March 30, 2010

Vacation


IMG00011-20100327-1341
Originally uploaded by judi tavill













I do love these vacations...
I am not complaining...
However...I miss clay...
I will be with my beloved clay shortly...
This is what my view has been...
and the sky, the trees,the mountains, etc...
All of it is very inspiring...
Being in the moment.. only a few interruptions...

I am excited because the coffee mug project that
I will be returning to work on will be about all different mugs...
similar colors and style but each will be unique
in keeping with,the handmade aesthetic.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your holidays...
I am enjoying mine.

March 22, 2010

Color Cards for my reference of my Glazes,Combos, etc.

Seeing how I can blog from Flickr...

Getting Organized...

Well I'm clearing space inside my head to move forward with my work... I basically have 2 color stories happening and I needed to see them in a clear-ISH format.
I've got my "Pales" and my newer "Jewels". Basically they are a combination of semi-mattes and glossy glazes and I really need to make large amounts of the bulk of them so when I glaze I can just push ahead. I've been making small amounts testing everything for so long, on and off now, that I am dreading actually buckling down to make the large batches.
PLUS... I have a small(?)project as I am going to make 5 dozen coffee cups for a very cool local restaurant... so of course I want to refine the shape and start crunching... and on top of that, we have spring break coming up Friday and I will be away for a week in Colorado with my family(snowboarding...and celebrating Passover...and totally BUMMING as I will be unable to attend the NCECA conference!!!)But, while I am away, it is a perfect time to sketch and organize my ideas and direction going forward... So I organized my color ideas ahead of time:
Pales:




































































































































Jewels:







March 01, 2010

Glaze Testing = Glorious Fun.

Not.
Try as I may...to love love it...it's tedious...but, the tests are in the kiln...
Except for my little glaze "faux pas" that I accidentally(yes I am a ditz!!!!) mixed in Ball Clay (OM4) instead of the recommended Kaolin...which I had been using EPK for anyway... well..all of the dry ingredients and colorants are mixed for two separate colors but I am thinking I can save them by adding Alumina Hydrate...a Facebook compadre made this suggestion...now i need to figure out how much to add...

These are the last batch "test tiles", etc.

















Here the newly mixed glazes that are being tested in my kiln....

















And here is all of the lonely,naked bisque waiting to be picked up, dressed up and fired!