Noborigama wood firing results

Overall, we had a really good firing. The pieces came out were beautiful. Unfortunately, my two tall vases did not survive...

My 'alpha' vase died. The crack was pretty impressive.

View of the interior.

This vase made me very happy. There is this beautiful halo around the symbol. I thought all was good, however, as I was carrying it into my condo, I heard a "tink" sound and...

There ya have it, another impressive crack. I will be making more tall vases, but I think I'll be using a different clay and firing it differently. So sad.

Yet, in all this, I did get some really nice results for the wall hanging ikebana vases. These shapes are fun to make. I will definitely be making more of them.

Finally, my mermaid. At long last, she is done, and I couldn't be happier with how she turned out. She got glossy where I wanted her to be glossy and as you can see below

She got some nice jewels of glass and celadon blue in her crown.

As an added bonus, she got a nice ash drip on her elbow.

So, although I lost two nice vases, I'm very pleased with the results.

Ikebana wall hangers

A few cleaned up, keyholed and lips cut into some ikebana wall hanger pots. After firing, I think they'll 'stand' between 4 - 8 inches tall. But don't quote me on that. I've brought them inside in the hopes I can get them dry enough for firing by next Tuesday.

Hard to see the key hole shaped holes. I hope that they are big enough for the screws. I might be carving them out a bit more once the pieces dry out completely.

Of Ikebana pots

This past weekend, I went to a lovely Ikebana show and got inspired.

I took a number of photographs of pots and vases and vessels I will make in the future.

I didn't have the energy to make any stacked vases last night, so I decided to start off with some wall hanging vases.

To get the type of tapered shape I like and not have to trim a bunch of clay off, I threw these pieces upside down. Yes, they sort of look like artillery shells right now, but when they are done, they'll be flattened on one side and reversed (the bottom will be the top). The center one was about 1.25 lbs while the others were about 1.5.

This is the biggest one I threw. It's a little over 6 inches tall. I think. Honestly, I can't remember, but it was the biggest last night, made with about 3 lbs of clay.

And, I finally threw some new bases for my mushroom lamps. Once they are done, I'll take a few photos to show you what they are supposed to be.