A Woofy Kiln Firing

Spanky and Pete Treat Jar

The last was so disastrous, but these last two, the bisque and the glaze firings were OK. I don't know when the day will come that I will open the kiln and see perfection. There is always something for me to criticize,  and so it is with this batch. Fortunately there is something to be delighted with as well.

Famous Dogs Bowls and Plate

Each firing is a new volume or maybe just one entry in the encyclopedia of ceramic knowledge. I look, I read, I decide what I will have to change or be careful of the next time I make something out of clay.




These bowls were made in sets of three sizes so they will nest if one should wish. I used an inlay technique on the yellow rutile plate, and engraving for the drawings in the bowl.  I think the smallest bowl of Pete balancing a baseball on his nose is my favorite.

Before: Wedging - Blah!

I have been doing slab work lately: bowls from slabs, a jar with slabs. If I wedge it myself then roll out the clay, I usually get oodles of air bubbles popping up that I have to puncture and smooth over. This is mainly because I am impatient and do a shoddy job of wedging. Also it is hard work, especially with some of the stiff, dry, hand-me-down clay I end up using sometimes.

So when I saw this bit about easy wedging on Ceramics Monthly I had to check it out. Reading instructions on the "Stack and Slam Wire Wedging," just was too confusing though so I went to the YouTube video for clarity. Then - I had to share.

Crisp, clean, efficient, Michael Went goes swiftly about the task leaving me agog. I can't ever dream of  achieving this machine-like precision. I love your technique, Michael, and I'll give it a whirl - and 30 slams.

Now: wedging - whee!

Caution: Extreme Violence

I spent at least a week making this life-size, if not fully proportional, baby in clay, and it was a week well-spent. The baby is constructed of separate parts that were assembled at the last stage into one body. Yes, despite the catastrophe in the kiln, it was time well-spent. But I am NOT making a new one soon.

There are three simple mandalas on the front of the baby: on the forehead, over the heart and above the pubic area. I was googling images of tattoos and pondering their massive popularity in the current era. Only some geometric ones appealed to me. So I created three simple radial designs like those one might see in a yoga advertisement - and placed them on what I think are the body's centers.* I imagined them aligning like the chakras along the central meridian.

I burnished the black engobe that covered the red clay with a steel spoon.

So perhaps it wasn't dry enough. Perhaps there was an air bubble trapped in the coils that joined the head to the shoulders. Its tragic, but what shall I say, "Par for the course?" "C'est la vie?" "Oops?"


*According to G. Gurdjieff, the human body has three centers: the emotional, the moving and the intellectual centers.

The Baby at the leather hard stage (one- week- old)

Plodding Away

It's happy plodding, but slow all the same. How many good pieces do I have to show for my hours in the studio? I am not a perfectionist, but more often than not,  there is something wrong or "could be better" about what I've made.

Bubbles in the glaze, uneven slabs, uneven lips, bowls that have lost their circularity, ho-hum glazes, and so on. I have good ideas and I have good aesthetic sense, but my skill and experience are yet to satisfy me.

I went to an art fair last weekend and saw amongst the vendors, about 8 ceramicists showing their work. No one overwhelmed me with their artistry and I felt not far off from the best of them. And in comparing myself with a couple of vendors I felt superior. I talked with some of those who I admired or who interested me, and they graciously offered tips and information in answer to my questions.

So I may not be as far advanced as I'd like, but I'm moving forward. I'm working hard. I am still motivated and I know I will get better and one day show my work... somewhere. Poeple will admire it, somebody might even buy something. Wouldn't that be grand?

I have a couple of projects going. Pictures next time.