WSP annual exhibition

I have two pieces in the annual exhibition of the Waikato Potters Society.

Five pieces submitted, two got accepted.

The two beakers received a Merit Award

Wood firing pictures (Dec 2010)

loading the kiln

Claire stoking the fire

that's me

nicely glowing but it took a long time

chimmey flames

I only had to pieces in this firing. One (a sculpture) came out okay but the other one had some accident during the firing and I am still not quite sure what happened there:

it used to be a bowl...

Francis Cappuccino.

My first market

hm, not sure about the experience. We had lots of fun designing the layout of the stall. People were interested and lots of friends stopped by. Lots of work in lugging things around and packing/unpacking. Made some sells and it was fun as a shared experience with a friend. But still too many pots left … my garage is overflowing. I need another plan.

Market, finally

Pots were piling up at home and one could not walk safely anymore. Not to talk about cats… Finally everything was priced and taken off to the first market. And everything had to have its photograph taken before being packed up.  Here is a selection of the ones I liked:

refired the horse on wheels and teh glaze is much better now

A racing cow on wheels, the tail is made from twine.

Hedgehogs - not sure what to call them. Mine look quite different from Meagan's.

A candle holder.

a nobs'n'all that came out okay.

I had problems to get the lids fired in the same way as the pots and several lids warped and now no longer fit the pots. I need to learn how to use wadding.

Beakers with carbon-trap shino w/ iron oxide

Terracotta bowls with wave pattern (white slip and original green glaze)

Carved terracotta bowl

Currently my favorite bowl:

Shino over crackle glaze

Bisque kiln opening

…with a mix of terracotta and stoneware pots. I tried out some new designs.

Terracotta, closed shapes with slip trailing. Still to be glazed.

These ones are the first I am trying out. The idea is from Meagan Chaney (check out her fabulous ceramics and glass). The slip recipe is hers, too. The designs are mine though. It’s still wok in progress and I have to find glazes for them now.

Horse (wheels still to be added), glaze not matured

The horse did not quite work out. The glaze did not mature – 1200 C glaze in a 1080 bisque and will be re-fired. Little wheels are waiting to be attached.

Terracotta flowers

I am looking forward to seeing these done. They are supposed to go on a little wire and then be attached to twigs.

Terracotta knob'N'all with blue slip and white-painted carving

I touched the slip after (I thought) it was dry to move it but it left a smudge. Very frustrating. The idea of the knob’N'all is from Fetishghost who is making then after Ron Philbeck’s ideas (watch the video!).

Gas firing

I did that one earlier this year. First time I fired the gas kiln myself. Quite exciting. Very happy with the results.

I love these bowls!

This is a vase that looks very much like a piece of tree. I quite like that. I made it by pushing a log into a piece of clay and whacking it around on the floor (just added a bottom at the end).  Poured three or four different glazes over it.

A dinosaur vase. Iron oxide wash and crackle glaze.

Fabulous crawling effect. Sold at the Waikato Potters annual exhibition in September 2010.

My first try of our ‘Elisabeth st clay’. No idea what clay it actually is; it was given to us. Some stoneware with fine grog and excellent ability to keep well defined edges. I also like the glaze. One pot with some soda was in the kiln and I think that one changed the behavior of the other glazes.

Glaze test. Temple white with 5% iron oxide.

I like the glaze test above – it looks like bird’s eggs.

Shino glaze test. Not quite as expected.

The shino glaze was okay but not what I expected. It was supposed to have a more pronounced difference between the white and the red with a crawling effect on the white.

Malcolm Davies Shino (glaze used 4 months after it was mixed)

This one is glazed with Malcolm Davies Shino (carbon-trap shino): the glaze was prepared some months ago and the soda had flaked out. I used it anyway and the result was quite stunning. The unglazed side turned smooth and shiny like in a soda wood firing.

Flax Pot

“Flax”
Terracotta (Abbots), hand-coiled
cabbage tree shots, terra sigilata and iron oxide
2009

Terracotta

“Terracotta”
Terracotta (Abbots), hand-coiled
iron oxide
height 50 cm
2009

Another start

I plan to take pictures of my pots as I go along to somehow see how things change. A kind of record-keeping. So many plans and ideas and all the multi-taking are quite tiring really.