A Few New ones

The one on the left is going to be a lamp.  I had intentions of putting a face on it, but was tired after doing two of them.  I am glad I decided to do the flower trail instead.

Some mugs I have made.  I try to make three or four mugs every time I go into the studio.  A friend of mine at school has been joking with me about where the label is on some mugs so  made the labeled one with him in mind. haha.  Maybe someone will want to advertise with me.

Pics Cont.

Casserole shape

The slip on this vase was (much like the brown colored red dirt slip) was one I dug from a creek bed.  It turned out with a cool texture.  I haven't decided if I like it or not yet.  

Pictures of New Work

Teapot

Plate

Ice Tea Cup

Bud Vase

2.5-3 gallon Jar.

Many of the pieces I made for this show were small like mugs, cups, and bowls.  I figured with the economy being the way it is that more people would be prone to buying smaller, less expensive objects. 

A New Day

A vase and jar I decorated today.  They are both with about 7 pounds of clay.  I have been thinking of lining and glazing at the leather hard stage in order to avoid cracks that happen when you glaze bone dry.  I got some cracks in the last firing due to that.  The face on the right is not one I like because I think it is emotionless, but as my father would say; "somebody'll like it".  

Here are some casseroles I made about a week ago, but just realized I wanted to put a picture up of them.  I hope you enjoy.  The black slip came out with a crackly texture that I like, but I am thinking of mixing something with it in order to soften the texture.  

So I got to work a bit this morning and it felt good after the treasures show.  I have been making some large one piece jars and jugs lately.  I made a face jug today and did not like it very much, but I do plan on making a few more faces on Saturday so hopefully they will get better.  I am excited about getting some work done without any show pressures for the next month or so.  I am planning on making all of my large pieces first so I am letting some of my clay harden up a bit so I can pull up a few large pieces.   

Treasures of The Earth Show

So the show went well tonight.  I got to talk to some people I haven't talked to in a while so that was great news.  I unloaded to newly fired pots from the electric kiln this morning and took them over to set up my space.  Overall I think it looked pretty good.  My camera was there, but I forgot to snap a picture.  I would also like to get some pictures of the other booths to talk about some other pots.  So a post of full capacity will come soon after I get some pictures of the booths.  I am excited to get to work on my pots tomorrow morning so posts are soon to come on that too.

Cheers!

Brad

AHHHHHHHH!!

Ok so the last few days have been absolutely nuts!!  My pots came out and look great on the outside, but my liner glaze (temple white) under fired.  I have the show for these guys on Thursday I am unsure of what to do.  Yesterday I had planned on just sitting them out and selling the ones that fired correctly and putting not for sale on the rest with the intent to re fire them later.  This morning I awoke with the intentions to pack up some things, but instead I got a call from Ron around 8 that changed my plans.  He suggested I try to re fire the ones that messed up in the electric kiln.  It is pushing it, but I skipped dimensions this morning to re glaze (cone 6 clear) and load those suckers into the old electric kiln at school.  Here I am again under the pressure of waiting to see what comes out of another firing.  Why do I do this to myself!!?  The only thing to do now is pray that they come out in living color before Thursday night.  Lord bless 'em.  Amen. 

Saturday Firing

Had a firing all day yesterday.  Doug and I shut it down after about 2 hours of salting at around seven o' clock.  I am so anxious though on account of having a few pots mess up.  Actually I only had 2 teapot lid knobs pop off, but it really worries me on account of the possibility of them landing on some of the other work.  I cant believe I made the mistake of not drilling a hole through the bottom up the knob.  Doug told me that it was an easy mistake to make, but it was humbling and reminded me that I am still learning.  This firing will benefit me in the photography part of my Penland application.  All of the work for the show in Shelby on Thursday (Treasures of The Earth) will come from this firing as well.  I guess I put quite a bit of pressure on myself for this one.  I had about 40 or so pieces in there along with some other student work from school.  Hopefully I don't drive myself nuts before unloading on Wednesday.             

      I had such a good time spending the day with Doug though.  Since I am planning on doing some kiln building after March and into the summer I had plenty of reading to do and questions to ask as the firing day trucked along.  I am getting lots of ideas from this book.  I am now thinking of using pugged out bricks made of a high fire clay content, some  cement, sawdust.... (you get the idea).  I would put the wet pugs on the outside of the wooden frame and fire the bricks to temperature when I fire the kiln.  I am going to do some tests before I actually build the real one this summer.  If anyone has any suggestions or reasons why this will not work please let me know so I can consider things and possibly adjust my plans.  Thanks everybody!!