Thinking about the times of the day and the weather conditions I’ve been seeing in the landscape.
The last two are just a bit of fun, the small jar is the ball of clay left over from sticking the bats to the wheel and the bowl is to eat tomato salad out of, I have three of them in various slightly different shapes. I think the green will go very nicely with the red of the tomatoes and fresh basil .
I think I’m about to put my toe in the water.
I have fired the kiln several times over the last month. Yesterday I reworked my wicket and put two rows of very heavy dense fire bricks into the wall, they appear to have had the desired effect, making the kiln more thermally insulated and gas tight. Better reduction effects and slower to cool down.
I have this idea in my head to make pots that reflect the landscapes I look at every day. Sky, horizon line, fields, earth and water. You cannot see the water element as that is inside the pot, very deep blue transparent almost turquoise. If these pots were paintings I would be happy with the way I am trying to represent what I’m looking at visually.
The colours in the photographs are a true representation, no photoshop magic. Interesting large crystals of colour with the blending and mixing being made up of multiple layers of different glazes.
In sad times, happy potting.
I fired the kiln last night, the second firing in a sequence of experiments I have been working on using different clay bodies and combination of slips and glazes working over each other.
I have taken on board the comments  about my colour pallet, which boils down to, ‘brown (tenmoku) just don’t do it for a lot of people who want to buy pots’.
Spraying the glazes in multiple layers seems to have achieved one of the outcomes I desire which is a gradation or blending, allowing the surface to become more unpredictable.
The cooling cycle I think is helping develop the colours and gives the greater depth, something to do with the way the chemicals crystallize  on the way down.
I am amazed that all the lids fit!!
The two tall bottles are just a bit of fun, part thrown, part coiled I just wanted to see how tall I could get, they worked out at kiln max height.
All these pots are going into a charity fund raiser, I call it ‘Pot Aid’, Â if you see anything you like give generously to the good cause, you get the pot for free.
I was taught this technique by Mark Griffiths, two segments. A four pound flat base on a bat and a 6 pound doughnut also on a bat.
I have mastered the throwing but have a high failure rate when it comes to firing them. Cracking and sticking to the kiln shelves are the most common faults.
Great fun however.
Happy potting.
I fired the kiln for the first time this year. Reducing it at 1100c for about an hour. Happy with the results as the reduction effects are good and the two new glazes I have worked on have both come out as I expected, good reliable base glaze to which I will add oxide colouration. The recipes came from a book I found in a second hand shop in Exeter, Clay and Glazes for the Potter by Daniel Rhodes first published in 1973. My copy has that lovely old book smell. Another book that Jack put me onto is The Craft of the Potter by Michael Casson, I got my copy of Amazon for under a tenner, its in quite good condition, published in 1977 the copy I got looks like its a first edition.
The glaze tests look promising I will work up a larger quantity of both glazes with small percentage of oxide added to develop the colour. 21 with copper carbonate has gone a bit wild.
The mugs I threw a while ago with the plan of giving them as Christmas presents, ran out of time. They are going into work tomorrow and are free to a good home.
Acorn Jar with badly fitting lid, I really like the way the glaze has worked by varying the thickness.
Its difficult to see but the last small bowl made the entire firing worth while, 378 has worked totally differently on the Special Spec clay body, it did not run and has worked almost opaque on the inside of the bowl form. The volcanic slip works.
These four pieces are left-over from my summer throwing, (threw every other piece away). Interesting colour combinations with 375 and 405.
I have started to include a cooling period into the firing cycle. From 1260 down to 1160 I keep the burners running and slow the temperature reduction for about an hour. I have also cut a kiln shelf to completely seal the chimney which slows the cooling further.
Productive weekend.
Testing glazes on two different type of clay body. The square tiles are B17, the longer thinner shaped tiles are Special Speck Professional from Valentines. The volcanic tests are silicon carbide slip with coloured slips in combination with a range of glazes over laid.
Some interesting results with the volcanic effect working best with 167 which is a very reliable and stiff glaze which comes out with a slight speckle, matt finish.
I think it will be worth investing in a slightly more expensive clay that reacts better in reduction.
Happy potting…
garageceramics 