THE LOST VASE

I've been working with a low-fire clay (doesn't have to be fired at as high a temperature as the other clays I've been using) and I'm finding it's limitations the hard way. I tried to make a tall vase by making it in two sections. First I threw the bottom half, measured it's top with the calipers, then I threw the top half. I opened the clay all the way to the bottom since this part is made "upside down" meaning that when it was turned upside down it would be connected to the top of the first half . I painted the bottom section with colored slip. It looks like camouflage here, but will fire out green and blue. Cobalt Carbonate looks pinkish in its raw state.

the top section, as I said above, is made upside down. The edges of both pieces have been scored and slip or 'magic water' will be applied to help the parts adhere to each other.

As I worked to form the top section, the clay absorbed way too much water and started to deteriorate. I compressed it, hit it with the hair dryer, set it under a warm light and walked away for a couple hours so that I'd not be tempted to keep messing with it. When I came back it was nice and stiff. I applied the magic water to the scored edges and turned it upside town onto the lower section and started to join the seam. Slowly, as I pressed the rib against the join, I saw the bottom section begin to bulge, twist, and blob over...lost.

Back to the wedging table! The good news is we finally got some snow!!!!!!!! YEA! Here are the first foot steps in the snow going into the kiln building.

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I GOT A GIFFIN GRIP FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!

YEA!!!!!!!!!! I first learned about the Giffin Grip when I was teaching at high school. It is a tool that holds one's pot in place to be trimmed. Yes, I can trim without it, but with it I can check to see if I've done what I intended and put the pot right back into center. I can trim easily on the inside of a pot, and I can center in a hurry!!

I read the instructions and checked to be sure it was like the one I had used at school, and made all the adjustments to fit it onto my wheelhead.

There are posts and pads for five different sizes, reversible handles for plates and small bowls, and I can hardly wait to make a pot that needs to be trimmed!!!

Some people consider this tool a crutch, but I'll take it. My trimming life will be so much more simple and happy now! Thank you sweet husband for my birthday gift! ttfn

Aaaaa, Grasshopper...

BTW, at the end of the blog, way at the end, you'll find I've added an opportunity for you to learn of new posts via your email. Scroll on down if you're interested in that option. My friend has decided to learn how to throw on the wheel, so she comes out after work a couple of days a week and is doing very well! Here are some of her first bowls:

We used up all the white clay, so now we're into the Brooklyn Red. Here she is beginning to center the clay:

We wanted desparately to make a vase this evening, but that never happened. We did finally get a little plate (: and an interesting dish/bowl. Here are some pictures of the steps along the way:

These are the final products for the evening:

Tonight Grasshopper will be here to trim these two bowls and either work on the wheel again, or begin hand building so we can get a VASE! ttfn

17th Glaze Firing

This firing was a relatively small load, several things were being refired in hopes of correcting flaws. The two brown bowls were refired in an effort to close the small craters that had formed in the bottom of the insides. The Red Gold (Coyote Cone 6) glaze has a penchant for these small craters. Well, the firing closed the craters, but in doing so, the yellow elements of the glaze slid down to the center leaving the rims a bit rough. The yellow on the outsides slid down and drooled on the shelf and pooled at the base of one. I was able to use my Dremel to grind them smooth, but it is not pretty. They will be FFUO (For Family Use Only).

This little set of six bowls is for me a great accomplishment!!! Six matching pieces, in size, shape, weight, and COLOR! Wow! Can't wait to have company and serve fruit salad or ice cream. It was a stroke of good luck that when I thinned the Light Blue Shino (Coyote Cone 6) I did it before the last dip of every bowl so they all have the chocolate brown streak on one side. I'd forgotten that the thinned LBS fires out brown. Too much to remember.

This vase is made with Standard #266 dark brown clay and glazed with Pistachio Shino Coyote Cone 6 glaze. It is a double walled vase made after the teaching article in Pottery Making Illustrated (sorry don't recall the issue no. but it was this year). It matches my plates and cups so will be used on the table with that setting!

Now that I've figured out the new Blogger format for posting, perhaps I'll do a little better at keeping up with it. The weather is perfect and I'm going outside to play. ttyl

Welcome! I'm back! There's been no killing frost but I have given up the battle against the weeds. I harvest tomatoes once a week and stick out my tongue at the big weeds that won the war. They'll get theirs! I didn't expect the glaze (Coyote Cone 6 Blue Purple) to run this much, but it's kind of interesting...

I also fired the pieces I made at the Lidded Forms Workshop at Capitol Clay Arts Company in Charleston with potter Keith Lahti. All but the teapot came out well, the teapot lid is permanently fused to the body and in fact the lid broke in our efforts to release it. This one is the "winner" in the last firing:

Here are the others:

Sorry this photo shows the lid off set...

I'm firing as I type and will be able to open the kiln again on Sunday. In this firing I have the double walled vase pictured previously and a set of little bowls with one larger bowl. I hope they come out beautiful!!! ttfn

So sorry to keep you waiting and disappoint if you expected new posts. Garden, yard work, string trimming, general housework and helping with the new building have filled up all my time. Not to mention Family Reunion, and driving and hour to go shopping once every couple weeks. Occasionally I get out to throw pots, but not nearly as often as I'd like. Check back after the first killing frost, I promise I'll do better!! Drop me an email if you like so I know you're out there, my comments don't seem to appear or work. maryellenchapman8@gmail.com My lastest effort:

The Studio Setting

I can't believe how lucky I am. It's as if I live in an artist's retreat! Peaceful, alone, private and, thanks to Terry's building and design skills, beautiful! Here are the steps up to my wheel room (really it's my sister-in-law's apartment but she never has a chance to come use it so I took it over (:)

From the deck at the top of the steps I have three beautiful views, one to the road, one to the big house and it's atrium garden and one not pictured which is the hillside right next to the deck.

When I work I have two visitors outside the door waiting for a treat when I leave:

When work is done, down the steps I go...

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I hate the new blogger format and cannot make it work for me. Sorry for this being all in one paragraph and I think I just cut out one of my photos. Looking for a new blog media! Spring is here, summer almost, and the yard and garden have again taken over my blogspot. We spent the weekend April 14/15th at the Keith Lahti Lidded Forms Workshop at the Capitol Clay Arts Company in Charleston, WV. I knew a little bit about lids but only what I’d gleaned from reading articles in magazines. It was wonderful to work with a pleasant group of fellow potters all eager to learn new techniques and tips. The lunches Karen served—huge delicious pizza one day and delectable Chinese dishes on Sunday—were enough to make me want to go back again anytime! We stayed at the Embassy Suites and enjoyed their manager’s special, their swimming pool and hot tub, their spacious suite and then in the morning we had the breakfast buffet! It was a combination “pottery and celebrate Terry’s birthday month” weekend. While waiting for my workshop Terry discovered the wonderful historical museum of West Virginia that is housed in the downstairs of the Cultural Center. He was very impressed with the professionalism of the place and all the way home I learned about the history of our beautiful state. All in all a good time was had by everyone!! Thanks Karen and Mike Garnes and Kieth Lahti!

This last vase I did by following the directions in my latest Pottery Making Illustrated magazine. Quite a challenge but that's what I like best!

19th FIRING, 12th GLAZE FIRING!

 This green casserole turned out just as I expected, which is unusual.  It's hard for me to duplicate what I do but this is  the second piece I've done with the same effects!  (The large vase in the previous post...)  Love it.

 Thanks to the kids at Wirt County High School for telling me about their favorite glazes--now they are my favorite glazes too!

 The front mug above and the back mug below were made by Karlee Wyer.   I hope she doesn't think she's ever going to get them back!   (:

Below my poor teapot:  the lid stuck to the body.  I've ground it a bit with the Dremmel, tried hot water, now I've poured in some water and put it in the freezer to try Diana's suggestion of letting it melt a bit and see if the block of ice will drop down and release the lid when turned upside down.  If that doesn't work, I'll grind it some more.    My, but it's a strange glaze,eh?

These mugs are my all time favorites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sorry it's such a poor quality picture.)

2012 BEGINS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

The cup below is my husband's favorite.  It is a mixture of S240 and S266 (proportions unknown, I just threw the scraps into a heap).  I finally made the handle large enough for his fingers and the body is full size.   The glaze inside matching the glaze on the handle gives it unity and the clear over the slip on the outside adds interest and variety.  The white band around the shoulder is made by painting white S240 slip on the form as it turned on the wheel just after trimming.   (Slip must be added while the piece is leather hard else it will not meld with the body and will flake off.)  A toothed tool was run around the slip to reveal the body color in the brown lines. 

The common comment about my works has been that they are small.   I can't get over how much clay shrinks as it dries and during the two firings.   This vase is an attempt to force myself to work larger.   At first it seemed such a waste to use a 3 or 4 pound blob of clay for just one piece, but after hearing all the compliments, I think I'll start going for 5 pound blobs! 

Below is the same piece glazed.   I used Pam's Blue inside (poured in and poured out as I turned the vase over the jar of glaze).  On the outside I painted Coyote Cone Six Forest Satin glaze and fired to cone six. I don't know why it cratered this way but I love the effect.   Will try it on a little brown casserole made of the same clay.    I'm always surprised that this terra cotta colored bisqueware fires out to a deep blackish brown!

Above:  Bisqueware waiting to be glazed   Left:  Greenware waiting to be bisqued.      

The pots below are basic Coyote Really Red and Cobalt glazes over a Standard Layering Glaze which was painted on the pots.  I like the effects, but I'm not crazy about the primary colors.  I'll be trying the layering glaze with other colors in the next firing.

The next "assignment" is to practice throwing plates.   My potter/friend came over and demonstrated how she makes them;  she's a former Tamarack artist so I've had excellent instruction.   Now let's see what I can do with it!

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