Pottery Magic!

One of the (many) good things about being a regular at Scarborough Fair Pottery Studio are the days when you show up to find that Peggy has discovered a new project in "Clay Times" or another pottery magazine or web site. It may be something she has seen before or something she has never tried, but every time she is all excited about it. "Look," she exclaims, "look at this! We are all going to make ___ (fill in the blank.)" It is her enthusiasm which emboldened me to attempt this project - a conjoined chip and dip bowl assembly.

First, you throw two bowls of equal size and shape. The directions suggested 3 pounds of clay per bowl, but my first attempt, using 2.5 lbs per bowl, went dramatically wrong. For my second attempt, I scaled down. These bowls are made of 1.5 lbs of clay each.By the way, I find that a lot of pottery directions sound much more simple than they really are. That one line, "Throw two bowls of equal size and shape" assumes you are talented enough repeat your moves from one bowl to the next in order to make them equal. Mine were close - close enough that only a little judicious trimming was needed.

The demo article we were following did not suggest two different colors of clay. That was my idea. I thought the project needed more of a challenge!

After they dry to "soft" leather-hard stage, you are ready to begin assembling your bowls. I trimmed the bottoms as usual, then took about 1/4" off the rim of the brown bowl to make them the same height. (This was my "fudge-factor" adjustment. It was not in the original instructions.)

Any good construction project has to start with a little demolition, and this is where the new potter tends to cringe a bit. Those carefully crafted bowls - centered, balanced, well-formed - well, you have to cut them up!

I made marks on each bowl, approximately 1/3 of the diameter, then sliced through each bowl with a taut cut-off wire.
Eeek! The pretty bowls are now in pieces! Putting the smaller slices aside for the moment, I wet the cut edges of the two larger sections, stuck them together, then rolled a thin coil of clay to fill in the gaps and seal the seam.
First problem with two colors of clay - which color do you use for your coil? I chose brown, simply because it was out and accessible. It's a bitch to keep from smearing brown clay all over the white, in case you hadn't guessed. I didn't think about that.

Next you turn the conjoined bowl over (carefully, by sandwiching it between two pieces of wareboard) and inspect the underside.Another thin coil of clay seals the bottom and outside seams.Going back to the cut-out pieces, you join them the same way,using more coils of clay to fill in the gaps and seal the edges.
The brown clay is starting to over-run the white right about now. When I get it all together, I can lightly scrape the surface and remove most of this brown slip.
The bottom of the dip bowl. Some of the weight still needs to be trimmed off in order to make it fit for the next step.
The smaller dip bowl is placed into the larger joined bowls section, creating the optical illusion that the two bowls are overlapping.
You can see a bit of a bobble where the inner brown wall of the dip bowl just misses matching up with the curve of the larger brown chip bowl. My excuse? I had been at this for 1.5 hours and my sister was hovering over my shoulder, saying, "I'm hungry - when are we going to eat?" I wrapped the project in plastic wrap and let it rest for a couple of days, to help all the seams "cure," and took Lisa out for a belated birthday brunch.

A little scraping with a thin metal rib cleaned up most of the seams to leave as sharp and defined an edge as I could, then the bowl had to dry to a bone-dry state before it could be fired.

Now, a pause for prayer. Will all those seams stay stuck together, or will the whole thing crack, fall apart, or explode in the kiln?

* tick


* tock


* tick


* tock

TA-DA!

It made it! Now, to decide about glazing. Since any colored glaze will minimize the two-color clay effect, I have just about decided to go with a simple clear glaze.

I think I'll try this project again, but I'll use only one kind of clay next time!

BAM!

Coming soon, the BAM! Festival. BAM, as in Bethel Art and Music, that is, the first of what planners hope will be an annual event, featuring a juried art show, music - 3 bands!, a quilt show, old tractors, antique cars, Harmony Hill wine and Scarborough Fair pottery. Here are some examples of the pieces I'll have for sale at our booth.

You want spoon rests? I'll have 'em. These five are a few of at least a dozen.

Same with pet food bowls - there should be a few choices.
A set of three small matching bowls, in green tea on brown clay.

And look - they stack!

Also made of brown clay and glazed in green tea - a new favorite of mine - is this vase

and this small pitcher,
which I am rather proud of.Look - a decent handle!
(There is hope for me yet.)

Going back to my roots, here is a pump dispenser, also of brown clay but this time glazed in my old friend, blue rutile.

This reminds me - I haven't been doing these lately. I need to make some more.

I hope to get a few of these small lidded crocks done, and then fill them with homemade soy candles. Time is running short, though, so maybe that will have to be put on hold.

textured kiwi on brown clay

textured turquoise on white clay

Two of these chili bowls will be available - - the one on the left is mine.
These are white clay, dipped in Morty's green and celery.

I must say, I'm very pleased with this piece, a potpourri burner. It came out very nice. I'll put it in the sale, but I think I'll put a high price on it.
Made of white clay, the top was stenciled and hand-painted with underglazes, then dipped in clear glaze. The bottom is dipped in Morty's green. I have only used one dip in the past - two gives a much deeper color.

The inspiration was this piece, from my collection. I think I did as good or better with my copy!

If you want a "Black Kat Pottery" original, please visit the Scarborough Fair vendor booth. (My shift is 2-5pm.) I think we'll be in front of the Grant Memorial Building at the corner of Plane and Main Streets (SR 125 and SR 133.) Worry not - if you would rather buy good stuff, real potters will also be there. I'll be the comic effect.

So, if you are in the area and looking for fun, food, music, wine, and last-minute Mother's Day gifts, be sure to visit Bethel, Ohio on Sat, May 8. We'll be there all day!

New Pottery Pieces

It's been a little slow in the pottery studio lately - bad weather has kept me away from the wheel and my general laziness has interfered with glazing the finished pieces I had at home. The cycle is turning, however. With spring in the air, my enthusiasm has returned. I'm back in class and playing in clay again.

Here are some recently completed pots.

From a workshop on faceting, my first piece. Don't ask me what you do with it, I have no idea.

chun plum on white clay

Actually, it's my second piece. I ruined the first one. Faceting involves using a taut wire (a cheese slicer actually works well for this job) to slice pieces of clay off the sides of the newly-thrown pot. If you cut too deeply, as I did the first time, you cut right through the wet clay.

The next piece went better. Using a wire coil, like the spring from a click-type ballpoint pen, you move your hands from side to side as you slice, leaving these wavy lines.

blue rutile on white clay

I shaped this piece basically square, then rounded it out at the base. It is a decorative salsa bowl, I guess. (Any small pot you don't know what to do with automatically becomes a "salsa bowl.")

I don't know what this is, either. It started out to be a pump dispenser, but the opening is too big to hold the cork/pump unit. Oh well, I like the "beehive" look. Maybe I can use that technique again some time.

goldenrod shino on brown clay

A project I am working on. I want to make a series of these small lidded crocks and fill them with homemade soy candles.Then, when the candle burns up, you still have a small crock to use for ... whatever.

texture kiwi on brown clay

I decided to make an urn for Grace's ashes, and this was the first attempt. It is too small for a Rottweiler, but my cat Manny fits purr-fectly. I was very happy with the shape of this piece, and the lid fits great.

The glaze is a new one for me, Mayco's "Green Tea." It has a nice semigloss finish, leading to a great feel in the hand, and I like the little flecks left by the brown clay. It really makes the final piece look like stone.

Another attempt at a larger urn, this piece decided to be a vase instead. Still, I think I like it.

green tea on brown clay

Finally, the piece my friend Holly has been waiting to see. Several months ago, she asked me to make her a salad bowl. "Just about 10 inches in diameter and 3 inches high," she sweetly requested, little knowing what she was asking. I was sweating and cursing, doubting my ability to get a bowl that large that wouldn't crash and die.

The first bowl looked pretty good until it warped in the kiln during glaze firing. Grrr - back to the wheel and bowl number two. This one was actually better thrown than the first one, but I was terrified to glaze it.

Here it is, Holly. It survived the kiln and I think it looks pretty good. It is just 10" in diameter, but only 2 3/4" tall. Do you forgive me the missing 1/4"?

chun plum on brown clay

I have a new cat stamp to mark my pieces. I like it better than the old one. This upside down view shows you the stamp, and the foot ring. Even that isn't too bad.

click to enlarge for details

I'll get your package shipped out ASAP, Holly! I promise.

Lots of Pots, part 2

Technical issues with getting more photo storage space has kept this blog on hold for a while. Now that I have resolved that crisis, I hope to be back on the air with more regularity than lately.

Continuing with my latest pottery pieces, I give you first - 24 spoon rests.

What got me into Production Potter mode? My mother, of course.

"Can you make me some spoon rests to give as Christmas presents?" she asked. "Sure, Mom, no problem."I went into the studio one Saturday morning and threw 10 spoon rests in two hours. I was on fire. I called her - "Mom, I made you ten spoon rests."

"Thanks, honey. Can you make twenty?"Sigh. Sure, Mom, whatever you ask.

Now, when your goal is to make X number of items, every potter knows you need to make X+, to allow for breakage, glazing errors, or general failure of the thing to be what you envision it to be. So, back to the studio I went, spending another 2 hours throwing 10 more spoon rests. Later I added a few more, for good measure.

I called my mom. "Mom, I made you 10 more spoon rests. There will be at least 20 for you."

"Thanks, dear, but I'm not sure I need that many."Sigh. OK, Mom, whatever you say.

Anybody need a spoon rest?

On to other projects. Textured Kiwi, a Spectrum glaze, is quickly becoming one of my favorites, as if you couldn't tell by this series of pieces.
This plate is made of brown clay, and is 10 inches in diameter. It only has a very slight wobble to it. Getting a plate to be totally flat is quite a challenge.
This bowl is one I made at my pottery retreat back in June. We used a white earthenware clay, from a local supplier called Highwater Clays. It took me a while to decide what to do with it. Textured Kiwi to the rescue!(Sadly, there is a teeny flaw in the glaze where it didn't stick.)
This lidded vessel is also of Highwater Clay, from my trip to North Carolina. I stenciled the bluebird onto the bisque-fired clay with underglazes, then covered that with clear glaze. The rest of the vessel is kiwi again, with satin white in the interior.One of the reasons I love this glaze so much is that it looks equally good on brown clay, as in this piece below, as it does on the white clay of the bowl and lidded pot above.
Cat food bowls. Simple, quick, easy, fun - one can never have enough cat food bowls, right?
(3 Coyote shino glazes. left to right: Goldenrod, light green, light blue. Cat stencils in black underglaze)

This large, deep bowl is glazed in Textured Navy. I love the color, but the glaze gives me fits. If I get it the least bit too thick, it runs and drips terribly, causing it to adhere to the kiln shelf it is sitting on, and getting me in hot water with Peggy.
A small, simple bowl of brown clay, glazed in Chun Plum.
Finally, a piece in progress. This lidded vase was made in two pieces and has been bisque fired and glazed. It is now at the studio, awaiting its final fire. This is the point when all potters begin sacrificing to the kiln gods, praying for a successful outcome.
Can't wait to share the final results with you!