Trying out new stuff

I have always been intrigued by ring jugs. I think it's the mystery of figuring out how they are made when you first see them. The other day I was getting bored with making casseroles and decided to give it a try...

I threw the ring form and THEN decided to do a little research on this form. What I found out was that the Moravian potters of North Carolina threw a fatter ring with a small circle, while others made them wide and thin, as I did. Of course mine just turned out that way because, as usual, I was just winging it!

I did however look at a gazillion images online to figure out what type of neck or handles that I wanted to add. I finished it off with some slip trailing. My plan is to bisque fire it and set it aside for a future wood and salt firing. It was a lot of fun to make and I might explore this form a little bit more.

The other thing I did this week was to throw a cake stand in one piece. This one is sort of small and low. 

I am letting it dry slowly, upside down, to minimize warping. If this one is successful I will try throwing a larger one in one piece.

Sadly, with all this unseasonably warm weather, our daffodils are sporadically blooming. While seeing them makes you hopeful for real spring, it also means that come March, we won't have a yard full of blooms.

How can anyone deny global warming????

"the untitled post" (I just couldn't think of one)

I haven't been very productive in clay for the last three days. Actually the correct wording should be that I have been NON-PRODUCTIVE in clay. My time has been spent  working three consecutive days at the Co-op in town. I prefer to split up my days there, three in a row wears on me. On a good note I did get some online work done for two organizations that I volunteer for... as well as some of the angel ornaments. After a day at the Co-op I just don't feel like coming home and working in the studio so I opted for cooking dinner, photographing work, and getting some reading in.

Remember the cake stands?

 I finally glazed and fired one. They are a pain to glaze, but I am happy to report that they didn't warp in the glaze firing. I think bisque firing them upside down helped as well.

I have one more ready to be glazed and fired and if I don't experience any warping I am willing to commit to making more. I have this one listed on Etsy and clicking on the second photo will take you there. I struggled with pricing... of course on Etsy they are priced all over the place. Really nice ones, over a $100, some fairly nice ones for $30 +/-... and crappy ones from $25 - $100!
I settled on $75.

Happy Sunday, I hope everyone is doing exactly what they want to. I am going to get my hands on some clay!

why do i like to torture myself...

with cake stands?

I have made so many of these throughout the years and can say that only a handful haven't warped. This spring I made a small one in this style and it fired quite nicely. We shall see how larger ones hold up. These should accommodate an 8" cake when finished. Of course I had to add all this carving to these so that if they warp it will be all the more painful. I am thinking about bisque firing these upside down. Maybe that will reduce warping... thoughts anyone?

Then there's the glazing, because of course I want them to be the shino and green combination.

it was a good firing!

oval bakers and covered oval boxes with carved designs

the wedding cake box... looks better in person. I'll take a better photo soon

porcelain cupcake stand

Jeff's tea bowls were awesome!

and of course there is a new litter of pigs... we had some fun with glaze combos this time!

working in porcelain

Last week we finally bit the bullet and bought another ton of clay from StarWorks. The last few weeks we were mostly using our recycled clay, which is fine, but we need to make pots for raku and there may be too much zella clay in the mix for that purpose. I have been itching for Laguna B-mix these last few months but the B-mix from a supplier near here is more than I want to pay. It was time to try something new so I told Jeff to get 50lbs of a Highwater porcelain for me to try out. . He came home with P-10. 

I started out throwing some mugs, tumblers and small vases. Then gave a couple of other forms a go.  I like the way it throws, it stands up well.

This is a small cupcake stand... it's a trial run for a cake stand. I have made many in the past and have had big issues with warping. I decided to try this method. I should have choked in the middle of the stand more so that it would have a more elegant shape. Next time!

I was surprised how easily I was able to assemble a lidded oval box using porcelain. It was easier to get rid of the "assembly seam" on the top and bottom. I mixed up some porcelain slip and tomorrow I will do a slip trail deco on both the cupcake stand and the box. There is no color in the slip so it will create a raised decoration only. I am thinking about glazing these in Temple white and maybe some sprayed on accent glaze.

The ideal situation for me would be to set up a wheel and tools and use it only for porcelain. I had to clean my wheel and tools before making the switch yesterday. It's either that or make the switch to porcelain only... I don't think I am ready to give up stoneware just yet!!

back to reality...

after a fun weekend of visitors it was time to get back to work on monday.  i just couldn't get into the groove.  i need to make piggy banks but the bodies just weren't looking the way i wanted them too, jeff says i was being too critical.... rather than get totally frustrated i abandoned the pigs for the day and moved on to some slump molded dishes and then finished some cake stands that i started last week...

today i woke up with a new attitude.  after working some more on slump molded plates and throwing a few pig bodies, i decided to get to work pugging clay.  we had gotten sooooo far behind with recycling clay.  we didn't have the pug mill set up until just about 6 weeks ago which means we had nearly a years worth of scraps to recycle and pug.  jeff and i worked together and pugged a few hundred pounds of clay... we are finally caught up with recycling!!!  i have to say i do enjoy the physical aspect of the process... and the fresh new tubes of clay all stacked up and ready to throw make me feel good about the hard work.
of course i may feel differently in the morning when my arm feels like it is ready to fall off!

productivity

i am finally getting back to a rhythm of working in the studio...not as much as i would like to but enough to satisfy the itch...this is what i have been up to:

wavy bowls

cakes stands...this has been dancing around in my head all winter...it started when jay asked if i could make a stand for a 4 wick candle...since this photo was taken i have slip trailed the top of the plate with colorless slip...it will add a raised design to the plate that the glaze will break over...and yes i did make a not so tall one for jays 4-wick candles!

bowls waiting to be trimmed - the rims of these will be slip trailed