More mugshots, and a vase

Last December I threw a few mugs as holiday gifts. 

I didn't document the making of these pieces very thoroughly, but I thought I'd share a few of the finished pieces. For all of these works, I used a white clay.

This vase is partly inspired by a shrub I've been watching by the Museum. Every fall and winter, its green leaves turn a lovely pattern of yellow and red, and round berries emerge on the branches. I added drops of liquid clay, or slurry, onto the vase to emulate the round berries, painting them red. I then painted on leaves using underglazes; I had sketched them some time ago for future reference, which was helpful when I was painting these.

This piece is about texture. Like the vase, I added slurry dots to the cup, but also used a needle tool to carve out lines. I painted the round drops with light and darker green underglaze, then fired the mug. After that I dipped the mug in a translucent green glaze, which allowed the underglaze to remain visible.

I used the same technique for this mug, but changed the color of the underglazes. This time I used red and yellow underglazes, and was pleased at how well the hues held up after the transparent glazing.

This is an ongoing adventure for me, but it's proving to be a fun one.