Soup or Cappuccino? (Part 2)

It's been a long week but I wanted to get a quick post in. I didn't even get my ridiculously easy Musical Tuesday post together. Picture above are some of the new cups. They have a clear glaze but the line-deco has been waxed so it's just the raw porcelain. I wanted to see if the deco would be cleaner and brighter without the glaze on top. I like the results but I think I just re-complicated my glazing.

It was a week of making, bisqueing, glazing, firing, decalcomania-ing and today I'll load the decal firing. I'll put another post together soon once I find the brain-power.

Quick musical thoughts:

The Ratatat Show on Monday was one of the best shows I can remember. Music, video and lighting effects combined seamlessly.

Guided by Voices last night was slightly disappointing. best review I saw was on twitter, "It took 10 songs and a bottle of tequila but Guided by Voices finally kicked the shitty cover band off the stage." I know it's early in the reunion tour but it looked like the previous nights show was the first time the original group played together...I'm guess it was. Still, they had some good points and maybe they'll have it put together for the Matador Anniversary show in Vegas that they're getting ready for.

2 shows in one week made me feel old and tired but somehow I've also been able to get my work done...now back to that decal stuff.

Sneak Preview

Some fresh fall pots and I'm in that in strange place somewhere between expectations and results. Give me a couple of hours and I'll figure out what I think and where I'm going next. Still liking the cityscape design and I like the sharper lines.

I used some underglazes to get some color (gray and blue) on the insides of some pots. Not too many this time, just testing it out but I think I'll play around with it some more. (Does gray even count as a color?)



That's definitely blue.

Hopefully some real pics to follow.

New Plates

Here's some new plates with the cityscape designs. I'm happy with the results. I'm leaning towards the blue designs a little more...I like the old-school blueprint feel the blue stain is giving the smaller plates.

A Couple of Mugs

Fluted mug with Willy's Helix, Pinnell Clear on the inside.

I was playing around with some color on this one. I think a combo of a little dust and too thick of an application with the clear glaze caused a little crawling on the rim.

I love the white though and look forward to thinning the glaze out and using it again. Too bad I only have about 30 pounds of porcelain left. Something to look forward to in Austin I guess.

Glaze Test Results

I mixed up a few glazes and tried some basic colorants...no fancy line blends or other testing. This was a first step in playing around with the electric kiln. I think there's some stuff to work with. I'll hopefully fire again late next week and mix up a bigger batch of one of these to try out.

Staffel Semi-Matte

from Mark Burleson's The Ceramic Glaze Handbook

Ball Celadon

from Mark Burleson's The Ceramic Glaze Handbook

Coleman's Chun

from Ceramics Monthly

I don't have the recipes handy...I'll post them soon.

New Pots Online!

I'm still fighting with the internets and my webstore version 2.0.  

This beautiful bowl and other new pots are available on my current website here.  

I haven't uploaded everything yet but I'm working hard to get it done.  In the meantime, enjoy what's up there now.

UPDATE:

I forgot to mention earlier...FREE SHIPPING on everything from the webstore until June 1st!

Squared Plate Samples

Here's another sample...these beauties will be on the website by the end of the day.

Dinnerware Sampling

Here are a couple of photos of a recent dinnerware order.  I'll be shooting some more images of the gas firing today and tonight and get them up to the website.  In the meantime, don't forget to check out my Etsy Store for the new earthenware.

Before & After

The photo hasn't been color corrected so the celadon isn't all gray as it looks like here.  I'm very happy with the firing....lot's of ideas of where to go next.  Most of it has to do with porcelain and white stoneware.  I guess I better clean all of the red earthenware off of the wheels and tables.

Gas Kiln Preview

Since all of Michael's B&W pics have always looked so good I thought I would try it here.  It's completely appropriate since this cup is matte white with some nice dark coffee in it.  

I've finished unloading about 2/3's of the gas kiln and it looks really nice.  Some really good celadons and some other good experiments.  I'll take some photos tomorrow night and update the website over the weekend.  I was going to try to get that done today but unfortunately it's not going to happen.  So...new pots for sale on the site on Monday...I promise!  

I'll try to get a few more quick pictures up to the blog today but I've got a lot to do before Bruce and I head on up to Fenway.

Ready To Go

Almost.  

The firing finished of nicely on Saturday Morning.  I'm not sure if the all-nighter was worth it though.  But, I will be unloading in about an hour, as soon as I get Clarita down for her morning nap.  With my normal firing and cooling schedule I unload the kiln mid-afternoon....so at least I'll get the pots out earlier today.

I peeked in the kiln late last night and was able to snag a few pieces from the bottom this morning.  The celadon came out really nicely on both the stoneware and the porcelain.  It's very strange how much I'm liking the celadon glaze.  This summer was my first time firing reduction for my work in a long time.  

For the past few years it had been strictly soda, salt, and woodfiring.  Once my little soda-kiln here died I was so attached to vapor glazing my wares that I was driving across the state to "borrow" Mark's kiln.  It got to be a little too much traveling to finish my work...the fact that I have 3 kids added to the time constraints.  I look forward to getting some pots back in an atmospheric kiln at some point but right now the decorations under the celadon glaze are working really well.  I just feel like a celadon glaze is about as far away from a kaolin slip as you can get.  But...it's working....no need to question it. Of course, this show is my first big show featuring all of this new work so we'll see how it is all received.  

Today will be spent unloading the kiln, sanding, pricing and packing up pots for the show and the orders that need to go out.  The new booth walls have a couple coats of paint on them...good enough to go.

Pics to come after I unload and get some work done.  Oh...and Michael (McCarthy), finish building that kiln so I can sneak some pots into a woodfiring!

Latest Firing

Back to Pots...Really.

I have a table full of finished mugs.  I started out this cycle deciding to make mostly larger pieces.  Large vases, large bowls, large platters and then something happened and my scale shrunk back down.  I have a nice variety of small, medium and large pieces now.  So...I'm glad that I didn't stick to my game plan.

I'm looking for some energy to start glazing for this next kiln-load.  I have the final, very damp bisque soaking right now and will fire that off later tonight.  I haven't really started glazing yet...I've just been staring blankly at the bisqueware on tables and shelves all afternoon.

I really like how everything turned out so I basically see almost everything getting a thick coating of celadon again and hoping for the best.  So....tonight will be a prep session....waxing, clearing shelves and the like and getting ready to really glaze tomorrow....hopefully.  I do need this next round of pots for the show so I need to get that motivation back soon.  I'm going with the theory that this will be like painting...the prep work takes some time and isn't fun but the actual glazing will go quickly and then I can load up quickly.

Here are a couple pics of my table of mugs.