Friday 20 December 2013

A few things I made recently

I'm building up up quite a stock of unglazed pieces at the moment. Some of them I'll finish off in the electric kiln but others are better suited to being glaze fired in reduction, which for me means firing out-doors. It will probably be spring before I'm able to fire with wood again, and it's quite frustrating having to wait so long to complete work.

Here are just a few of the pieces I've been making over the last few weeks. Many are experimental, trying out new techniques and shapes..it always amazes me how certain forms can be quite similar and yet one piece often stands out and works better than the others..it can be difficult to put your finger on the reason why..

2.5 ins tall

Tea caddy, 4 ins tall

4.5 ins long

4.5 ins tall
Vases, tallest 10 ins

Carved tea caddy, 5 ins tall

Carved tea bowl 4 ins tall
Thanks for reading!

Sunday 1 December 2013

Carving sake cups today

I threw some sake cups a few days ago and this afternoon I've been finishing off the feet. When I've thrown off the hump in the past I often found it quite tricky to trim them on the wheel, either because they were cut off unevenly from the hump, or I distorted the shape of the bowl a little so they wouldn't sit flat on the wheel head.  I rather like the random unevenness and roughness of the base, so I decided to trim these by hand and was happier with some of the results.





Of course, carving the bases is more difficult and less predictable so the failure rate tends to be higher. But on the plus side, throwing off the hump is quite efficient so I can throw alot of these little bowls in one sitting.