Simple modes of expression

Inspired by African funerary jars of the Bura asinda people, I started making some small sculptures which could also be used as cups if you turn them upside down. I'm not sure why I enjoy making them but I think it has something to do with the uncertainty of the outcome. The decoration is unconscious to a great extent..I don't set out with an intention to create an expression or character for each piece, they just seem to emerge of their own volition. It's the same with the African vessels; the modes of expression are very simple and straightforward but the elements come together to express something more, something which is difficult to define but which is innately human and alive.

Head cup, approx 2 inches tall

Head cup (other side)

Head-cup, approx 2.5 inches tall

It's taking me a while to get around to glazing these..I still have another five or six of them lying unglazed in the studio. I haven't put glaze on the inside as they need to stand this way up in the kiln. I was thinking I might dip some of them fully in shino and then fire them on their heads on shells..the shell marks might add interest to the design. Also, I've made a couple with three horns, which will act as feet for the cup and allow me to stand it upside down and almost fully glazed in the kiln.

The one in the last photo above was glazed with a simple Nami-jiro glaze which consists of 50/50 ball clay and wood ash with a little kaolin added. I'll probably re-glaze this piece as I'm not overly keen on the lighter coloured drips that formed. I'll maybe brush over it with my matt ochre-ash glaze.

A minor dilemma

Sometimes in ceramics we're faced with little dilemmas.."should I fire this lid in place and risk the glaze running off, or should I fire it separately, and risk it warping?" Yesterday, I was only firing to cone five, so I decided to place the lid of this carved box on the kiln shelf, as I didn't think the temperature would be high enough to warp it.



(btw, I've hidden the warp on this photo)


Wrong decision! Turns out the temperature wasn't high enough to make the glaze run, but the lid warped very slightly, so it no longer fits perfectly. Not by very much, but enough to be annoyingly noticeable. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and now I'm kicking myself, realising that in this case, leaving the lid in place was most likely the sensible option.

Having said that, it's possible that it would have warped anyway, who knows. I'll try firing it again with the lid on and see if it settles down.

Here is another piece from the same firing:

Carved vase, approx 6 inches tall

This high manganese glaze was fired to cone 5 and has come out nicely with an even black colour and fairly shiny surface. Ideally, I would like to fire this glaze a little higher, between cone 5 and 6, but it's very difficult to judge accurately without a pyrometer.

Never give up..the best is yet to come!

Native American pottery

The other day, I stumbled across this little gem of a pot in a second-hand shop. It was made by the Navajo People - The Diné. It's about 3.5 inches tall and sits in the hands beautifully. I'm guessing the pot was coiled, given the irregular shape of the mouth, though I suppose it could have been cast from a coiled original. If it was coiled, the maker is extremely skilled as it's wafer thin and the inside is perfectly smooth. The outside has been painted, perhaps with terra sigillata, then etched to reveal the lovely warm orange of the clay body.

I was drawn to this piece because I brought back a Navajo bottle vase from the USA when I was on holiday there in 1999. Maybe it says something about modern society that I paid less for this hand-crafted pot than an hour's parking in the town centre.

It's a shame I can't make out all of the signature. If anyone out there knows anything about the artist, I'd be really interested to learn more about her/him.

Throwing off the hump

I thought I'd have a first go at filming myself throwing today. Must say, I did feel quite conscious of the camera, and it was more difficult to concentrate and lose myself in the process. I chose the first clip as I had a couple of problems with an air bubble in the clay and the bottom starting to sag, which maybe makes it a little more interesting to watch. Apologies for the noisy wheel (bearings are going) and my noisy stool..it's one of of those weeble-wobble Ikea stools with a base wider than the seat. I'm always tripping over the thing!

Making lidded jars

Last week I made several of these lidded jars or urns. I was inspired by images of ancient megaliths and I wanted to create some vessels which communicate a similar kind of heft and gravitas. I don't know how far I've succeeded..it's difficult to achieve that with small pieces, so at some point, I'd like to make these on a much larger scale. Making the lids is challenging to say the least, and I'm still trying to work out the best way of doing that from a closed form.

Lidded jars drying, approx. 6 inches tall.

At the moment, I'm adding the inner lid flange by hand, as a coil, then pinching it out, letting it dry a little, and then trimming and scraping it down to fit. It's quite a fiddly and time-consuming process.

I'm already thinking about how I should glaze these jars..I will probably fire them with the lids in place, so I need to use a glaze which definitely won't run. Traditional shino is one possiblility or perhaps some black slip decoration covered with the matt ochre-ash, which I might try pouring over one or two of them. The two pieces below have this matt ochre-ash glaze:

Beer cup, six inches tall

Bowl, approx 3.5 inches tall

Feels like spring at last!

Today feels like the first proper day of spring. Started off quite misty this morning but this afternoon the sun was really bright and warm, and I even put some pieces outside to dry. Daffodils are blooming and trees are starting to bud, including my Japanese larch bonsai, which has pine cones on it for the fist time in sixteen years.

And then I just took this shot for the colours:

Now I really must get back to throwing those pots I was supposed to make this morning!

Pots can definitely grow on you

I made this little pot some time ago now, and I've glaze-fired it three times..once in reduction and twice in oxidation. Each time I wasn't really satisfied with the finish and brushed on another layer of glaze, and even when I took it out of the kiln last time, it didn't strike me as being particularly attractive. It's been knocking around in my workshop for several months, and I kept picking it up, turning it round, putting it down, wondering whether I should bother to put it in for a fourth firing.

Carved pot with ochre-ash glaze, 3.5 inches tall

Then the other day I took it outside and looked at it more closely. In the bright daylight I could better appreciate the subtle sheen of the ochre-ash glaze which contrasts with the harsher mottled areas of burned-out iron. I began to like the way this glaze shows every detail of the clay surface, every single mark left in the making process, and the way it pools in the crevices into darker shades of grey-green.

Pots can slowly grow on you...or maybe as with people, it becomes easier to accept their imperfections once we have lived with them for a while..