Platters, mugs, and cannisters

I recently had a large batch of pottery items I made - some to fill customer orders and others to restock my supply of items to be sold at art and craft shows. I'm now done with the shows for the year, so it is nice to kick back a little and have things be more relaxed. I'd like to see if I can make enough wares this winter to allow me to not have to make as much during the busy selling season.

Here's a look into the latest kiln load after a glaze firing. There were lots of coffee mugs in this load, along with some new designs of cannisters that I hope will sell well this coming year. Let me know if you have any suggestions for items to make. :D

This large platter was made using a slab of clay slumped into a mold, then a foot ring added to the back by using the potters wheel. It has holes punched through the foot ring so that wires can be used to hang it on the wall as a decorative piece. It is fairly large (approx 19" across), and is about as large a piece as I can fire in the larger electric kiln I own.

These 'soldiers' were going to be egg cups for soft boiled eggs, but there are too small in diameter, so I think I will find some nice little candles for them and they can become candle holders.

Here is a large coffee mug I made for my brother's birthday this past weekend. He likes to drink coffee, so I hope he will enjoy using it.

The following photo shows a large platter for an order I am filling to create pieces for a lady's wedding. She wanted the darker blues because she is marrying a military man.

Here's another look at the large platter with the thrown foot.

This rectangular tray was made using some very fancy lace rolled onto a slab, then formed in a mold to give it the curve. There are four short plugs for feet attached to the bottom. I wanted to show off the decoration, so after dipping it into the glaze, I wiped off most of the glaze from the surface, leaving the remaining glaze to highlight the lace design.

Here is a close up look at some of the lace design on the tray.

I like the look and shape of this coffee mug. Makes one want to sit back and relax with a hot cup of tea perhaps?!?!

These two cups were experiments in decorating. I'm always trying to find the right combination to make things interesting. :D

I carved some designs into the sides of the following cups. The one on the left was just made up as I went, while the one on the right is suppose to represent a flower.

Here's a look at the other side of the two cups.

Another couple of cups with some interesting glaze combinations on them.

The two coffee mugs in the following photo were done as a custom order for a lady who wanted initials on them to have one for herself and one for her friend.

I tried many new glaze combinations to see what would look good. I like to experiment when I get a chance, as one never knows what glazes will do when tried many different ways.

This lumpy tumbler actually is easy to grasp. Some people like the randomness of the shape rather than the symmetrical shape of the traditional tumbler.

This photos shows one of the recent covered cannisters I made. I plan to attach a rope handle through the two hoops you see on the sides of the cannister. The clay I used to make this piece was rolled very thin, so this cannister is actually very light in weight, but still rather large.

This cannister was made using a thicker slab that was then textured using the lace decoration shown earlier on the tray. I used a white glaze to help highlight the decoration.

This luminary was actually created by an accident using the slab roller. The ribs of the luminary were created when a stiffer piece of clay 'jumped' as it was rolled along with a softer piece of clay through the slab roller. After seeing the result, I just had to make a luminary out of it. Can I recreate it? Perhaps, but most likely not.

Let me know your thoughts and ideas, as I'm always asking people there opinions and thoughts on things to make. I will try to keep posting photos here so you can enjoy seeing what I've been making. And let me know if you have any questions, as they are always welcome too! :D Happy Holidays!!!!

New addition to the studio

I recently made a trip to Minneapolis and purchased a slab roller - a device used to (you guessed it) roll out slabs of clay to an even thickness. I had to disassemble it in order to be able to carry it down into my basement studio, and then reassemble it there for use. The metal is a nice strong gauge of steel, so I'm actually pretty happy with the unit.

Here is a photo of the base as it is being assembled.

And the next photo shows the roller unit, waiting to be attached to the base.

The 'steering wheel' is used to turn the rollers.

Here is a photo of the unit fully assembled. The only 'complaint' I have with it is that the output table is too short. I will probably build an extension to the table at some point. I really do like this new tool for my studio!!!

Here is a large slab molded into the top of a trash can lid to make a large saucer shaped vessel.

This luminary was made using slabbed clay, and some trim lace for a decoration.

These little guys are actually egg cups for eating soft-boiled eggs. A customer wanted a set of six of them, so I made a bunch to be sure that enough turn out in case of problems in the glazing.

Here they are after the bottoms have been trimmed.

This hand-built piece was made with some non-slip drawer liner as a texture.

I think the slab roller will quickly pay for itself, as there are many projects for me to try it on.

Some recent pottery pieces, and more on the way

I loaded the kiln with some greenware pieces today and am doing a bisque firing. Some of the pieces are pots made by one of my sisters, but the majority of them are ones I have made recently. I wanted to have some pots ready for a Raku workshop I'm teaching on Friday in case anyone needs to purchase some pieces for the workshop. It is a potluck workshop, so I always look forward to sampling the great food that is brought. I'll have to decide what to make as a dish to pass. Usually I just make Rice Crispy treats, but I'm thinking of perhaps baking a pumpkin pie instead this time. I'll see how much time I have available on Friday and decide from there. A peek into the kiln before starting the firing process.

The venting attached pulls the fumes out of the kiln and exhausts them outside.

I made some other pots today too, so those should be ready to bisque fire in a couple of days if I get them trimmed in time.

Here is one of my cats trying to tell me something... probably "FEED ME!!!".

Some of my recent finished pieces follow. I hope you enjoy them.

The above is a large platter - approximately 14" in diameter.

Another look at the platter.

A colorful dish.

The above bowl has some interesting steps carved into the side, giving it an Art Deco-ish look.

Two more bowls.

The above bowl has a niche carved out that is meant to hold chopsticks in place.

The above photo shows a set of dishes I made recently using a tape-resist technique. I like the looks of the striping. It is made using four different glazes... two glazes are applied before the tape is removed, and two glazes after.

Pottery and Stir Fry

Not sure how often I will be able to blog, but I will try to keep it up for a few days. I'm very busy with my job installing communications equipment for a phone company, and also trying to make a bunch of pottery.

Here are some photos of things made a little while back. I hope some of them interest you.

This is my first snail. I think I need to work on the design a little perhaps, but he/she is still interesting nonetheless.

Have you ever eaten soft boiled eggs? Well, these are the egg cups to be used to eat them. I made some for a customer, and I need to make some more of them, as she wants to give them as gifts to some relatives of hers.

I made 3 pairs of them so that she would have some to choose from. She took 2 of the pairs, and I need to make 6 more pairs of them for the gifts.

They are not terribly difficult to make per se, but certainly it can be a challenge working with so little clay. I think I used 4 ounces for each of these, if I recall correctly.

The photo below shows our pottery setup in our canopy in August for an art sale in Rochester, Minnesota.

It seems I need to buy a wok somewhere, as my version of stir fry never fits in the super large fry pan very well. I use a gas stove to cook, so if I can find a wok that sits on the burner supports correctly, it would help me a lot with my stir fry cooking. Makes for a colorful photo with all the veggie colors in there, doesn't it?

Another kiln loaded and ready to be fired.

I unloaded a bisque kiln this evening and put wax resist on the bottoms of those pots so that they will be ready to glaze tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get enough done to fire a kiln load of glazed pots soon. Time is running short, as I have a bunch of bookwork to be done, as well as more work for the phone company, and the pottery sale is Fri, Sat, Sun this weekend. Feels like I need to clone myself some days! LOL.

Gallery Show and Pie

Hi Again! Since it had been a while since I last blogged, it seemed like a good idea to update it with some photos. The following photo is of my two cats waiting patiently for me in the living room. Or maybe not so patiently! LOL.

My pottery partner, Ning, and I got our photo taken for the local newspaper article about our Art Center gallery pottery exhibit. Does that make us celebrities now? :D Our exhibit ran for the month of September, and we had an artist reception at the end of the exhibit. It was our first exhibit... hopefully we will get to do some more, either individually or as partners.

Here is another photo we took for the paper, but they used the one above for the article. This one shows the grape vines in my back yard as a backdrop for the photo.

I was hungry for some rhubarb pie, and since some friends of mine let me pick some rhubarb from their patch... well, let's just say that the pie was awesome! I make the crusts by hand from scratch, and I use butter in the recipe.

Here it is going into the oven, along with some of the cinnamon/sugar covered crust pieces that were left over. They are good too... kind of like a cookie.

And here is the results... my favorite pie, followed closely by banana meringue.

I got a new kiln this past week - well, a used kiln, but new to me. I'll post another blog entry about it soon.

By the way, I tried to share the pie with my friends, but they weren't home. So guess who got to eat it all? Yes, that's right... ME! It was fanastic! I'll have to make another one sometime to share with my friends.

Cracked-surface pottery and more

Hi Everyone!
I've been busy lately, both in the studio making pottery and also doing contract installations of communications equipment in people's homes for a local communications company. I'm posting a few photos of some of my most recent pottery.

The above cracked-surface piece will be on display at the local art gallery for the month of September as part of a gallery showing for my partner and me. We are both very excited about having the opportunity to present our pottery at this show!

The above pie plate was custom made for a local customer.

Here is another pie plate that I will be taking to the art sale in less than two weeks.

The spiral white glaze was put on using the potters wheel and a steady hand (mine, of course... ha ha!).

Here is another colorful pie plate that was custom made for a local customer. I think the colors are very nice.

Another look at the pie plate.

This cracked-surface vase has a porcelain clay body with a sodium silicate slip mixture painted on and then dried before being expanded (causing the cracking) using only one hand on the inside of the vessel. It can be a little tricky, but the effect is really interesting, do you agree?

Here is a top view of the cracked-surface vessel. I sliced open the sides at the compass points to give it a slightly exploding effect.

The above cracked-surface vessel is called BLACKHOLE. It is a clay pot representation of a black hole that is swallowing the tiny pieces of the surface as they swirl inward toward the event horizon. The actual pot is made of a brownstone stoneware clay body with a sodium silicate and porcelain slip mixture painted on the surface before being expanded one-handed from the inside of the vessel. It is on display at the gallery showing this month.

The above vessel is a more traditional shaped cracked-surface vase, showing a good example of the interesting cracking that happens using the sodium silicate and porcelain slip mixture on a brownstone clay body.

This piece is called AFTERMATH, and is a representation of some of the emotions encountered when one experiences a disaster like flooding, fire, or assault. This piece is also on display at our gallery showing this month.

I wanted to try to made a bowl using the expanded cracked-surface technique, so this is my first bowl made in this manner.

This is a small globe vase made using the cracked-surface technique.

I hope you have enjoyed viewing the pottery. The cracked surface pots are actually much more interesting when handled, as the surface is very rough, and it sort of reaches out and grabs you. Some of the fissures can be quite deep, especially in the porcelain based vessels.

Well, time to head to the studio and make some more pieces. I need enough to sell at the coming art fair, so I'd better log off and get to it!!! :D