It's not a very clear picture, but the pieces that I had ready for Tom's dishes set came out of the kiln right before spring break. I've been doing his stuff with my Tahquamenon glaze pattern, because he likes blue, and I totally dig all the drips and the Waterfall Brown glaze. They turned out quite pretty. He's just waiting on plates now (that little plate in the picture doesn't count. At all. It's crap.)
The three yoyo pots I made also got glazed. This one and the crappy one that I accidentally trimmed the flange right off of came out okay, but the one without a knob on the lid didn't make it because I fired them with the lids on, and it fused together. Steven Stuchel told me afterward that he doesn't fire his lidded ware with the lids on, like you're "supposed to". He told me that he loses far fewer pieces to warping and poor fit than he would to glaze accidents if he fired the pieces together. So I'll do that from now on.
I'll be adding a couple more bowls to the etsy shop this week. Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot, due to laziness, then new job, then delayed firing schedule.
I worked on learning how to throw plates a couple weeks ago. These are to be dinner plate size, so I made them close to the full diameter of my wheel head. Each one starts with three pounds of clay, to give me a thick enough base for lots of trimming.
Unfortunately, I let the plates get a little too dry before attempting the trimming, so it wasn't as easy as it could've been. But I didn't do too bad, considering it was my first earnest attempt and that the clay was so dry.
Next time I do plates, I'll use wetter/softer clay, and then trim as soon as I notice the plates separating from the bats. I didn't run a wire under them because I didn't want to ruin them, and just waited for them to dry enough to pop off of the throwing surface on their own. It works well, but is only ideal if you catch it at the right moment. I think, if I find myself making lots of complete place settings, that I might invest in a plaster bat system. Plaster draws water out of clay, and so the plates would pop off of a plaster bat faster than off of a plastic one.
I bought myself some snazzy new tools this week. Pictured are my new handcrafted plate rib, wooden knife, and bowl rib from Burlchaser on etsy. He's a fellow Ceramic Arts Daily forum member. I also bought a set of handmade trimming tools from Hsin-Chuen Lin, who is well known on YouTube for his pottery instructional videos. He also has an etsy shop, which is where I bought the tools from. He has a video on how to make them yourself using hacksaw blades, a torch, and a bench grinder, but....well, I'm scared of the torch. And don't have a grinder yet. I should probably get one, because groggy stoneware clay dulls the crap out of trimming tools.
Speaking of Ceramic Arts Daily; one of the guys on the forum posted photos of his potter's wheel and a quick run-down of how he made it. It's SO TINY!! It's a little kick wheel, made in the same way that a traditional Korean potter's wheel (sometimes referred to as an Onggi wheel). It's just two wooden disks on a post, essentially. The reason I'm excited about it is that if I can get one, and learn to use it....I could demonstrate making pottery at Norfolk Harvest Festival!! I can't do it now because I have no plausibly acceptable historic equipment to work with. But now I have options!
That's it for now, I guess. I will now return to my avoiding getting out of bed.
Edited to add: I got more tools today!
My nice sharp trim tools came in the mail just now, and apparently the glazes I ordered last week got here on Saturday, too, but nobody told me. So I get to learn how to mix up a glaze from dry powder tomorrow, and test some new glazes. Excitement!
Oh, and another thing that happened - I made my first pottery sale on Friday, and my first pottery sale to someone that doesn't know me today. I'm officially IN BUSINESS. Woot!
- Stell
You can click on the photo to biggify.
ReplyDelete