Friday, May 25, 2012

Fresh Out of the Kiln

I popped over to the college this afternoon to see if the latest kiln firing was done, cooled and unloaded.  It was!  Yay!  I was able to pick up the last of my projects.  I'm really excited about some of them and can't wait to share...

One of my goals for the semester was to make a large bowl.  I definitely made progress toward that.  This is the biggest bowl I've made so far and it's quite an accomplishment.  The larger a piece is, the harder it is to throw on the wheel...and to get it to be round and not lop-sided.   It shrunk a bit in the kiln (which always happens) but it's still pretty big. If I take ceramics again, my goal will be to make one even bigger! 


This clay must have had a lot of iron it because the bowl developed lots of freckles when it was fired.


I love the yellow and rust color in Winokur Yellow glaze.


It's not as big as I'd wanted but will be plenty big enough to make something in it to serve my family.


It's 8" tall and 4" wide.  I placed a regular sized garlic head next to it to give an idea of it's size and scale.


Before the semester was over, I had to try throwing on a kick wheel.  It's powered by my foot only.  No electricity.  It worked better than I'd expected.  To get better at it I'll have to remember to let go of my clay whenever I kick to get the speed back up.  I learned that the hard way.  If I kick while my hands are working with the clay, it immediately sends it off center and I end up with wonkey, lop sided pots.  They're also a bit thick on the bottoms because I wasn't able to lift them up much more after they lost center.  But, I'm pretty proud of them for my first try.  And, what fun!  I love that I made them with human power.  It was a quiet and peaceful, creative experience. 


This one resembles my honey pot vases.  It looks great with the other two and gives me a perfect set of three in various sizes.  I plan to put some flowers in them very soon and try it out as a little grouping.


I took a picture holding it to give an idea of the size these two kick wheel pots are. 


My third attempt at a goblet went much better than the first two.  But, it still wasn't all that great...until I picked it up today.  The glazes I used transformed it into something pretty cool!




I used Teadust glaze on the outside. It's usually black in color with green speckles. Turns out it also red in it.  There are even some tiny blue flecks.  It's interesting and lovely.  I really like it.  The tiny greenish/yellow flecks remind me of lichen we see on rocks when we hike. 



I used a green glaze on the inside that I thought would tie in with the specks on the outside.  Turns out it would have been pretty light.  Luckily, I was inspired by another student and how she had experimented with mixing different glazes.  She had some fantastic results.  So, I grabbed my goblet and headed back to the glaze room and put a little splattering action into the project.  It turned out to be just what it needed to tie the outside and inside together.  I love it!


The stem fits and feels very nice in my hand.  It's very comfortable.  The goblet is almost 8" tall and holds exactly eight ounces of liquid.  I think that will make for nice sized serving of wine...to start with.  I plan on trying it out tonight.  Cheers!


9 comments:

judith said...

Very cute! When are you going to make a yarn bowl? And how about a garlic roaster? Just make a little flat plate with a small lip around the edge and then an upside bowl to fit inside the lip to put on top. Add a little flattened loop on the top of the lid and ta-da!

roxie said...

The big bowl and the goblet are sooo awesome! And your glazes are fascinating.

I had a friend who bought a kick wheel, and within a month, her right thigh was getting too muscular to fit in her skinny jeans.

roxie said...

I am SO impressed! the big bowl and the goblet are major accomplishments. And the whole issue of glazes is just fascinating.

I had a friend who bought a kick wheel, and within a month, her right thigh was too big and muscular to fit inner skinny jeans.

Erin @Days to Remember said...

Those are beautiful! I just love your bowl. Ceramics is one of my favorite arts. The process is such a great feeling, and having the finished product to enjoy is icing on the cake!

KarenB said...

So fun! I especially love the big bowl. You're getting good girl!

Sandra said...

Again, you awe me with the ceramics - they are beyond beautiful. And I agree with jomomma - where's the yarn bowls?

Benita said...

I love the large bowl. I've thrown bowls and I know how hard it is to get a nice big one.

And that goblet is fantastic!!!

Kristín Hrund said...

This really is wonderful work - love the freckles of course (have a lot of them myself :-) and your glazes are so fascinating... Greetings from Mosfellsbær, Iceland.

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

I LOVE your pottery. The blue pot is absolutely beautiful!

Vanessa in Oklahoma