September Sky

Here's a few more from this firing. This is a tall confetti basket. I call it confetti because it reminds of those bags of multi colored confetti I used to see tossed at New Year's eve parties. Boy did they make a mess to clean up afterwards. I didn't realize how nice these strip stacked pieces are to hold till I unloaded this tall one. The ridges created from the strip stack method make nice undulations for the fingers to touch all the way up and around the piece.

Since it's so tall I picked it up from the sides. Sometimes when I'm unloading the pieces after the glaze fire I unconsciously revert back to how I load and unload greenware. I don't pick them up by the handle even though the handles are solidly attached. There's more weight in the piece with the strip stack method and when green I'm afraid to put all that pressure on the handle attachment.

This is the tower I applied contrasting slip up the piece. I like the contrast. This time I used a translucent cream glaze and I think I could have gotten it thinner and perhaps it needs a hotter firing to melt completely. Maybe time for me to learn how to spray glazes.

This is one of the 'layers of earth' pieces, same stacked strip construction but with underglazes brushed like layers in the earth. Here again the glaze could have melted better. I wish I had twenty of these to test different types and thicknesses of clear glazes. The other thing I would like to try is no glaze on the outside only the inside. Next time.

This one is 'layers of earth' with a spring of water. I already have a few ideas of other pieces I can make with this water theme coming from the earth.

There's a lot of interest going on in the 'layers of the earth' as I've applied them. Can't wait to do more of these. Oh and a tile, I want to make a tile with these layers. Maybe a grouping of tiles. The dark color is the red clay slip. The other colors are underglazes and stains.

As I was waiting for the kiln to cool I took a walk around the yard last evening and noticed the clouds in the sky are changing. I wonder if every September sky is like this? Lots more to come so stay tuned. Oh and check out Emily Murphy's pottery studio tour, lots of good ideas there, fold up photo booth and home made spray booth. This post is part of the Mud Colony what's happening in the studio so stop in there to see what others around the globe are doing. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.