Just opened the kiln after another interesting firing; 4 commission pots, one for me and two new tanuki.
The first one is a tallish blue oval with a lower beading. Final size at 256mm x 200mm x 74mm. This one is glazed in a light blue that I've not used for a while. The goal for both the ovals was to get a reasonable level of glaze differentation / mottling.
The next one is also an oval with straight sides and no wall decoration. Final dimensions are 259mm x 198mm x 62mm. It's glazed in my very repeatable and predictable breaking beige glaze.
The next one is a low round pot 285mm diameted and 50mm high. It has a convex wall and lower beading - much like the profile on some of my Wasen pots. Here are a couple of those from November 2012.
The glaze was formulated to be a little more yellow mustard in colour but none the less has come out a very practical beige mustard. I don't get a lot of calling for round pots but this profile and wall height makes an attractive and useful pot.
After I made this pot I've actually made a couple of smaller diameter versions for myself, that are still drying, to house my first ceramic tanukis. The 'footprint' for these would make an oval pot too long so a round pot is the logical option. Since planting them in October 2012 they have progressed nicely and I'll be putting them into the new pots next spring.
The next one is a shohin pot.
It's a bowed wall rectangular pot, 167mm x 120mm x 49mm, with simple lines and minimalist glaze application.
The last one is a bowed wall rectangular pot, 390mm x 285mm x 79mm, glazed lightly with a brown toned 'antique' finished glaze.
In December last year I made two more ceramic tanuki and posted a picture of one of them as work in progress. They've now gone right through the firing pipeline and are ready to use. The first one is T5, at 290mm high:
This detail shot shows the grain simulation carving. I put a lot more detail into these two than previous models. You can see here the track to house the tree.
The next one takes the complexity up another notch. It finished off at 325 high. It was quite a challenge to make in the first place let alone make sure it wasn't damaged in moving it into and out of the kiln and setting it up for firing. I fired both in the horizontal position to overcome slumping at maturity and had to use lots of firing props to keep them in shape during vitrification. The little curvy extension on top of the second one was most at risk; incredibly fragile just as dried clay and very deformable under maturity firing conditions.
In this one I did much more 'leather hard' carving to hollow out the stump and make some elongated fissures in the trunk.
I have a couple of sergent juniper whips ready to put in place on these and want to get them in place to lock in some growth while there is still some growing time this season.
The first one is a tallish blue oval with a lower beading. Final size at 256mm x 200mm x 74mm. This one is glazed in a light blue that I've not used for a while. The goal for both the ovals was to get a reasonable level of glaze differentation / mottling.
The next one is a low round pot 285mm diameted and 50mm high. It has a convex wall and lower beading - much like the profile on some of my Wasen pots. Here are a couple of those from November 2012.
The glaze was formulated to be a little more yellow mustard in colour but none the less has come out a very practical beige mustard. I don't get a lot of calling for round pots but this profile and wall height makes an attractive and useful pot.
After I made this pot I've actually made a couple of smaller diameter versions for myself, that are still drying, to house my first ceramic tanukis. The 'footprint' for these would make an oval pot too long so a round pot is the logical option. Since planting them in October 2012 they have progressed nicely and I'll be putting them into the new pots next spring.
The next one is a shohin pot.
It's a bowed wall rectangular pot, 167mm x 120mm x 49mm, with simple lines and minimalist glaze application.
The last one is a bowed wall rectangular pot, 390mm x 285mm x 79mm, glazed lightly with a brown toned 'antique' finished glaze.
In December last year I made two more ceramic tanuki and posted a picture of one of them as work in progress. They've now gone right through the firing pipeline and are ready to use. The first one is T5, at 290mm high:
This detail shot shows the grain simulation carving. I put a lot more detail into these two than previous models. You can see here the track to house the tree.
The next one takes the complexity up another notch. It finished off at 325 high. It was quite a challenge to make in the first place let alone make sure it wasn't damaged in moving it into and out of the kiln and setting it up for firing. I fired both in the horizontal position to overcome slumping at maturity and had to use lots of firing props to keep them in shape during vitrification. The little curvy extension on top of the second one was most at risk; incredibly fragile just as dried clay and very deformable under maturity firing conditions.
In this one I did much more 'leather hard' carving to hollow out the stump and make some elongated fissures in the trunk.
I have a couple of sergent juniper whips ready to put in place on these and want to get them in place to lock in some growth while there is still some growing time this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Happy to hear your advice, feedback or questions