Neighbor

I do not currently have any neighbors who disguise themselves as humans but underneath are good-natured trolls...so I had to make one!  I'm not entirely certain why I titled this one Neighbor, but I'm sticking with it.  Seems delightfully open to interpretation.

Before first firing.  I dotted the surface with brown slip for some nice
mole action and liver spots on the skin tags.

Before glaze firing.  I knew the colors wouldn't be this vibrant after it was all
said and done, but oh I wish...

Finito!  Recycled clay fired to cone 10 with mason stains
and oxides.

I used the Clay Guild's "G White" glaze on the lips to bring out some of
the iron in the clay.

This is the biggest face I've made so far, about 9 inches wide.  I'm looking forward to going larger but I need to complete the ones I have still ready to be glazed before I move on.

Ceramics, Odds and Ends Edition

I made some footed bowls for the first time that weren't too bad...I got some Mid-Century melamine bowls from my mom and used them as a form to push balls of clay onto the sides and played with different glazes.  And of course I used bits and pieces of clay to make some jewelry.

Fresh from the kiln!

Four bowls made the same way with different stonewares,
cone 6 and cone 10, and different glaze techniques.
I call them Cloud Bowls because they especially look cloudy from the top.

I made a boatload of pendants with my left over clay and tried out new stamps
and glazes.  Then I strung them on leather cord and learned a little about tying
decorative knots.

Slip experiments...

I wound a strip of vinyl around their little bodies (slip was applied before bisque) and
then dipped them in white glaze.  After the glaze dried I pulled off the vinyl to reveal the
raw clay beneath.

The stencil experience looked silly during the process.

See previous post for BEFORE photos on those last images.

Spring Ceramics, Drinking Vessel Edition

I continued working at the KC Clay Guild on handbuilt tumblers and mugs, even venturing into "pulled handle" territory, which is a fast way to knock you off any sort of "I'm getting the hang of this" high horse you might be riding on.  

When I was offered a copious amount of mason stain to use in my ceramic work from another artist, I took it, because I am a garbage disposal and waste is bad.  I mixed the stain in with slips and glazes to see what would happen, and I wasn't altogether disappointed! 

Yellow Ochre slip with white glaze on stoneware.
Available on Etsy.

These kitty stamped mugs are currently for sale at Purrfect Pets.

Pulled some handles on these and experimented with stains and stamping; white stoneware

Stained slip with a vinyl resist and white glaze, stoneware.

Sprayed glaze through a stencil I found in a Dumpster, stoneware.

Return of the Tab Tumblers!  I love how the cobalt runs with this clear glaze.

Beautiful nubs!  Made from a stamp made from a grate in my basement with
runny cobalt reactive clear and red glazes.
Available on Etsy.

Tumbler 25

Because I know how the clear glaze makes the cobalt run upon firing, I have started playing around more with the dynamic aspects of the ingredients.  For this one I mixed mason stain with white glaze and dipped the lip in a nice, thick pool.  I then dunked the whole thing in clear.  The colorant ran down in a lovely, delicate, watery way.

White cone 6 stoneware, mason stain, glaze

INSTAGRAM!

Tumbler 21

Yellow salt is an interesting glaze and reminds me of freckled skin.  And I love freckles.  You can slightly see vertical stripes that I painted on with brown slip before bisque.  The bottom is dipped in Rietz Blue, which goes brown, as you saw in the last post.

cone 10, glaze, mason stain

FRAACKLES!!

Tumbler 20

Here we go again!  

I painted slip dyed with dark chocolate brown mason stain on this tumbler before bisque firing--you can see the paint strokes under the glaze.  The glaze on bottom is supposed to be blue, but only goes blue when it mixes with the top dipped celadon.  I still don't really understand this stuff.

cone 10 stoneware, brown slip, glaze

Tumbler 19

Stripey experiment here...I painted on this mason stain+glaze concoction (originally it was a rose color) in a few thick spots, then dunked the top half in white.  It ran a little and washed it away just a bit.  This particular mason stain has been a real pain and let me down many times, so I gave it one more chance.  As long as I don't do a wipe on/wipe off thing and make it nice and thick, it seems to do okay.  Okay?

handbuilt, cone 6 white stoneware, mason stain, white glaze

up the skirt with a little maker's mark

Tumbler 16

I covered this whole tumbler in brown slip and you can see where some of it built up along the edges of the brush.  Glazed the top half in white and the bottom half in Carmel 14, which left a nice overlap in the middle.

mason stain slip, recycled cone 10 stoneware, glazes

drips happen

I took a type writer key and labeled the bottom of this series of tumblers with a T for Cone Ten (I did the same with a 6 for cone 6) because it can get pretty hard to tell them apart after they've been fired.  If you glaze fire cone 6 in a cone 10 kiln, it melts, and that is very bad...and expensive because it can ruin the kiln shelves and others' pieces.

Tumbler 15

 Back to tumblers!  These are made of recycled cone 10 stoneware.  This particular one I striped with chocolate brown mason stain-ed slip before firing.  I never know if the stripes will show up once glaze is applied, but this worked quite well.

mason stain, Carmel 14 glaze, cone 10 recycled stoneware

mason stain, Carmel 14 glaze, cone 10 recycled stoneware

I left tracks behind where I was holding the tumbler when I dipped it in glaze.
It's like a signature I guess.

Tumbler 5

white stoneware, underglaze, mason stains, clear glaze

mmmm....candy

See these and my anatomical heart blocks IN REAL LIFE on Sunday, Feb. 5th at Holy Cow Vintage & Music.

Tumbler 4

white stoneware, S&C, mason stains, glaze

backsideeee!