Decorating Bowls

 I mentioned making a new form this week and I finished up a few yesterday. I have based the shape off of 19th-century American milk pans. Because I have not put a lip on the rim though, I am not going to call these milk pans, and will just refer to them as bowls. That is, unless someone has a better idea! I wanted a shape that could be versatile either as a bowl for mixing, for putting apples or other items in, or for flower arranging. I think this shape might fit the bill.
I put big handles on the sides:

And then put some decorations on:

I made sure on most of them not to cover up the stamped letters. However, historically, most potteries that stamped their wares and did cobalt decorating did not seem to let this get in their way. Is it an aesthetic faux pas to cover up your shop name? Here is one bowl I did cover up the lettering, and I kind of like it. I also this this gives more room for larger designs.

Getting back to making some videos, here is a video of me stamping the bowls:

And here is a video of me painting the bowls:

Slip Testing

In getting ready for Joseph Sand's kiln firing I made a bottle in order to test some slips in his kiln atmosphere. Normally most of my pottery has turned fairly dark in the reduction, so I put a layer of white porcelain slip as a base all over the bottle. I then carved away at some points to reveal the clay body. Then I painted with cobalt blue slip and a red slip.
The red slip which looks reddish-brown in the photo below turned very brown in the kiln and reacted well to the salt.

Red slip on the flower at the base

Results of the red slip

The blue slip which you can see on the leaves at the top of the bottle worked out really well over the porcelain slip. The blue slip looks purplish-gray in the photo below.

Blue slip looks purplish-gray at the top of the bottle

The blue followed the path of the flame

The carved away area had some nice orange-peeling where the salt glazed the surface.

Overall, the bottle was wonderful, and I was happy with the results. Now to decide whether to hold on to it for a little while or sell it right away!