Two vases, same glaze, same form, slightly different application and the color changes from a darker almost bluish green in the thicker application to a slightly orangey green in the lighter one. Maybe not all that noticeable but I find it white satisfying to have these variations in my work that feel slightly beyond my control/desire to control.
I photographed a lot of work from the last firing today and I’ll be sharing it along with hopefully some little process videos I’ve started working on.
Three mugs: same basic shape, slight variations in form and three different types of glaze. Before moving to Atlanta and starting this studio, I hadn’t spent much time working with electric kilns. The spaces I worked in all had kilns for atmospheric firings, where at least flame and often other things like ash or soda are involved as sort of collaborators in the final look of the work. I thought of electric kilns as the least exciting of all options. And to be fair they sort of are — I turn it on, it heats up, I run away to avoid the fumes, I come back and it’s done. But there are subtleties that I’d never really focused on because of the excitement of the atmospheric firing that I now see come thru in the calmer environment of the electric kiln. So far, I’ve been working on getting a hang of the different types of textures of the glazes I make. Subtle differences in a matte glaze that make the difference between something feeling soft and gentile on the hands versus chalkboardish. The way that throwing marks appear below glossy glazes (like the blue shown in the third image) and how that can create a sense of depth in an otherwise pretty flat glaze. The layering of crystal forming glazes above glossy ones to create variation and unpredictability.
There are many different processes in making pots and to be honest mixing and applying glazes is probably my least favorite. It’s sort of like baking without the gratification of getting to taste things as you go. But it’s necessary and I’m glad that even my raggedy 20 year old overpowered toaster of a kiln can create results that surprise and charm me.
#ceramics #pottery #mug #handthrown #porcelain
a couple recent larger pots, or self portraits in a shiny surface with fingerprints, dependent on your perspective.
I had a great weekend at the Inman Park Festival. These pots both found wonderful new homes and I saw the quiet neighborhood I work in filled with over 70,000 visitors. @gkcre and @heydossier put on quite the party around Elizabeth and Edgewood involving music, sculpture, endless charcuterie and a finer keg than I ever saw at the University of Alabama.
April has seen Atlanta Studio Pottery really start to take off. I started the month with an initial open studio, then showed at Ponce City Market, and now am finishing the month with this and a custom order I'll share more about in a bit. I've talked a good bit on here about how I try to match the production rhythms of the pottery to the cycles of the moon, but right now it also feels like things are blooming with the broader seasonal change. After a quiet winter of slowly building up the studio, developing glazes and forms, things are starting to really leaf out and bloom.
Please come by Elizabeth and Edgewood tomorrow any time from 11 thru the evening to check out my studio alongside some amazing installations, vendors, food, and music going on all day. The studio has had an amazing transformation from a near-breathing hazard a few days ago in the midst of a Byzantine glazing saga to an excessively orderly and symmetrical display of work mainly from my last two firings here. I’ve had some really great results that I’ll definitely be sacrificing sleep in order to make sure to photograph tomorrow morning before the work vanishes into the festival fray.
I’m also very excited to be hosting @sadfrog.studios who are displaying some of their work in my studio! Amy was a huge help with the install and is also showing some of her amazing and immense flower sculptures around the property!
#inmanparkfestival #atlanta #ceramics #pottery
Full chaos mode this afternoon in the explosion of glazing. I promise there is a method to it.. more or less.
In the morning I made my pilgrimage to Olympic kilns and picked up my lid. It’s beautiful and I’m looking forward to getting it all set up tomorrow once order has been restored!
#ceramics #pottery #porcelain #craft #clay
The kiln survived what will be this lid’s last firing. Tomorrow I’ll go pick up a new lid from Olympic kilns and go visit the birth place of my kiln from twenty odd years ago. It feels like a little bit of a pilgrimage. Then back to the studio to finish glazing and get everything going by Wednesday evening!
I’ve been quietly working away at some larger vases and bowls this week for a firing for the Inman Park festival on the 25th.
Working on these larger pieces at my standing wheel, I have a problem where the top of the cylinder I’m throwing becomes too high up for me to easily get my hand into to belly out the vase. To deal with this, I’ve started moving a milk crate with my toes mid-piece, which I then stand on for some extra, somewhat precarious, height. I’ll share a picture of that at some point but thought I’d start with just the vague description.
I threw a set of these cups yesterday. At the market this past weekend I got a lot of feedback from people admiring the quality and control of the work but maybe wanting something a bit looser too. So I’m working on some forms that have a bit more motion in them to add to the collection that will be available at the Inman park festival in a couple weeks.
#pottery #ceramics #porcelain #craft #clay
