Square Bottles

Something that developed out of the 52 Form Project in Week 3 was finally getting around to squaring up some bottles. I have long admired case bottles as an historic glass form- squared bottles for storing in a box- and also love the German Westerwald squared bottles.

Book, Steinzeug, Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Koln

Picture the dark part of the bottle being bright, vivid blue!

I lived in Austria and traveled through Germany in the summer of 2007, and went to as many museums and potteries as I could stuff into my time. The book above is one I picked up and am glad I did. It includes photographs of all kinds of German stoneware ("Steinzeug" means "stoneware"), and includes photos of squared bottles.  I saw numerous squared bottles, all highly decorated across Germany. I suspect that the squared bottles were not exported as much as other vessels were, because to my knowledge, there have not been any archaeological excavations with German squared decorated bottles here in the States.

I noted the downfalls of faceting in the aforementioned blog post, and decided to not go the route of faceting the bottle to be square. Instead, I whacked it a few times or more into a nice shape. I made a narrow, ovoid bottle, and as it the clay set up began working it into shape.

I brought back a technique I had not used in several years and mentioned in a 2010 blog post- basically taking the flat end of a tool and by rocking it, created fan and floral patterns on the piece. I used both blue and red slip for the patterns over a white slip ground.

I am excited to see how these turn out in the kiln! 

Fall Pottery Photos

Decorated vases

I've been bad about taking photographs of my pottery in the last couple of months, so I put aside some photo-studio time!

Tankards

The firings this late summer/fall have turned out some really lovely pots.

Decorated mugs

Large handled bowl

After one year of firing with this kiln I am starting to better understand where I get the best results with certain decorations and surfaces in my kiln. I'm not getting too comfortable, mind you, that would likely not be a good idea and result in disasters!

Small dishes

Wine cups

 One more kiln firing to go! If you have any holiday requests, get them to me ASAP as I will likely not be doing a December firing!

Vases

Recent Kiln Firing

 When I built the kiln last year I said, "my goal is to not fire this thing in July or August." The first firing last year was in August and we just did a firing in July. So much for that hope!

I loaded the kiln a little differently this time, which ultimately bit me in the butt, however, it was worth a try I suppose.

Rather than putting the shorter shelf in the front of the kiln, parallel to the front firebox opening, I placed it there on the left, and then lined up the 12x24 shelf in front of it.

What I realize in hindsight is that this essentially created the same atmosphere I struggled with for the first several firings, having the large shelf up front, creating a cooler space in the front corner.

See how the pots in the front left are dry? That's the cool corner. We also struggled a lot with this firing. Up until this week we've had fairly constant rain for almost three months, which has brought us high humidity levels, given me damp bricks, damp shelves, and never drying pots. It didn't matter where I put them, or kept them out of the elements, everything got damp. Including some of the wood. We fought and fought with that kiln at the end and gave up (or gave out really) before I would have normally called it good.

Coolers

I was pleasantly surprised by the results. For the most part, everything reached temperature, and I only had a few issues with dry ash or really dry pots.

Nose dive mug

Only one piece made a sacrificial nose dive during the firing. 

On to the next firing!

Thinking Ahead

I always tell people either when demonstrating, or teaching, that you have to have in mind what you are going to make before you start. Otherwise, if you're thinking about a bowl, but intending to make a mug, it will end up like a weird, wide, funky mug. The photo above shows what I have in mind when I have been making these vases- I see the end result, or have an idea of it in my head while I work.

Lots of bigger pieces have been coming off the wheel this past week as I prepare to do some traveling for lectures and teaching. It's sometimes hard to think 3-4 days ahead in order to have lids finished, pots glazed, and slips on at just the right time, but things seem to be working out somehow.

I'm off to glaze some water coolers and vases- never ending!

Blank Slates

Playing with some new (to me) stamps on crocks

 There has been a flurry of activity in the studio lately in preparation for a kiln firing. I had to push the firing back one week as I started a new part time job last week. Very exciting, it has just meant having to make some adjustments!

Three bowls with low wide centers for stacking and serving

I am working on a lot of decorating as the pots are all mostly dry. Blank slates always bring a bit of indecision. I am a fairly indecisive person as it is, so committing to something that does not wipe off very well to make a clean surface can be difficult!

Decoration on the dish set

Lidded jar

Jars are particularly tricky. I think this might be because with three small handles on the piece, there are essentially three "sides" to fill on the surface. That is unless I were to make a continuous pattern around the whole piece. I chose to go with the three "sides," all decorated with a similar pattern.

Just small wine cups and condiment dishes to make in the next day or so and then I will start loading the kiln soon. Lots of work, but always worth it!

New Pots

Cobalt blue decorated ornaments

 I am excited to be debuting some new pots for the kiln opening and farm tour this Saturday.  It's very comforting to be sharing my new pieces from my first kiln and to be sharing about our farm with our customers, neighbors, and friends. I'm feeling more confident with my pots now that I have a kiln to focus my energy on!

Cobalt blue decorated ornaments

Last year I played around with throwing stoneware round ornaments on the wheel, but had some difficulty getting them thin enough so they wouldn't weigh the branch down. This year? Slip casting. I'm slip casting porcelain for the time being, but having a grand time decorating them and they turned out so well in the wood firing and took to the salt really well.

Decorated teapot

I've never been terribly inclined to make teapots, but had a burst of inspiration recently which led me to make a small herd for the opening. I'm excited to try some scratch decoration with cobalt blue and a few different lid styles.

Teapot dipped in brown slip

Should teapots and ornaments and other pots lure you out on Saturday, I made a double batch of  Emmajean Creamer's famous chocolate chip cookies! My grandma's recipe is DELICIOUS!