Tag: glaze

2020

As Promised

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Every potter loves a successful firing! I get a little anticipatory rush when it’s time to open my kiln and see whether or not the kiln gods have smiled upon me. This time, they smiled. 🙂🙂🙂🙂

Before Firing

Starting with the lower left pot, here are the glazes I used: Copper Red, the pot above it is wearing June Bug, the middle pot is glazed with Blue Stone and its neighbor wears Blue Spark. The upper left, black pot’s glaze is Vintage Gold.

After Firing

Not what you expected – am I right? Here’s an up close and personal look at each one….

  • Copper Red
  • Blue Spark
  • Vintage Gold
  • Blue Stone
  • June Bug
After Firing

All glazes are from the Amaco Potter’s Choice line. I’ll be adding these to my rapidly expanding glaze collection without a doubt!

All perceiving is also thinking, all reasoning is also intuition, observation is also invention. Rudolf Arnheim

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Random

Show and Tell, More Proactive Changes and What’s On My Needles

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SHOW AND TELL

My sweet son in law has been requesting a pitcher for I don’t know how long.  Being a pastor, he wanted something he could use for baptisms and communion. After many unsuccessful attempts, I finally came  up with one that passed muster.

Clefton’s Pitcher

Inside glazed with Spectrum Cinnamon Ripple

Outside glazed with Amaco Seaweed

 

Test Bowl

Outside glaze Amaco Seaweed PC-51

Inside glazed with Mayco Stoneware Glaze

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Galaxy

Here’s a better look at the inside –

 

TODAY’S PROACTIVE CHANGE

This one is turning out to be the most difficult – putting all my devices aside 30 minutes  before bedtime. Yep, this one is by far the most difficult.  There’s always just one more thing I want to  check on, which leads to another page, then one more site and then just one more peek at Facebook. Putting it all aside 30 minutes before bedtime gives my brain enough time to calm down and I fall asleep faster and stay asleep. 🥱😴

ON  MY NEEDLES

 

Shibui Sock

Colorway unknown

100% Merino

Petty Harbour by Rayna Curtis

 

We are limited,  not by our abilities,  but by our vision. Anonymous

 

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Random

Surprise!

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Ever glazed a bowl or knitted/sewn a project that you had such high hopes for that, on completion, was so ugly it was a real challenge to NOT throw it in the trash or banish it to the recesses of
of your darkest closet?  Let me tell you about my latest bowl of shame………

There was nothing wrong with the naked bowl, one of my better ones IMO.  Sorry guys, I took no photos of the first glazing. Too painful. 😜

The first glaze consisted of Toasted Sage poured into the bowl and swirled to cover, followed  by Oatmeal brushed on the rim x3.  I laid a band of Textured Turquoise below the Oatmeal rim inside.  I then brushed the outside with Spectrum Cinnamon Ripple x3.  When the glaze was dry, I fired this bad boy to cone 5. All I can say about the final result was YUCK and double YUCK.  I tried to console myself by saying we can’t all be beautiful and made up my mind to keep it around for a little while; sometimes a glaze combination will grow on me. Not this time.

I decided to refire it, using a new glaze I got for Christmas, a Hot Pink by Spectrum.  So, I just sort of slapped a few coats of this pink on it all over and fired it again.  BTW – all glazes are Amaco Potter’s Choice unless specified otherwise.  This glaze was a cone 9/10 and since I like to live dangerously, I fired to cone 10. 🥵

Here’s the surprise:

 

 

Love this!!

I’m so glad I gave this pot a second chance!  Forrest Gump’s mama was right:

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

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Knitting · pottery

Score!

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After a try out of Kollage Square Circular Knitting Needles I’ve fallen deeply in love with these babies and want one of every size and length.  The rub? Kollage has quit making them.😢 My LYS does carry them, but with very limited choices.  I spent way too much time last night trying to track some down – a rollercoaster of emotion, let me tell you. I was ultimately successful, finding a nice selection of needle sizes and cord lengths at Paradise Fibers and bought three new circs, sizes 1,1.5 and 2 with 60” cables, my favorite! I’ll start stalking our mailman in the next day or so.

ON MY NEEDLES

I’m back on track  with my Gray Day Gansey and am about an inch away from separating for the sleeves.

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Gray Day Gansey

Knitpicks Wool of the Andes

Haze

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Petty Harbour

First Light Handicrafts

Manos del Uruguay Fino

Turkish Delight

JUST OUT OF THE KILN

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ClayDreamsPottery

Buncombe White Clay

Glazed w/ Blue Rutile on exterior and Arctic Blue interior

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert Kennedy

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pottery

The Insomniac Potter Rides Again!

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OK, so it’s not exactly insomnia that rolled me out of bed this morning  but a commitment to play bells this morning with my Trinity Episcopal group.  And, of course, me being me, always sure that I’ll oversleep or forget that I’m supposed to ring, I calculate when I need to be up and out of bed getting ready, then set the alarm back at least 30 minutes to have a bit of a cushion and hang my vestments next to the coffee pot as a reminder.🛌⏰💤🎶

I’ve a couple of pots to show you all this morning, I apologize if these are a rerun.

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Rim Experiment

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Not the same pot, but similar.  The first of the rim experiments.

Glazed outside with Amaco Arctic Blue, outer portion of inside glazed with Deep Firebrick, middle portion with Rutile Blue, bottom with Arctic Blue, all Amaco Potter’s Choice glazes.  I’m on the fence regarding my glaze choices, I may need to fire a hair lower, like cone 5 instead of 6.  It’s growing on me.

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My current fave.  Glazed with Amaco Firebrick to cone 6.

These are currently in the damp box, slowly becoming ready for the bisque kiln.  Our weather has finally cooled, slowing the process, but making it much more pleasant in my garage studio.🙂

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Someday, I’m going to have a studio with running water.  The heat I can deal with — turn on a fan and work after the sun goes down.  I can handle the winter cold as well with a space heater and a sweater but carrying buckets of water back and forth is tiresome. Someday.

This has been a jam packed few weeks but I plan to take a breather after tomorrow and get caught up on listing pots on Etsy.  My shop is ClayDreamsPottery and I’d love to have you stop by!

Never put off till to tomorrow what you can do today.  Thomas Jefferson

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pottery

Fired Up

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FIRED

I had a great kiln firing this weekend – for a change.  I usually have a couple of successful pots out of each firing, but all of them turning out well feels like, well, a miracle.  One of the things I love about working with clay is that I’m constantly stretching myself creatively, either by learning new techniques or experimenting with different glazes and clays. I plan to list these new pots in my Etsy shop, ClayDreamsPottery, but wanted to flash a sneak peek beforehand.

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That dark stripe there on the front isn’t really there, it’s a reflection.  The glaze, Amaco seaweed, just comes out super smooth and shiny – perfect except for the occasional pesky persistent reflection.

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Working on my lid making skills

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Not sister pots but maybe cousins

We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.  Cicero

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Knitting · pottery

The Insomniac Potter Rides Again

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Good morning everyone! As you can see, my sleep pattern seems to have reverted into the good old 2 a.m. internal alarm setting.  (heavy sigh)  One good thing about starting my day in the wee hours is that it’s a great time to run the kiln, long before the sun comes up, and the heat and humidity start to build.

Here’s a look at a few things I’ve been working on:

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The start of a series of small bottles, all different

Glazes L to R

Blue Rutile, Textured Turquoise and Blue Rutile, Blueberry Spice, Textured Turquoise, Ancient Jasper

A pot I started yesterday waiting to dry enough to trim.

A bean pot that has been washed and reglazed several times. (I’m not usually this indecisive.) Final glaze is Textured Turquoise. (Probably)🤔

ON MY NEEDLES

The first five inches of the Gray Days sweater. Six more inches of stockinette to go then on to the best part – CABLES!  I absolutely LOVE cables!

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My Gray Days

Knitpicks Wool of the Andes

Haze Heather

Project notes can be found here.

There is no great genius without some touch of madness. Seneca

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PS I’ve added some new pots to my Etsy shop, ClayDreamsPottery.  I’d love to have you pay a visit!

Everything Else

I’m Back!

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Hey everyone! Remember me? Well, here I am, still an insomniac and getting over a back issue.  Actually, I developed back pain about a week ago that kept me from wheel and kiln until yesterday. Anyhow, I’m much better and eager to get back in the studio. 🙂

Here’s a sneak peek at a couple of things I was able to finish before my back turned on me.

First up is a  medium sized sized, textured vase –

Next, a sweet little ring bowl –

I especially love the green shades inside this little bowl!

These will be going up in my Etsy shop,ClayDreamsPottery in the next few days, as soon as I can take a breather from playing pottery catch up!

Knowledge is addictive. Keep it up.  Teresa Sjoquist

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Everything Else

This Week’s Sneak Peek

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Here’s a look at a couple of projects I’ve been working on this past week………

 

I’ve added some high fire clay and glazes to my supply of low and mid fire glazes and such and am thoroughly enjoying playing around and experimenting with layering glazes. I think this little vase turned out really well, don’t you?

Miss Dixie got a shiny new bowl this past week, thanks to my glaze experiment.  I had marked the new bowl in my head as a new bowl for her, then, when I pulled it out of the kiln, I had second thoughts because of how pretty it was. In the end, though, I stuck to my original plan, and Dixie has a new, pretty bowl.

 

Meals are serious business in Dixieworld!

 

The pretty vase will be added to ClayDreamsPottery by the end of this week, along with some other beauties still in progress that I think will be a hit so keep an eye out for these newbies.

Nothing happens unless first a dream.  Carl Sandburg

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Everything Else

Meyer’s Shino Try Out

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A few weeks ago I was poking around in the glazes at the Art Center pottery studio and came across one that I wasn’t familiar with – Meyer’s Shino.  In keeping with my “I’ll try anything once” personality type, I grabbed one of my bowls that was glaze ready and gave it a dip.  I had no expectations, I hadn’t used it and neither had anyone else in the studio that day.  So, to satisfy my curiosity, I dipped.

LOVE!!!

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One dip Meyer’s Shino

Fired to cone 10

Looks a lot like a soda firing, doesn’t it?  All who saw it in the studio yesterday asked me the same question: Soda?  Nope.  Just glazed and fired as usual. I love it when the clay gods smile down upon me!

The years teach much which the days never know.  Ralph Emerson

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Everything Else

Hoosier Facelift

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I’ve been very neglectful this past week of just about everything while dismantling, cleaning, painting and reassembling this old hoosier cabinet –

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the colors Henrietta on doors and drawers and Emile on the rest.  Oh, and see those yucky brownish hinges?  Those are the original hinges, I couldn’t find any new ones that fit.  Those old hinges?  That’s what color the whole thing was before the new paint job. Gross.  This is my workspace and storage for my pottery.

After the cabinet was squared away I was able to think about clay again and finally ran a glaze kiln today.  Here’s a first look –

Way too hot to get close, but they look like a success so far!

Be sure to look for these in my Etsy shop, ClayDreamsPottery!

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate. Thornton Wilder