Colors

Now that electrical wiring for the new kiln is in the works, I'm eager to experiment with colors again.

Work in Progress Today

Back At It Again

After much distractions in recent weeks, I'm back on the potter's wheel again and couldn't be happier. I was afraid my hands would forget how to throw pots but thank god they remembered! Here are pictures of a few vessels in the works.

New Twist on the Traditional

Inspired by traditional blue china, I threw a porcelain pitcher on the potters wheel and decorated it with whimsical sceneries. This project was a joy to work on but the process was somewhat tedious. It took me a couple of days just to glaze.




Notes: This piece is glazed but not yet fired.

Promegranate Bowl

I drew a pomegranate botanical design on a bowl last night, using an underglaze pencil. I've never noticed the squeal this pencil makes on bisque before until Cynthia Guajardo mentioned it. I had to turn up the TV volume so I could drown out the eeky sound. It was unbearable. I will drop the bowl off to be fired in a gas kiln today. Hopefully, if all goes well, I'll have it back soon.

I'm also waiting for the results of another glaze test, this time, Amaco Celebration glaze fired at cone 10 reduction. I painted it on the flower centers of the pitcher above, in the same fashion as this pencil holder. I'm really nervous about this piece for two reasons. One, I don't expect Celebration glazes to do well in cone 10. Maybe the flower centers will come out brown. Who knows. Worse yet, the glaze might just run off the beads and drip onto the vase body. Second, I woke up this morning with a minor panic attack when I realized that I was a bit messy in applying the clear glaze onto the pitcher and did not wipe off the bottom. With my luck, this pitcher is probably sticking onto the kiln shelf right about now.

Handles and All

Last night I stayed up pass midnight to trim and put handles on four mugs and a pitcher. This is what happens when you have a full time job making websites all day, come home to tend the garden, feed the cat, eat dinner, clean the kitchen, hang out a bit with your honey, and then do some pottery. Needless to say, it took all of my will power to get out of bed this morning at 5:30am. In fact, after the alarm went off, I must have dozed off again because I dreamt that I was in the shower only to be awaken thirty minutes later and found myself still in bed! I rushed through the morning rituals, but skipped the breakfast, and jumped into the car with my hair completely wet (*sigh*). I'll tell you what makes all of this madness worth it, the sight of those milky white porcelain greenware on the kitchen counter where I left them last night to dry. I don't know what it is about ceramics but it makes me crazy, crazy happy that is.

The "peppa studio" stamp you see on the base of these pieces was hand-carved by a kid in Vietnam. I bumped into him at a street corner in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) this past January. He was no older than fifteen. He occupied the entire corner with a display of all sorts of wooden stamps he had carved by hand. I asked him if he could custom make a stamp for me. I then attempted to draw this chili logo on a napkin. He gladly took on the job for a mere $4 (U.S.) and told me to come back that evening. True to his word, the stamp was an exact replica of my drawing. I wish he had a business card. I would post it here to share with you. To this day, I don't know how he carved those tiny little letters. Maybe he had some automated tools in a shop somewhere?