my creative space

Oh times are busy around here. Making, painting, firing, glazing, firing, and repeat.
Not that I'm complaining, it makes me happy to have reason to continue potting :)

Have you been been to see the lady herself yet today? Go look!

here

I'm still here, promise.
Making making making.

waiting

The kiln fired overnight, and is at 296C right now.

my creative space

This week I've been working on some new designs for my rainbow lorikeet range;
Another olive and pit bowl, but the 2 pieces will be glazed separately so the glaze will bond them together in the kiln firing. I attached the 2 pieces at greenware stage for my first attempt only to realise that glazing with 2 - 3 different colours will be a nightmare!

And some folded ramekins. Do let me know what you think, suggestions are most welcome...I'm very excited to see these glazed. College classes start again today so I'll be taking ALL my pots in to start filling the kiln.

Now go see Kootoyoo to find other crafty creative types!

my (mug) creative space

Seeing as mug production has been so dominant in my posts of late, I thought I would share a little more about what happens before/after making the basic form.
My feather mugs started life as this tiny teeny drawing in my sketch book after fiddling around with handles and realising that I could make both right and left handed mugs,

I made a slightly snazzier sketch (partly as concept drawings are compulsory at college, partly cos I like them!)I throw the basic form on the wheel, then trim and stamp my initials on the base, and attach the handle,Leave to firm up overnight, then do the real fun stuff that first got me hooked on ceramics - painting.I'm getting pretty speedy with my feathers. I use Duncan EZ Strokes as they give great colours in the first coat - most ceramic colours require at least 3 good coats to get a strong colour. I only hope they don't drive me crazy with boredom too soon.After a bisque firing, I roll glaze the inside of the mug with cobalt gloss glaze, then the outside with clear gloss glaze and fire them to 1280C.And they come out looking beautiful like these! After today's work I should have about 14 mugs ready to bisque fire - yay!

(Can you tell that I'm missing college production reports?! Old habits, huh.)

See more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo's blog :)

throw

A very successful morning of throwing I think...12 pots done without being distracted by emails or biscuits.
This is my view of the wheel, complete with curtain tied back with an elastic band and red plastic tablecloth 'tarp' to protect the wall...!

smug

I'm feeling a bit smug about my throwing. Yesterday was surprisingly successful.
6 pots to become mugs, a decent sized bowl (never made one that big) and...

...the smallest pot I've ever done. Intentionally! There was a time when I could curse my unskilled hands for not being able to make something much bigger than this.
This is the first prototype of an 'olive and pit' bowl that a friend has been pestering me to make for some time and I'm quite pleased so far. Glazing it will be a bitch though.

my creative space

The potting and feathering continues.
It makes me happy to see lots of pots together like this.

I want this desk to be FULL by the time I go back to college in 2 weeks.

Apologies for the naff lighting. Its been cloudy for days here in Mermaid Beach. I do not like it! Come back sunshine! Maybe some people at Kootoyoo's have clearer skies than me :)

more

More feathers.
More pots.

thick

Not a bad effort for my first throwing day in about a month. I think these handles may be a little thick though.
Thats ok, its all progress!

my (slow) creative space

I have to admit, I almost forgot about my creative space today. I finished my 2nd term at college last week so without a routine I'm a bit disorganised. In a good way. I can stay in bed longer in the morning and go sit in cafes and read wicked magazines.
I did however do some throwing this afternoon, 2 small short cups and 2 nice tall ones that will become feather mugs.

I'm also experimenting with making porcelain feathers for jewellery. In my previous attempts the stem/quill (?!) bit fell off so I'm being super careful with these ones.

I hope you've been to Kootoyoo's already!

square

I finally poured more square dishes yesterday and just finished painting them this afternoon.
I am a teeny bit worried that the clay body has air bubbles inside it...I was using the very last bit of slip in the bucket that has been stirred and poured and stirred and repoured many times. I've fixed the bubbles on the surface, but if there are bubbles inside too...well...there may be explosions in the firing...eek!

my creative space

Well actually my creative space is empty right now, as these lovelies went in the kiln yesterday for a bisque firing.  Its about 300C still, so some glazing might get done this afternoon. 

I love the colours of the feathers unfired, I wish they didn't change so much after glazing and firing.  I've tweaked them a little to improve them from last time though.  More nice creative people will be over here today. 

my creative space

Its been a short but creative week, as today I popped into the Gold Coast Careers Convention to do a demo for the college and tomorrow we're going to Brisbane to see Michaela's new show.

More feather pots, which got finished during the demo,And some decent sized mugs, hurrah!

You can find more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo's blog :)

my (productive) creative space

I wasn't going to post for my creative space today, as I've been in a foul mood with my work for the last week. My throwing has been awful due to a bag of over firm clay (and, you know, my still-learning-hands). I cracked open a fresh bag today and can't believe how much easier life is with soft clay!I made 10 plates in about 3 hours! Hurrah!

They're even similar in size. I should really add that plates are maybe the easiest thing to make on the wheel, due to the low height. Nevertheless, I'm pleased! More nice creative types can be found at Kirsty's today!

why?

The problem with increasing production seems to be almost equally increasing mistakes. For every decent pot I make, I screw another one up. So far today I've got 5 good (ish) pots, but 5 lumps that I'll have to rewedge and recycle. Messing so many pots up annoys me and makes me want to run away from the wheel. But I need to practice to improve my skills, even if practicing means making a lot of pots that don't make the cut.
This body of work is frustrating me; I created this awesome brief for myself, yet I can't find the damn motivation to get on with it. With no solid boundaries supplied by my college teacher, I have no one poking me telling me to hurry up and make more pots. I know I want to make about 20 pieces of each form, make them look amazing, set up a stall at a local arts market and (please please please) maybe break even! I've known for an awful long time that I want to work for myself and now that I have the opportunity to get the ball rolling, my inner sloth is reigning supreme. Well maybe it isn't a sloth, more of a chicken. Cos I'm scared that I won't get better, I won't stop screwing up pots, that no one will buy my pots and that I'll have to give up and get a "real" job.
I keep asking myself WHY I want to do this. I know why, I just get distracted. I want to be a potter (or ceramicist or artist or craftsperson or whatever title I might decide on) because I love it. Simple.

my (disgruntled) creative space

Ah this morning felt like it would be a good day. But within 3 minutes of being at college I discovered that those once-nice-art-buying-folks can soon become blackmailers. Sigh. However! I am potting...
Some beaker/cup things. I thought I got the size sorted, but then the subsequent ones became taller. I mean, thats cool cos I'm making bigger pots (progress much!) but annoying cos I need a lot of the same thing to be the same size.Same with all my ramekins. Great sizes and quality but nothing that matches.And here's a sneak preview of my lorikeet feather decals...I'm excited about these lovelies.

More nice creative people over at Kootoyoo's! Kirsty is so good for hosting this every week, huh?

test feathers

The test feather pots were successful enough to give me some idea of what combination of colours/techniques to use.

Painted black detail looks good unglazedThis feather is awesome. One of my favourites for sure.Sadly the chrome glaze is very very very dark, as I suspected.
Scraffito detail is a bit too discreet. And is only almost effective unglazed. Cobalt glaze is still brilliant.

Underglaze pencil detail looks good unglazed and looks nice and, well, feathery!Sadly the pencil blurs and fades a little under the clear glaze. However my yellow glaze worked out great. I foolishly tested it on a porcelain pot as well, oh my, does it look good. I'm not even going to show it to you because you'd never love my stoneware ever again!

Small plates look super cute with a curved feather.I'm leaning towards feathers with painted black detail with blue and yellow glazed interiors, and clear gloss glaze outside. I added a few decals this morning but they won't be fired til next week.