New WIPs

Well, it seems like there's a pause in the rains and the cold here in good ol' L.A., so I got back outside to my wheel and started making, again.

I've had more requests for really big mugs, so I've thrown a few of those, too. I'm guessing those will end up at around 30-ish ounces once they're out of the glaze firing.

Clay shrinks as it goes from wet to dry, then shrinks again in the bisque (first) firing, then shrinks one last time in the glaze firing, which for these guys will be at ^5-^6. The little carrot means "cone," which is how hot it's going to be fired to.

I've had the idea to make some mugs for Pride, to support my LGBTQIA+ friends and fans, and what better way to do that than to start with what we in the Supernatural fandom call "The Ship of Dreams," Destiel!

And life has been difficult of late for many of us in my age group. I lost both my aunt and my mom within weeks of each other, and decided that a couple of naughty language cups were on par with the current mood...

I figured I'd give you a sense of scale and capacity, too, so my two-cup measuring cup was the best tool for that!

This morning, I unpacked the kiln, and will start cleaning the clay dust off these pieces before I agonize and overthink the glaze combinations! Three of the pieces are commissions, which I seldom take anymore due to people "Karening" too much. I just don't have that kind of patience left in me, anymore!

"Carry On" is one of those commission pieces, actually. The client wants it in yellow, so it gives me the excuse to buy and have fun with a new (to me) Celadon glaze from Amaco.

I was down to just a few bowls this year, so I took some time to make a couple of larger ones, and a bunch of smaller bowls that would make good ice cream or prep bowls. I still want to get to ramen or Pho bowls, but just haven't gotten there as of yet!

And then there's this guy! My first cookie jar, requested as a gift for a friend's brother. I've really enjoyed making him so far! Lots of thought about the handle, I have to say...

This cup is a replacement for another one of similar design, because my friend wanted even more caffeine at her disposal!

This guy is just a glaze test for a new to me glaze which has a reputation for being runny. I have a piece in mind which will use this texture, and I want to be sure I know what to expect! Aren't the bees adorable?

Time to get glazing!

Holiday Shop at ShellHawk's Creations

Handmade gift shopping? Come to me, my minions! ;)

Bunches of cool stuff at ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store, and still time to get them in time for Christmas!  

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Progress? Yes!

It's been a busy month, and it's only day 3? Holy goodnight!

Well, to be honest, I'd been working to get a new bunch of Supernatural cups and mugs finished before my annual Thanksgiving trip to Sacramento to get together with friends.

It was getting a little hard to get up and get things done before work. It's cold in the mornings, and it's been either foggy or damp, which adds to my discomfort and to the drying time for the work!

But you know me, if you've followed the blog for any amount of time. I don't let discomfort slow me down a whole lot! (Though I do admit to taking all the glazing inside that I can, so I can be comfy.)

I've been getting ideas for some more Castiel-themed, bee-related cups and mugs. So far, I just have the one, but the response has been so great, I plan on more like it! The first picture is the unfired cup, with the underglaze painted in. The others are after the first firing.

I always love how they look out of that first firing! The colors are so vibrant! But they need to have their clear glaze and a second firing if they're going to be food-safe, so there's another round of work to do for them: glazing!

I've been considering the last glaze failures and think I might have the issue solved with a new clay body. It's a nice, soft white, cone 5 clay. Although it's white like porcelain (without being as white or translucent as porcelain can be), it's a stoneware clay and a bit tougher. I managed to get a layer or two of glaze on some of them before I left for my trip. You can see I take my studio assistant with me everywhere, nowadays!

I saw my ceramics teacher while I was there and got a mini-lecture for some troubleshooting questions which, as always, was super helpful. I really miss the clay gang of folks I had available to me there. Maybe after this Covid-Omicron nonsense settles down, I'll get some classes here in LA.

 

I decided to do these cups a couple of different ways, to see what ends up working best. Some, I covered in black underglaze with the colored pattern and words and did the bisque firing. When I got them out of the bisque, I covered the words and patterns in wax resist, so that when they're dipped in glaze, the glaze will flow off the wax and keep the pattern and words clean. You can see the process on this video, at around 5:15, if you're interested.

Others, I just covered in a celadon glaze I kept from my old studio and just painted it on in layers. Because a good celadon glaze has a translucent quality to it, the deeper carving will show up in a darker pool of green and the higher points will be lighter in color. I think they're going to turn out really pretty, and the celadon gives it a bit of an Asian feel. The celadon, by the way, looks almost white before it's fired.

 

Finally, we have those medallion mugs! In playing with the design, I thought having a combination of colors would be fun to have on the cup and partially around the medallion. The picture below shows only one layer of glaze, which is actually going to be blue! You'd think it would be red, but that's not how the chemistry of the glaze works.

 

After all of that, and cleaning up the bottoms so they don't stick to the kiln shelves and get destroyed, and checking for overflow into the patterns, they were ready to get loaded into the kiln. When I left for work yesterday, the kiln temp had gone from 45°F to 97°F. When it's done, it will have gone up to around 2167°F with a twenty minute hold.

Now I get to spend some time getting all the other work into the shop that I haven't gotten to, yet!

New Needful Things!

 

At last! The ShellHawk's Creations Etsy shop is getting updated! Some jack-o'-lanterns, some other cups, and finally, the Supernatural cups!

The last firing got more good results and only a few imperfect ones, which are in the shop at a discount. They're not all in, yet, so keep an eye out in the next week or so.

The shoulder injury I suffered earlier this year really set my schedule back, but I still managed to get a few things (over a hundred, I think) done. I really had a thing for cups, mugs and tankards this summer. Don't ask why, because I have no idea!

In other news, the Open House went really well! Totally worth the time, effort, and lost sleep!

Everything skeleton was gone! Bowl and mugs! And it really made me so happy that the kind woman from the ceramics studio bought four of my jack-o'-lanterns to take to Canada as gifts for her friends. It's incredibly satisfying, knowing my creations are going to loved ones!

I'm resting my shoulder for now, but soon, I'll be back at it. I'll be pushing through the holidays, stocking up on my Halloween things to apply for shows happening next years. It feels like a triumph to be doing what I do best and making my fans happy!

Filling the Glaze Kiln 2021

I got the glaze kiln loaded over at the local ceramics center. I hope they're going to start the firing on Thursday so I can get everything tagged in time for my open house!

I'm hoping the Supernatural cups I made turn out a little better than they did in my kiln, but honestly, even if they don't, I have a new clay body to make more, recommended to me by the nice folks over at Amaco. They're the folks who made the underglazes I used for the cups. 

By this weekend, if all goes well, I should be unloading the kiln and not crying my eyes out!

FFS. The Last Test. Seriously!

This testing cycle, as you know, has been a major challenge! I have all these awesome cups, mugs and tankards made and they're just sitting and waiting to be finished because of all the damned failed tests! But I am blessed with belated intelligence! (Better late than never, I always say!)

I made an appointment with my ceramics studio to schlep a bunch of my new work over to use their glazes and their kilns to finish it. I brought along two new test cups which I wouldn't be completely heartbroken to lose, to do a glaze test with their cone 10 clear glaze. Since it's got all those colorful underglazes, the plan was to fire in oxidation (oxygen in the firing chamber) as opposed to reduction (reducing or removing a bunch of oxygen in the firing chamber), so the colors would be as bright as possible.

But they weren't going to be able to fire until the whole kiln could be filled. Which could take a while. Like another month.

So I swung by the studio today and picked up the two mugs I clear-glazed on Sunday. They're in my kiln right now, getting the cone 10 firing. This is the first and last time this kiln will be fired that high. I dread the electric bill, but if this test turns out alright, everything I glazed with the other glaze will get washed  and will be dried by Sunday, when I go back to the studio for another glazing session. I have a bunch of fans waiting ever-so-patiently for these, and I'll be damned if I'm going to disappoint them!

Of course, if they don't turn out right, all of the current crop will go into the kiln and then my shop as seconds. I hate that idea with a purple passion, because my conviction is that my work which goes out into the world without me should be as perfect as I can make it! I won't be there to make excuses for it, therefore, no excuses should have to be made.

God, the waiting sucks...