June 20, 2012

Frustration with a dash of... Happy?

None of those last items worked out exactly as I would have liked...
The teapot is ok... but the texture is not my favorite...
I didn't love the glaze on the carved  cups and I drop one and it shattered while glazing... nice..
The bowl is the saddest... 3 places with cracks on the inside carving that did not repair when I tried.
Makes me cranky...
Frustrated.

I get little fissures too and if the pieces were glazed and covered with color and texture, it would not matter... Wabi Sabi and such.
BUT... my aesthetic seem to bring me back to these pieces that are glazed or slipped or sprayed with slip of various clay colors and the little "imperfections"(sad but true description) ruin the pieces for me... and others?
I guess I have to SUCK IT UP and go with my gut...

One thing I have been working with is spraying slip on the pieces and the finish becomes sort of sprinkle-y finish.
I may play around with layering, going forward but for now, the clean, dry, matte finish is the the closest to the the way the pieces look leather hard- my favorite time in the process.
Below are some quick shots or what I have pulled together for some upcoming competitions and recent pulls from the kiln with the  subtle sprayed slip texture...
The white pieces are stoneware with a porcelain slip, the tan salt and peppers have a red clay spritz of slip and the others have a porcelain spritz of slip...
The beginning...



Off to the Outerbanks tomorrow... LONG 8 hour+ car ride... I will take photos, sketch book and maybe some thrown pieces to carve down there... we shall see...