One plate, two vases and an ashtray

It's on to vases for me right now. I'm kind of tired of making little plates and painting them. I have a few weeks, and I need to keep the motivation up, so it's vase making time. The one above should be about 9.5 inches tall when it's done. Made from about 4lbs of clay. It's nice and light! Though, I'm not sure how good that is for a vase. It shouldn't tip over and all once you have it full of water. And to tell the truth, I had no idea I was going to make a vase when I was throwing this one. I thought I was going to throw a bowl, but as I was pulling the walls up, it ended up being a vase instead. Happy about that.

This vase is made from a platter whose rim flopped over when I was taking the bat off of the wheel. I started out with about 9.5 lbs of clay. I think that 9.5 lbs of clay is a bit more than I can really center right now. I'm going to have to build up to it. After taking the flopped platter off of the bat, I then re-wedged it (air bubbles galore!). Somehow I managed to take off about 2.5 lbs of clay when I made the platter, because this vase was made from about 7 lbs of clay. Now, usually, you can't throw tall items from clay that was just thrown and rewedged. It's too wet. However, because of the weather and because I am stubborn, I got this nice piece. Yes, there are air bubbles in it, but if it dries enough, no worries.

Between the vases, I made this plate. I really wasn't in the bowl-making frame of mind, but I thought it might be nice to have at least one more platter made that I can paint on. There's an annual fundraiser for the East Bay Humane Society in the autumn, so this might be a good one. I just need to figure out what sort of design to paint on it.

Finally, an ashtray. In all my years of pottery (12 years!), I have never once made an ashtray or have been asked to make one. And then... last week, I was asked. Sigh... And now, my friend who asked me to make one has shown this photo to his friends who might want one too. On the one hand, I'm happy to get my work promoted. On the other hand, IT'S AN ASHTRAY! This is almost as bad as the ginormous nose shaped egg separator... Ah well, the things you do to keep yourself busy and out of trouble.

Pasta bowls, yarn bowls, a bottle/vase and a strainer

Last night was a bit like Christmas. I got a lot out of the kiln. The bowls above are for a friend out in Texas. I wasn't too happy with all the gold specks that came out on them, but it is the nature of the glaze (when it cools down too slowly) and well, my friend likes them. Hooray!

My newest yarn bowls came out and for once, did not collapse. Yes, I have finally figured out how to make these things. I should be getting one more out in this week's firing.

Above is a big ole strainer for a friend who is moving to Austin. She gave me all of her left over clay, so I decided to use it to make something for her. She wanted a strainer for when she makes lasagna, so there you go. Big strainer.

Then, I decided to try to throw 7 lbs at one time. It was not easy and I'm not as happy with the final result. I think that I will continue to stack columns of clay when I want to throw big. It's easier on my body and for me, easier to control the clay.

A strainer and a vase/bottle

A friend in the pottery class is moving, and she gave me her clay. Not wanting the clay to go to waste, I made a few things for her that she wanted. Above is a rather large bowl made from about 6 lbs of clay. It will be a pasta strainer once it is trimmed and poked with holes.

Then, I made a bulby vase for her too. This is my effort to throw a little over 7 lbs at once. I prefer to stack my clay when I make big things. I get more height when I do that. Still, it's good to challenge myself on occasion.

I also threw 4 four pound plates for APE, a show in October. As much as I like my little plates, it is going to take a lot of plates to make up some value. So, I decided on a bit bigger plates and I will use a few main colors (black, blue, red and maybe some green) that I know won't burn out at cone 10. Yellows, pinks and such lose their brilliance at cone 10 (2345 degrees F). Small plates will be fired to cone 5 (2100-2200 degrees F).

Plates at the ready

Plates have been sketched on. Now, to paint them.

Tuesday night work 6/7/11

Started off the night throwing 6 bowls for Emma. This past weekend, I sat and trimmed 16 pieces... 6 bowls and 10 plates. It took forever partly because they were too dry and partly because there were so many. It was very hard to maintain my concentration while doing this. Thank goodness for other people in the studio to talk to! And thank goodness I can talk and trim at the same time.

I think that I will limit how many small pieces I throw in the future. 6 at a time or so, because the trimming is such a bore and by the time I get to the last one, I almost stop caring about how they look. Not good for someone who is as particular as I am!

After throwing the bowls, I trimmed a vase. I think July will be vase month. More little plates in between.

Ended the night carving. I know it doesn't look like I've gotten very far on this one. I haven't. It's going to take a lot longer than I expected or planned on. I did discuss using China paints on this piece once it's glazed and fired. That way, I might be able to get some skin tones on the mermaid.

Love doing experiments like this.

Sea turtle plate

The beginning of a sea turtle plate. I will be adding in the black underglaze for the eye and some details. I'm not sure if I will be adding shading to it, or just a black outline. So, this is a good stopping point.

New Vase and the beginnings of a new project

Last Tuesday night, I had to teach because the teacher for the night was ill. So, I wasn't very productive. I was able to throw a vase though, and use up some left over clay. The wood firing season is winding down. It was definitely longer than last year. We were lucky this year because it's been so wet and rainy. I think we might even be able to fire into August.

At any rate, I will be throwing more vases but mixing up the colors and using regular cone 10 glazes in a regular firing. I might do some reduction fired vases (shinos, black tenmoku and such). Just need to mix up the colors a bit. And vases can be fun.

Last Sunday, I threw 6 bowls for my cousin and her fiancee. I also threw 10 plates. Each piece was bout 1.5 lbs. And...


will eventually have illustrations like the above painted on them. Currently, I have 8 or so dried plates to paint on. The cute Cthulu above is the first of many.

These plates are kind of a new direction in which I'm taking my pottery. Also, I'm trying to prepare for a show called the Alternative Press Expo in October.

Wish me luck!