THE BEST OF THE BUNCH

I don't know if  you all are aware, I'm what is called a "Newbie" to the world of pottery and ceramics.  My history with clay goes back some 22 years.  After a disastrous split with my then husband and looking for something to take my mind off things. I joined a local studio and was involved there for about 12 - 18 months.  Life moves on and so did I, and recently found myself again at a local pottery studio in a small NSW town.  A friend gave me a wheel she had catching dust in the garage, a beautiful 91yr. old local potter who was winding down her potting, passed her gas kiln over to me.  I have had no experience with kilns, let alone a gas one, so together with the invaluable assistance of Adriana, my current friend and I have ventured into the world of gas kiln firing.  As our Adriana says "WOO HOO"  what a journey it has been.  The first attempt was a low fire bisqueing of burnished pots with no problems with result other than Don and I had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  Wednesday this week we lit up again and this time a glaze firing.  The results were mixed, some good and some "not so good" in other words, duds.  All earlier photos I have displayed on my blog have been fired at the local studio.  So now, I am about to display a few of the better results.  My photography is crap, so please excuse that as well.

HERE GOES ................

The best of the batch, clear glaze on terracotta clay

Same clay, same glaze but a different result.  Even a changing of
colour that surprised me but quite happy with result.

Glazed this with a matt glaze (didn't know how it would turn out)

This group of three pots were covered in coloured slip
before bisqueing, then glazed with the matt glaze.
What a fantastic surprise and finish, I'm rapted how they feel.

Just happy with this small bowl

Now this one glazed beautifully, except I placed on top shelf
and the kiln fibre drooped down, attaching
 itself to a part of the rim, leaving it rough.  B......g .r

                                                                                                                                                                 

Shame about this one, happy with glaze
BUT it blistered on outside of bowl.





Well, that's about it for me this week, don't forget to catch everyone
else on Mud Colony this week.

TEAPOT MAD

Unloaded the kiln yesterday and here is
another teapot for my collection.  Again the spout is too large (thick)
but overall reasonably  happy with the result.  Except the red did not turn out
as I expected.
But, I will keep trying until I make a teapot that I am
absolutely happy with.

A Happy Accident

I was going to throw this pot out, liked the finish to the pot, but oh! when

coated it with a layer of copper oxide it was black and dark.  The kiln

was being loaded, grabbed the pot undecided to fire it or not.  Was not

impressed at all how  it looked.  In the end thought "why not see how it 

comes out" and TA! DA! here it is.  Was pleasantly surprised with the

result and love the random finish and colours.

Happy birthday MUD COLONY, congratulations on your 1st Birthday and

congratulations and thank you to Adriana for all the hard work you have

given to this Blog.  

Pop over to Mud Colony to see the great work created by all the excellent potters on Mud Colony