Lots of New Work

Mahogany Basket

10 3/4 x 4 1/4 x  3 1/2 inches

Lots of new work just out of the kiln; I'm so excited over the results of these wider strip stacked pieces. I didn't glaze the exterior of the mahogany basket above because I wanted to keep the rich red color of the slip and muted stain. Now I'm glad I didn't glaze the exterior. I'm thinking a wax rubbed onto the exterior, what do you think? What kind of wax, bee's wax? Or would it be OK just leave the clay naked? Maybe spray with a sealer?

Here's what the interior looks like with a clear satin glaze over it. It's darker in person but the flash distorted the color to much lighter than it really is.

Tall Pastel Patina Tower

11 1/2 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches

This is the first pastel patina tower I made. For some reason I'm having a hard time getting this one in focus (maybe a solid black background would help). I'll take another photo out of doors when I get a chance. The colors are soft and blended nicely. Notice the two deeper creases at the bottom. I didn't mention this before but when I was making this piece it started to slump down onto itself and I thought I'd loose it. I inserted a half full paper towel roll inside and laid it down on it's side on a foam pad for quite some time till it firmed up. 

 Large Pastel Tower

9 x 6 x 4 1/2 inches

These pastel towers are so much nicer in person then in my photos. The colors are muted and the satin clear glaze gives a nice sheen to the surface. Most of these are tapered smaller at the bottom. This one is 6 inches wide at the top and 4 1/2 inches wide at the bottom.

With the stacked strip construction, the interiors are just as interesting as the exteriors. Hum maybe I should make a cave shaped sculpture, something to look into, with a small light at the end of the tunnel, but I digress. 

 Large Blue and Brown Tower

10 x 6 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches

This tower had the same red clay slip as the mahogany basket, but this is the clay the supplier said was similar to my white stoneware but it's not the same with the clear glaze over the top. Almost all of the red slip burned out. Several folks said there's an ingredient in the clay which reacts with the glaze and causes the color to burn out. Still this came out nice with it's muted colors. This piece has a hole on either side for me to add a handle. Perhaps woven reed or something similar, we shall see.

 Green and Chartreuse Tower

8 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches

This one turned out a darker green and not as blended as I wanted. I'll be working on blending the slip colors so they are more subtle which is the surface I want to achieve for the stained pieces.

 Aqua and Brown Tower

7 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches

 Textured Rose Tower

8 1/2 x 4 1/8 inches

 Mottled Olive Tower

8 x 4 inches

 Pale Green Lidded Canister

9 1/4 x 5 inches

This one is from the previous type of stacked strips. The lid was fired separate from the canister. 

Blue Gray Strip Stacked Bowl

5 x 9 inches

Now I have the painstaking process of checking these to be sure they hold water. I fill them with water and let them sit for several hours to be sure. With the stacked strips there are so many seams there's always a danger a seam might have a slight gap which mayt allow liquid to seep out. Hopefully all of them are acceptable. All in all I'm very pleased. I've got some great pieces and several directions to move forward. Coming up are the ornaments which turned out better than I thought, and more of the colorful plates I'm working on. This post is part of Mud Colony what's happening in the studio. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

September Colors

Here's the first lidded canister I made. I fired the lid separately and it didn't warp. I have one more of these. I'd like to make a few of these in different sizes.

 Here's the first September leaf I saw the other day, the Autumn colors are slowly starting to turn.

 Here's the yellow tail fish platter. Once again the creamy translucent glaze didn't melt like I wanted. I need to go back to my old standby of satin clear glaze which does much butter. The good news is the platter didn't crack.

 Here's the nandina or heavenly bamboo in September, later the berries will turn bright red, but now they are a dusky melon orange. This landscape plant is called heavenly bamboo but it isn't a bamboo but a drought tolerant plant.

Same thing on this large floral platter the creamy translucent isn't melted enough, but I like how the slip and underglaze colors look when I rub them with my finger to make them look blended, like water colors. I don't know about those flowers, maybe a leaf or several going across one side of the platter on an angle. Hum.

Here are more September leaves of the sumac. Looking at all the changing leaves has me thinking of making an Autumn leaf platter, with some blended colors. Yes, I think that would be nice. Maybe some berries in there too. I'll have to do a few sketches.

I had a bunch of my vine textured rectangular plates in various colors in this firing. I have more to fire too; these sell really well. They're a versatile size and make great luncheon or appetizer or even small serving dishes.

Here are the berries of the sumac. I think that's it for this firing, oh there are a few smaller items. Hope you're enjoying the slightly cooler weather. Here's an Etsy treasury I did inspired by September colors.  It's only slightly cooler here, perhaps where you are it's much cooler. Thanks for reading and for all your comments..