Platters

I haven't made decent sized platters in quite some time.  The biggest of these is about 18 inches in diameter.  But, I just made them and I know I'll be disappointed when they come out of the kiln and look like dinner plates in comparison to their size now.  

I am excited about these though.  I finally tried the "quarter trick" and I definitely liked how it worked.  It's very similar to how I used to make my 25# platters but visualizing the foot beforehand played a role in how I threw the piece.

I had to take the torch to them during throwing to make sure that they didn't collapse.  I am not too proud to do what needs to be done to get a piece made.  I'm well past the desire to impress people with how much I can throw at one time.  Even my largest pieces now are made slowly with however many sections or thrown coils it's going to take.  I'm not that old...yet....but my body is showing the signs of age.  One semi-bummed shoulder that still bothers me from the separated a/c joint and one hernia surgery is enough to let me know to work slowly on the big pieces.  

I'm finding that it's really difficult to get a rhythm to studio time in the summer.  Between all of the distractions and running the gallery the days just don't seem to be lining up correctly to get a good flow of work going.  Today has been good.  I've gotten a couple other wobbly vases made along with those platters.  But, tomorrow is family day with the store closed so if I get in the studio at all it won't be until late to do a little trimming.  I'll probably catch up a little bit on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but it won't be steady between the gallery and other duties.  

I have a fairly good schedule for the fall with CraftBoston Holiday in November and a "Home" show in NY during Thanksgiving weekend so at this point I'm looking at getting some pots ready for those now.  I also may apply to a couple of other shows for early winter so I probably have to work on that tomorrow because deadlines are approaching.

The platters I made today are with the B-Mix but I think the next round might be a little bigger made out of my stoneware body.  We'll see how my body reacts to the larger platter.  I think I have one box left of the B-Mix so I'll probably finish throwing some pots with that shortly and then Wednesday move on to the larger platters.  

There could be a reduction firing within a couple of weeks depending on how quickly I can get some work made and a few more glazes mixed up.  I found an old glaze recipe book of mine from college and my time at the Clay Art Center so I may mix up the light-blue celadon to try on a few of the pieces.  I think the line work I did on the earthenware could look nice below a nice celadon glaze.  We'll see.