Catch-up

When it comes to clay, I tend to enjoy throwing itself the most. I like the effects of glazing after they're complete, but the actual preparation needed can feel a bit chore-like if you're not in the mood. After letting pieces accumulate for several weeks, however, it was time to do some glazing in earnest, the result of which you see here. The majority of these pieces are handle-less cups, but I intend to make more mugs soon. Cups are fine for milk and water, but you need that handle for hot drinks. At least I do.

Most of these pieces use striated patterns based on Vermont's Iberville shale, a stone I talked about in a previous post. I used the same glazes as I did for those first pieces, but interestingly enough, however, one of the glazes I used, Variegated Blue, turns a teal color when it's put in the electric kiln, hence the different color here than what you saw in the previous images. That's the thing with glazing: you can plan all you want, but with so many variables at stake, from the object's placement in the kiln to the type of kiln itself, you never quite know what you'll get.

The cup on the right is the normal Variegated Blue color: see the difference?

Other pieces incorporate new skull designs, such as bobcat and fox.

The fox skull in particular resulted in some interesting glazing effects. I'm not quite sure how these lighter bands happened, probably took place during the dipping process, but I liked how they turned out.

Here's a cup I made in ochre clay. I'd made it several months ago, but never did anything further with it, so when I was curious to see how the striations would look in a tan color, this was a perfect guinea pig.

One thing people have noticed about my work is that I put wide bases on my cups. Initially these feet were the result of my not being able to pull the clay up very well, but these days it's partly a personal preference. I've trimmed smaller feet on pieces before, but I like the solidity and the sturdiness of these wider bases. Having seen Gustave destroy more than a few of my glasses by mischievously knocking them onto the floor, I've made sure to make my own pieces solid. If he ever decides to try knocking my ceramics over, by golly he's going to have to work for it.