New Works, New Toy!

Over the holidays, I was catching up with  my ceramics magazines. (Yes, I read those. Duh!) In Clay Times, there was an article about tools for glaze mixing and application.

If you saw my post regarding the last time I mixed glaze, you'll have seen me covered in glaze splashes.

It's a really sexy look. Honest! *eye roll*

So below on the right, you can see my usual mixing device. On the left is the Jiffy Mixer! 

In theory, the stainless steel Jiffy Mixer should be able to mix my glazes without splashing all over the place. It should also be able to scrape the dry stuff off the sides of my glaze bucket while moving everything down, up and in from the sides, and not get chunks of plastic bucket in my glaze while mixing. Yes, at $50 it's a bit spendy, but that's what Christmas money is for, right? I'm looking forward to using it this next glazing cycle.

So I've been playing with stamping, like Gary Jackson does, because it looked like fun. And you know what? It is fun!

I threw the above teapot, deliberately leaving the lid a little large to allow for the clay shrinkage. I'm playing around with teapot shapes, too, while I have a little time. I haven't done a lot of teapots, so cutting the spouts to fit still takes me a bit of time. I always throw several spouts for two reasons: 1) if I mess one up, I have others to fall back on. 2) I like to have different - sized and -shaped spouts to see which one looks best on the teapot. I thought that with all the little stamped daisies, a short spout would look cute. What do you think?

I've been on a cup kick, lately. I stamped two of the ones above, and "scribbled" on the other one while my wheel was turning. I've found it makes for a good spot for the glaze to "break," which will give it both visual and tactile interest.

I'm experimenting with yunomi, too. Yunomi are those wonderful handle-less Japanese tea cups you see in all the Japanese restaurants.

The process of fitting the lid involves letting the clay dry slowly and trimming
it a little at a time. I throw it slightly large to allow for shrinkage.

I enjoyed the stamping so much, I decided to throw a couple of teapots and stamp them, too! Then there was the bowl, which seems to have turned out well, too.

After a week or so out in the studio, I decided they were ready to be brought in to dry in front of the fire.

Then I decided to unpack the kiln and dry all the rest of them while I was at it.

 I still have a ways to go before the kiln is full and ready to be fired, but I think this is a nice start!

A Little Help, Please

As you're all aware, my attempt at a new kiln was thwarted, and I was forced to re-sell it. The problem, of course, is that I'm still in need of a new kiln. The one I have is too small to do larger pieces, and I don't have a digital control, which would broaden my range of glazes and effects exponentially!

Well, I am nothing if not persistent (some call it stubborn, but I call it persistence!), and recently discovered that Intuit is having a $5000 giveaway for fifteen small businesses like mine. $5000 will not only cover a new kiln (helloooo, warranty!), but will cover the cost to install the new electrical for it, as well. 

I've submitted my wish here: http://bit.ly/Zpo8gp, so please, click on the link and vote for my wish. It means larger jacks at Hallowe'en for you, you know! :) 

If you can, please post about my wish everywhere you can think of to give me a boost in the votes. The "wish granting" begins on May 6th, so please, vote early! I'm not sure yet if it's a situation where you can vote more than once, but I'll get back to you on that. Update: Yes, you can vote once a day! So please do! :)

Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate your help!