelain slipped surface that has been decorated with underglaze (either before or after bisquing).  My reading tells me its at least partially a problem with glaze viscosity - I think this is part of the problem since the blistering is worse at the top of the wall of a bowl and virtually non-existent in the bottom where the glaze is thicker. It also seems to correlate with areas where the porcelain slip is, as the exact same glaze on the outside of the bowl that has no slip is smooth and clear as a bell.

I've tried the Glossy Clear Liner Glaze from Master Cone 6 Glazes and Robin Hopper's Clear - both are blistering

Ideas????

Although I don't have a photo of the glazed version of this piece, I've posted below a pic of this platter when it came out of the bisque firing.  This pot went to a good home via a silent auction at a recent fundraising event for managing Westport's stray/feral cats.

Bisqued platter with carving and underglaze decoration

I recently watched a lecture given by potter extraordinaire, Adam Field.  Among many other experiences, he spent a number of months in Korea learning how to make very large, traditional fermentation jars called Onggi.  This is a link to a time lapse video showing Adam working on an onggi,  check it out!
 Adam Fields onggi

Adam has also uploaded a selection of his photographs on Instagram that, among other things (ie family shots), encompass unique images of patterns occurring in nature.
https://instagram.com/adamfieldpottery 

We survived pottery bootcamp!

We headed off to the Haliburton School of Arts last Sunday for 5 long days of throwing class taught by Rene Pettijean.

Rene spiral wedging clay

Key step in opening clay in preparation for raising the wall

  













Aside from the incredibly hot weather, which translated into an equally incredibly hot pottery studio, it was a great 5 days of revisiting the basics of throwing on the wheel. There were 16 of us, all at varying stages in our pottery "careers".  We were challenged by Rene to use some discipline in throwing the same sized/shaped objects - discipline that I don't normally practice!  (Throwing is too much fun to be disciplined about it). We got lots of demos by Rene and one-on-one assistance when requested.  The group was very interactive and ready to constructively share their experiences.

Setting a rim on a jar.

Throwing the top of a 9 lb vase

One of many things I learned was that I don't plan my throwing projects well enough.  Using Fibonacci numbers we were asked to design mugs, throw them, & attach handles.

5 bisqued souvenirs from bootcamp

Above are the 5 I put handles on out of 9 cylinders I started with.  The shape on the far right is what I started with, then I redesigned to the shape on the left and tried a few small variations (really - these didn't just "happen").  Turns out, I liked the original version the best once the handles went on! When I got home I redesigned the shape on the left to flare out a bit at the base to balance out the form and will try to throw a few of these.  These handles were pulled, then attached to the mugs and pulled some more - I let mine dry out too much so the handles are pretty wonky, but it was certainly good practice.  Many, many pots went straight into the pug mill so that we could reuse the clay the next day - it was kind of refreshing to "kill" so many pots! 

Tested some new glazes and decorating techniques.  I took at quick pic of this bowl as it made its way into a friend's care.  The glaze is a "faux" celadon but I didn't get it sprayed on thick enough to carry much colour on this speckled clay. I think it will look quite nice on a white clay though.  The decorating was done with coloured slips trailed onto the bowl before bisquing.