casseroles

My casserole dishes came out of the kiln today, and I'm happy to say they are both quite successful. I'm looking forward to cooking in them! I didn't glaze the outside of this one to show off the carving better. As they're stoneware the body is vitrified and so water impermeable. I wasn't too sure about this design when I finished carving but its growing on me. It was a very different technique for me, with more freedom than a paintbrush. Messy can be good with carving.
This has matt glaze on the outside, so is VERY hard to photograph. Thats almost enough of a reason for me to not use it again. Aside from the iron spots I mentioned in my last post.
However I am very pleased with my relief work. I apply 2 layers of acrylic binder (you know the stuff that makes acrylic paint stronger?) to get the fine lines. The matt glaze shows it off nicely I think. What I'm very pleased with is my cobalt glaze. You may remember I spent an afternoon making small portions of test glazes and this was one of them. It was very watery and just the correct consistency for roll glazing. I was very nervous when I applied this glaze as I knew any drips would stain, but I managed it just fine. If I do say so myself! Its just the clear gloss glaze with 2% cobalt added. I'll be using this again in the future me thinks.Another success story this term has been my stamp. It was a pain to make but so worth it. I've used this signature since I was 14 and started painting ceramics at my local studio back in the Isle of Man. I loved the artwork of Cicely Mary Barker from a very young age and emulated her mark on my own work (I intended to insert a picture here of her signature, but blogger isn't very friendly when you want to add a photo at the bottom of a post. Grr). Its so nice to see how far this mark has come with me. My Mum used to tell me off when I didn't sign my work haha. Thanks Mum!