Dear Kiln,
I understand that sometimes i'm neglectful and don't watch the cones as I should. You're an older model with 1 rotating dial, and i'm younger and forgetful. Thank you for not burning down the house tonight.
love,
me
I was doing a bisque firing this morning and had a few more minutes to go before shutting her off.... my best friend called and I forget to shut it off for another 4 hrs. Mind you I don't know what temp my 06 went to, but the cone looks like a little pile of vomit.
good times.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
greenware
seriously why had i not figured out the glory of wax on greenware???
and a special project for some friends
i can't wait to glaze!
and a special project for some friends
i can't wait to glaze!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
when i grow up..
I'd like to be Ayumi Horie.
Are you kidding me? I'm in love with her work, like I see it and drool.
Are you kidding me? I'm in love with her work, like I see it and drool.
monoprinting
I've been frustrated with carving and inlaying drawings so I set forth on trying different drawing/printing techniques.
I want to try decals, lino cuts, and anything else
I have tried overglazes (looked like crap the way I applied them. Think puffy paint gone flat)
I am hit/miss with straight drawing on the vessels with underglaze. Just looks too flat.
I did a few luster tests and didn't mind the results. No pictures of these cups because my dad took them.
yesterday I did a once fire with monoprinting a quick squid drawing and I think it has some serious potential.
anyway off to the mother in laws for dinner :)
I want to try decals, lino cuts, and anything else
I have tried overglazes (looked like crap the way I applied them. Think puffy paint gone flat)
I am hit/miss with straight drawing on the vessels with underglaze. Just looks too flat.
I did a few luster tests and didn't mind the results. No pictures of these cups because my dad took them.
yesterday I did a once fire with monoprinting a quick squid drawing and I think it has some serious potential.
anyway off to the mother in laws for dinner :)
Friday, January 23, 2009
huh..
well i made my batches of glazes and went for it.
gotta say, I don't like them. (haha) The light turquoise is acceptable when applied thickly, the cobalt blue is way too dark, the yellow and burgundy wine failed.
at least i am crackle free, just need to tweak the colors and find a better way to inlay the underglaze or move on to black slip. I go back and forth between wanting a sketchy quality and a clean line. I should probably make up my mind.
anyway.. pictures!
oh and here is my prize cup possession after the dogs ran into the house. Won't lie, I about cried.
pretty rad crack along the rim on this one
gotta say, I don't like them. (haha) The light turquoise is acceptable when applied thickly, the cobalt blue is way too dark, the yellow and burgundy wine failed.
at least i am crackle free, just need to tweak the colors and find a better way to inlay the underglaze or move on to black slip. I go back and forth between wanting a sketchy quality and a clean line. I should probably make up my mind.
anyway.. pictures!
oh and here is my prize cup possession after the dogs ran into the house. Won't lie, I about cried.
pretty rad crack along the rim on this one
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Baracktopus!
Just like many other people, I'm looking forward to Obama being sworn in and getting to work. I saw this on Etsy and it made me let out a big belly laugh.
anyway, back to making stuff. I made a few glazes last night in my pickle buckets.. I wonder if anything left over from the pickles will change the glaze. Im going to make a few more small pint batches for liners and accents and I should be firing by this afternoon.
anyway, back to making stuff. I made a few glazes last night in my pickle buckets.. I wonder if anything left over from the pickles will change the glaze. Im going to make a few more small pint batches for liners and accents and I should be firing by this afternoon.
Monday, January 19, 2009
glaze smells like pickles
I went on the hunt today for free or close to free 5 gallon buckets to store glaze in.
Apparently dunken donuts will let you dumpster dive for 5 gallon buckets that used to have frosting in them. (most buckets still have frosting in them) Firehouse subs will sell you 5 gallon buckets for a dollar a piece. They say the funds will go to the local firehouse. I got 12 buckets from them and in the car I realized that the buckets reaked of.... PICKLES!!! So... I washed them out again and then proceeded in making glazes. They still smell like pickles.
Apparently dunken donuts will let you dumpster dive for 5 gallon buckets that used to have frosting in them. (most buckets still have frosting in them) Firehouse subs will sell you 5 gallon buckets for a dollar a piece. They say the funds will go to the local firehouse. I got 12 buckets from them and in the car I realized that the buckets reaked of.... PICKLES!!! So... I washed them out again and then proceeded in making glazes. They still smell like pickles.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
oh hi
I just realized that I had followers and people who comment on stuff. Thanks! I seriously thought I was just posting pics and writing to a) amuse myself b) annoy jake and c) just keep track of what i'm doing so I can make sense of it all.... someday.
so anyway, thanks!
I'm going to be making a few experimental vases in the next few days and mixing 30,000g of glaze in the next few days. I have plenty of bisqued cups and plates that need some yummy glaze.
Off to find some containers to put all my dry materials in.
so anyway, thanks!
I'm going to be making a few experimental vases in the next few days and mixing 30,000g of glaze in the next few days. I have plenty of bisqued cups and plates that need some yummy glaze.
Off to find some containers to put all my dry materials in.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
picture time
So i'll start with pictures from the drive up. We were so excited to see mountains and snow. Jake even got some snowboarding in.
murphy loves to cuddle with jake while driving
we stayed at cynthia bringle's rental house in Penland. The house was filled with amazing pots, textiles and paintings. I was excited to open the cupboards and touch everything!
We did have a small mishap within 20 minutes of being at her house. Her heating vent is on the floor in the hallway and I (or the dogs) must have kicked the hallway runner over the carpet.... hot heating vent + carpet = not good. remember that folks. Next thing we knew the fire alarm is beeping and yelling "fire fire fire" Jake ran over there and the carpet had melted a huge hole. It was pretty awesome.
okay on to John Britt!
His studio is fantastic. It's large and in charge and super organized. I dream of studio space like his.
First day we covered cone 10 glazes, each picked a base glaze and did line blends and went through adding different oxides to them. I did Penn State Shino and we tried to do a heavy carbon trap.
The second day we worked on cone 6 glazes, same format above. I went for a clear chun and went mason stain crazy. I was trying to find a transparent glaze that would fit helios clay body in a cone 6. Since I carve/draw a lot the idea was to find subtle color but still see the drawings underneath. I pretty much feel like I hit a home run.
the third day we worked with cone 04 glazes. It was great seeing all the crazy crunchy crawly glazes people came up with. Not sure if I will be using this knowledge anytime soon, but it is great to compare/contrast to mid/high fire glazes.
Joy Tanner, Will Baker and Linda McFarlane worked on soda fire stuff for 3 days.
the fourth day we studied the tiles
the last day we made new tiles.
We talked extensively about chemical properties and why/what we put into glazes mixed in with some history. It was fantastic and a lot of it probably went over my head. I have been converted into a glaze nerd.
great carbon trap cobalt penn state shino, shitty picture
this is what happens when you accidentally put low fire test tiles into a highfire firing.
the odyssey team hard at work
when John isn't dancing,playing with the dog, teaching, or building kilns.. he's extruding!
Wild turkeys and deer walk infront of John's studio all day long
and I just have to post my most favorite ceramic item ever (the golden turd)
besides the cold it was fantastic and i loved every minute of it. I'm hoping that I will get to see these potters soon again.
murphy loves to cuddle with jake while driving
we stayed at cynthia bringle's rental house in Penland. The house was filled with amazing pots, textiles and paintings. I was excited to open the cupboards and touch everything!
We did have a small mishap within 20 minutes of being at her house. Her heating vent is on the floor in the hallway and I (or the dogs) must have kicked the hallway runner over the carpet.... hot heating vent + carpet = not good. remember that folks. Next thing we knew the fire alarm is beeping and yelling "fire fire fire" Jake ran over there and the carpet had melted a huge hole. It was pretty awesome.
okay on to John Britt!
His studio is fantastic. It's large and in charge and super organized. I dream of studio space like his.
First day we covered cone 10 glazes, each picked a base glaze and did line blends and went through adding different oxides to them. I did Penn State Shino and we tried to do a heavy carbon trap.
The second day we worked on cone 6 glazes, same format above. I went for a clear chun and went mason stain crazy. I was trying to find a transparent glaze that would fit helios clay body in a cone 6. Since I carve/draw a lot the idea was to find subtle color but still see the drawings underneath. I pretty much feel like I hit a home run.
the third day we worked with cone 04 glazes. It was great seeing all the crazy crunchy crawly glazes people came up with. Not sure if I will be using this knowledge anytime soon, but it is great to compare/contrast to mid/high fire glazes.
Joy Tanner, Will Baker and Linda McFarlane worked on soda fire stuff for 3 days.
the fourth day we studied the tiles
the last day we made new tiles.
We talked extensively about chemical properties and why/what we put into glazes mixed in with some history. It was fantastic and a lot of it probably went over my head. I have been converted into a glaze nerd.
great carbon trap cobalt penn state shino, shitty picture
this is what happens when you accidentally put low fire test tiles into a highfire firing.
the odyssey team hard at work
when John isn't dancing,playing with the dog, teaching, or building kilns.. he's extruding!
Wild turkeys and deer walk infront of John's studio all day long
and I just have to post my most favorite ceramic item ever (the golden turd)
besides the cold it was fantastic and i loved every minute of it. I'm hoping that I will get to see these potters soon again.
why hello blog
Back in sunny, not so sunny, North Florida.
I need to get this out of the way, the John Britt workshop rocked my ceramic world. (which is currently my entire world)
He is such a wealth of information and is nicer than nice. I've never seen anyone dance to a variety of music like he does. Feeling comfortable in an environment is essential for me to learn and soak up information. I came away with a good understanding of the variety of roles each chemical takes on in glazes and had a blast mixing and making test tiles. I also had my first introduction on how to fire a gas reduction and the gajillion ways to fire a kiln.
even if you aren't working with hire fire clay, his book "guide to cone 10 glazes" is wonderful and you can gather a lot of info for a range of firings.
Also the other people in the workshop were just amazing. I'll be posting pictures soon. yay.
I need to get this out of the way, the John Britt workshop rocked my ceramic world. (which is currently my entire world)
He is such a wealth of information and is nicer than nice. I've never seen anyone dance to a variety of music like he does. Feeling comfortable in an environment is essential for me to learn and soak up information. I came away with a good understanding of the variety of roles each chemical takes on in glazes and had a blast mixing and making test tiles. I also had my first introduction on how to fire a gas reduction and the gajillion ways to fire a kiln.
even if you aren't working with hire fire clay, his book "guide to cone 10 glazes" is wonderful and you can gather a lot of info for a range of firings.
Also the other people in the workshop were just amazing. I'll be posting pictures soon. yay.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
john britt workshop countdown
I'm such a nerd. I'm very much looking forward to this glaze workshop. I'm so excited to get some answers and learn a bit about these chemicals floating around my studio. I've made plenty of glazes from recipes, but have no idea what each element actually does to the formula.
Jake and I leave on tuesday morning to spend 12 days up in NC. Hopefully we get to see some snow. (Right now it's 73 outside)
Jake and I leave on tuesday morning to spend 12 days up in NC. Hopefully we get to see some snow. (Right now it's 73 outside)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
yay pictures
I broke down and bought a new cord for the camera.
Here is my mess. Can someone say silicosis?
and here are 2 cups that i'm working on.
I decided to make the cups larger than I have been making, and spending more time with the handle. I received an Ayumi Horie cup for christmas and I just love touching it and learning from it.
Here is my mess. Can someone say silicosis?
and here are 2 cups that i'm working on.
I decided to make the cups larger than I have been making, and spending more time with the handle. I received an Ayumi Horie cup for christmas and I just love touching it and learning from it.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
new year
I saw this video and said holy shit, this belongs on my blog!
why you ask?
I have no idea.
I haven't been in the studio much besides to make family presents. This morning I woke up ready to throw, but it was damn cold.. so instead I had a few greenware pieces in the shelf that needed some carving. Pics to come.
why you ask?
I have no idea.
I haven't been in the studio much besides to make family presents. This morning I woke up ready to throw, but it was damn cold.. so instead I had a few greenware pieces in the shelf that needed some carving. Pics to come.
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