Several Projects Completed

Today after several weeks of not being able to get to the studio (work and family commitments keeping me busy) I was able complete several projects. The two I am most pleased with are my scraffito box and my raku vases. After the box was bisque fired (the first firing before glazing, the finished product is like greenware) I decided I didn't want to change anything. Not add another glaze color. The project itself was so labor intensive that I felt if I added anything to it, I would probably ruin it.  So we dipped it in a clear glaze only for the final firing.

As for the Raku vases, I am very excited. I haven't done this type of raku firing before other than a "naked" raku which I hated. It was so labor intensive and the finished product was, well.... awful. Not worth it. With these I painted the dry clay with a red terasidge (I'm sure that is not how you spell it and I don't even know exactly what it is other than some sort of pre-glaze) , then the pieces were bisque fires (high fire, cone 10). I glazed them with the Raku glaze Lustrous Copper and they turned out magnificently. The great thing is that I glazed them this morning and then the Raku firing was immediate so within an hour I had a finished project. Much better than waiting several weeks for the regular high firing which is about once every 3 weeks.

I also raku glazed a little pinch pot. I didn't have too much invested in this little pot. It was my first attempt and it was already cracked before it went through the raku firing. Nevertheless, the color is also awesome. Gold Burst.

I still have a several other projects to complete and it's time to start some new ones. I'll keep you posted

What's next?

I have about six projects in progress at the studio, all in varying stages, but nothing drying at the moment. I know of 4 pieces that should have come out of the bisque fire last week, but have not had a chance to get out there to take a look at them.  I have a three piece set of decorative plates made with a soft-slab technique. The patters on those were made with small leaf stamps on one, a large pebble-look pattern on the second and on the third I used various sizes and shapes of branches or bark and just pressed them into the clay. My goal when they're glazed and fired is to use them as wall decorations over my couch. most likely sitting on a shelf. I have another scraffito platter which should be ready as well, to glaze and then put into the final firing process.

My weekends have been been so busy lately that I haven't been able to get out to Desert Dragon at all so have only been going after work a couple days a week. Not really the ideal way to accomplish a lot.

This weekend I actually crafted a couple of cards, one for my Mother and the other for my daughter-in-law, for Mother's Day. I have the stamping supplies and tons of card stock, but run out of time and end up hitting the card store. I decided this time, I wouldn't do that. Ahh so many ideas, so little time.

The Scraffitto Box

Well I finished carving the box on Wednesday. It became more challenging as I carved each side. Even though I kept it covered in plastic, I waited too long between visits to the studio for carving and by the time I got to the last side, it was very dry. It works best when the clay is still leather-hard and the carvings come off like little curls of chocolate.

It needs to finish drying completely now and then will be bisque fired. What will remain then is virtually like "greenware", on which I can add other glazes or dip in a clear glaze and then proceed with the final firing. What people don't know that  don't work in clay is that the process from start to finish is time consuming. There are many steps and you have to wait between each one. If a piece dries too fast or is bisque fired before it is completely dry, it could crack and break in the kiln. 

I will take a picture if the box after its bisque fired and post it here. I really am excited to see how this piece will turn out as are many of my potter friends who have been watching its progression.

My first posting

Ok, so now I've started this blog which no one but me will ever care about. Well, maybe my kids will get a laugh if I let them know about it. But, I'll have a place to put down my ideas and hopefully make them happen. I've been taking classes at my local favorite pottery studio (Desert Dragon) and have learned all sorts of new techniques for handbuilding. Right now I'm working on a Sgraffitto piece. I did one already. It's carving on clay or other medium. Now I'm doing one on a clay box that I made first. Very time consuming, but fun. Can't wait to see what the end product looks like.
That's the thing about working in clay, you never know what will happen. After all the time you spend on something it could crack or blow up in the firing process. It teaches you to let it go, move on to the next thing. There is no perfection in clay.