"SIMPLY ANNIE"

December 22, 2012

CHRISTMAS WISHES

For the very last Mud Colony for 2012

I have something exciting to say (for me anyway) ,

I often give some of my pottery

away to friends or as gifts, but the long awaited

sale has happened. Although only a very small

bowl, I sold my very first piece of pottery today.

Woohoo, what a thrill.

This is it, not very fancy or special,
but someone liked it enough to buy it.

I would like to say thank you to Adriana for initiating this blog,

a late happy birthday wish as well,

and a wish for a wonderful Christmas to Adriana and

all fellow Mud Colony bloggers

plus a happy and creative 2013.

November 29, 2012

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.

November 16, 2012

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.

November 08, 2012

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

October 30, 2012

I LOVE PAINTING AS WELL AS POTTERY

As well as pottery my other love is painting, so I have tried my hand at painting on some of my pots using underglaze before they are bisque fired. In case there is a problem with the firing, I photographed them for my records.

The background is not too hot as it was a last minute decision at pottery on Monday and I didn't have any special backing.

With the exception of the two triple sets, all the others have been thrown on the wheel. The flat ones are plate/dish shapes about 8-9 cms in height. As a newbie, I was not unhappy with the results, still can't seem to throw anything taller than about 20cms in height, but I'm trying.

October 20, 2012

Waiting to be bisqued

These are a few of the items waiting for a long overdue

firing - have installed the gas kiln, but haven't

fired it up yet.

Flat serving plate

This will be a triple set with similar motiff

I Looove teapots -
just two of the few waiting for firing

With Christmas not too far away,
have started to think about Candle holders
Here I am trying out a few ideas

Experimenting with flat plates -
just a slight upward curve around edge

September 08, 2012

FIRING

I'm waiting to fire the kiln,
an assortment of thrown and handbuilt pots
some burnished and some not.
White and Terracotta Earthenware,
and Raku White and T.

September 01, 2012

Pit Fire

These photos are of the big metal pot I picked up at a Clearance Sale. It has been used to render down fat etc. at an abattoirs. I intend to line it with good burning wood, then build up layers inside with pots and sawdust, and lots of colour making goodies. etc. to carry out a pit fire. It's very deep and large enough to hold quite a lot of pots. I thought it would be better than digging a hole in the ground and if needed can also light a fire around the outside for extra heat.Can't wait to try it out, still madly making pots and burnishing first, then a low bisque fire and then the fun can begin.

July 17, 2012

Novice Section/Pottery/Frost Over Barraba Art Festival 2012

Thrilled that the Judge saw something in this little teapot to award
me a Highly Commended
I have an obsession with teapots and can't wait to finish off the 4
I have in progress

Add caption

PIT FIRING

One

Two

Three

White Earthenware Clay, handbuilt, burnished by hand and pit fired
Absolutely thrilled with the results on all three pots.
Can't wait to pit fire more.

June 15, 2012

Smart Birds

These are photos of the same nest,
which show the ingenuity of the
Leatherhead bird. They have made a base for
the nest weaving bark strips into other
bits scavanged from the surrounding area.
Brilliant, have never seen a nest like this before.