Finished big pot #2. It came out pretty cool, will be good for putting in an oil lamp, as the shop owner intends for display. Unfortunately none of the other pieces have sold. The ended up priced about 50 to 100% higher than I'd originally intended, so I'm not terribly surprised, but bummed all the same. I took them home and left the big one there at a much lower price. There's a coffee shop that several other people at my studio sell at, so I think I'm going to try there if and when I muster up the energy ;)

For now, pictures:



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Pot # 1 cracked. A very large one on the bottom. I'm told that its probably because I didn't compress it enough, maybe I should make the bottom out of a smaller section next time?

It still might work for a decorative or even functional piece if I glaze it and then epoxy the crack, depending on how much the crack spreads during the next firing: it will almost certainly spread some.

I think I'll probably just give it a normal glaze since raku is so much extra work and the pot is already screwed. Its also more likely to survive without the temperature shock of raku, although I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it: its big and not going to be sellable.

Pot # 2 is doing pretty well thus far, good thing I made two ;) I just barely managed to get it glazed in time to get back and relieve our nanny. In fact, I was actually a few minutes late, I'll have to make it up to her.

The pots look about the same size now, I'll have to measure them. Pot #1 was originally an inch taller, but maybe it shrunk more because it was thinner.

Anyway, I raku on the 12th. Hopefully I'll get more pottery in over the next few weeks, I haven't made it to the studio much lately with the nannies going away and then the sickies ;)

frogpyjamas drove out from San Francisco to watch Tovar today (!!!) so I got to go to ceramics and trim my pots :)

Pot #1 barely survived trimming, after having barely survived throwing. In fact, I actually trimmed a hole in it :( I was able to patch the holes, and I was told that with the glaze that I typically use that the different color probably won't show, but the patched area is pretty likely to crack. I was told that there's a backlog of big pots waiting to be fired right now, so it will probably be at least three weeks before it makes the first firing. On the bright side, it will be very dry by then, which is good for minimizing cracking.

I didn't like pot #2 so much yesterday, but I had a lot of fun hacking at it today and at this point I like it even better than pot #1. Its so hard to tell how the wacky ones are going to turn out ;) Here's a shot from my camera phone:



I need to soften the edges after it dries a little before I can put it out for firing, but just as well, as I don't think the raku gang would like it if I tried to fire both pots in the same evening ;)

20.5 inches :) And that's with Cone 10 B-mix, it has less sand and is therefore a lot harder to get height than Soledate. (they were out of Soledate at the shop ;)



It may or may not survive all the way through: ( Read more... )

;)

Pottery is tagged, pricing has been set, and pricing spreadsheets have been made. I'll take it all to the shop next week, wish me luck ;) If I sell the whole lot at these prices I'll make around $500, but that's unlikely. Here's everything that's going for sale:

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I also have three more pieces (batch 2) at the studio gallery, and another batch of four that I'll be firing in a couple of days. As to the burn out, P noted that I should work on other things while seeing whether or not these sell. If they do sell I'll probably get more enthusiastic, and if they don't I won't need an excuse for finding something else ;)

I think at this point I can say with some confidence that I have achieved consistency :)



With the exception of the shorter sculpted vase, these are made of Soldate clay, as opposed to cone 5 B-mix that I'd been throwing with. I was able to achieve the same colors with Soldate and get more extreme angles with less likelihood of cracking so I think I'm sold ;)

( sculpting close-up pic )

I managed to get the great results again, even better this time: the tall vases are a little taller, I like the shape a little better, and the blue didn't run into the white crackle on the inside.



But alas, all but the smallest one have hairline cracks in them. ( Read more... )

*Happy Sigh*



( different lighting )

OMFG!!!!

My raku pieces from tonight's firing came out GORGEOUS! I will take pictures once I get them cleaned up. But for now, pictures from the raku firing I went to a couple of weeks ago ;)



The favorites:



Not too bad, 2 gems and 3 pale but pretty ;) Raku is pretty hit or miss, when the pieces come out the other students hypothesize on reasonings. All five of these had the same glaze on the outside. The most common guess for the differences were that the 1) the first firing wasn't as good 2) the bright pieces were pulled out of the kiln first.

The reason I haven't done a whole lot of raku prior is that its not vitrified. In asking around I learned that Thompson's Water Seal does the trick, and it does indeed seem to have stopped water from seeping out, with no noticeable detracting from the art :) The inside of the pieces might be a little shinier, but its hard to tell, and I didn't apply any to the outside.

The pots are actually still a little wet in these pictures, which is why there are darker stripes where the water soaked through on the rounder piece. I've been meaning to take a few more shots now that they're cleaned up and dry, but may or may not get around to it.

I'll try to get pictures of the next batch up soon though... so far so good at this studio. I've been excited about each batch as its come out, and then each new batch blows the old one away ;)

I'm rather excited about some new ideas for combining these with handbuilding/sculpting, but only if I'm able to get some consistency with the firings, and after I've started selling somewhere and have built up an inventory.

My first batch from Mama's Clay, on one of the lovely purple placemats olstad made us for christmas:



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[index] Thursday, August 18, 2005 - It came out!!! :)

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[index] Saturday, April 23, 2005 - Butterfly Pottery

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The bowls as greenware (having not been fired yet) before and after trimming. I cleaned them up and set them out for their first firing tonight, although I'm most excited about the plates, which have proven much more challenging to make, and are currently glazed and awaiting their second and final firing. ( Read more... )
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[index] Friday, October 10, 2003 - forgotten relics

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[index] Monday, July 14, 2003 - lots of pots

Prolific as planned, and finally a little size as well. These were all thrown in roughly 2.5hrs. Its difficult to tell in the pictures, but the green ware is quite a bit larger than my glazed pieces. Of course, green ware does shrink significantly after being fired, but these are still roughly twice the size, and I'm pretty pleased with the forms. I'm finally getting back in shape :) I was planning on making something really big next monday (that requires throwing in sections), until I realized that the class would end before I'd have time to glaze it. Oh well, next time ;) Now I have my work cut out for me in trimming and glazing... maybe having such a good throwing ratio isn't such a good thing ;)

[index] Thursday, June 26, 2003 - pottery