Chemical Experiments

After I loaded a bisque yesterday I decided to experiment with some chemicals I had from a long time ago. They were stored in little containers and not very well marked. I think they are ochre, cobalt, copper, and red iron oxide.

I made a wash with some water and brushed the mixture on some of my ornaments and a couple of vases. I have no idea what these chemicals will look like after they are fired. I'll probably put a clear glaze over the top.

I broke one of my driftwood handled baskets. Also one bowl had a crack in the rim and one plate was badly warped so those didn't get fired. Tomorrow is a white rabbit day and we're supposed to get snow. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Cathedral Window Bowl

Cathedral Window Bowl by Linda Starr
1.5 x 12 x 12 inches
handbuilt, slip, glaze, cone 10 reduction

When I was about 12 years old my grandmother tried to teach me a paper piecing method to make a Cathedral Window quilt. At the time the method seemed too complicated and I gave up. Now I wish I would have had more patience to learn what my grandmother was trying to teach me. Years later, in my late 20's, I took up quilting again and used cardboard templates, cutting each piece of material out separately. Nowadays a rotary cutting tool allows many pieces of material to be cut at once.

The pattern on this bowl is based upon that same quilt pattern Cathedral Windows. I used one color of slip which I thought would be green but the color turned out more of an ochre or umber color which I'm glad it did. This color gives the bowl an antique quality. Next time I'd like to try this pattern using a different color slip for each diamond window. Click this link to feast your eyes on more Cathedral Window quilt photos.

Today I am reminded ceramics is an art and a craft. An art and craft requires a lot of patience which is a virtue I have always struggled with. I am an impatient person, but luckily I am also persistent. My persistence keeps me coming back to clay trying again and again to be successful in my attempts for each piece I make. Many of the pieces I made recently were not successful, but thankfully some of them were. With each unsuccessful piece as well as each successful one, I learn something I can apply to my next attempt at art and craft.