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.

 

Kingston Potters' Guild Spring Sale is a done deal - a very successful sale for me and overall.  Thanks to Mike and Ikuko for convening.  Looks like the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning will be a great venue for future sales too.

Well, after a day and half of moving tables, moving pots, counting inventory and finessing displays... the Kingston Potters' Guild Spring Sale is underway! A big thanks goes out to Mike and Ikuko who are convening this time around.

Potters put the finishing touches on their displays.

My pots, set off by the KPG wall plaque.

 

Rosie's Red can actually turn out red!

Latest firing resulted in some interesting glaze results.  I used a glaze called Rosie's Red on a few pieces.  This glaze is one of the standard Kingston Potters' Guild class glazes.  In the past when I've used this glaze I would get a heterogeneous shiny brown glaze, OK, but nothing spectacular and I always wondered why it was called Rosie's Red (looked consistently brown to me).  I decided to try some Rosie's on a few of my pieces in the last firing (basically I was tired of spraying and quickly dipping the remaining pieces in glaze was a way to get out of the studio sooner - it was a beautiful spring day).  Perhaps the relatively quick dip, along with a soak and slow cool during the firing did the trick - Rosie's was actually red!  or at least reddish and also satiny instead of shiny.  I found a Clayart thread that states that slow cooling is the ticket for red/orange tones with this glaze.

A little blue teapot.

I finally made a little teapot.  Of course it drips, and it only holds 1 1/2 cups of water, but I think its cute.