The first two pieces were made at home, from cone 10 half and half stoneware. Both were glazed with a combination of flashing slips and cone 6 glazes. Interestingly, most of the cone 6 glazes at the studio were able to withstand cone 10 firing, with some great colors. The oxblood was amazing. By the way, that glaze is normally used in electric firings at cone 6-7. The 0.5% silicon carbide ingredient maintains a local reduction environment for copper in the glaze.
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| 14" high vase; soda fired; Celadon glaze, Avery flashing slip |
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| 11.5" wide bowl; soda fired; Oxblood glaze, Yellow Mustard slip |
The next two pieces were made during the workshop. Richard Burkett is a mug expert, I suspect he makes them in his sleep, his collection is endless. I usually don't make mugs, I quickly run out of patience when it comes time to make and attach the handles. So I was a bit apprehensive the first two days when most of the demos centered around mug making and decoration. I never made so many mugs in one day before ! Mug this, mug that, in all kind of shapes and forms. It was quite fun actually ! And Richard and Joe shared their techniques for quick fun shapes and no trimming. Suddenly, my fear was gone and I was enjoying myself. I think I see more mugs in my future.
Another element I discovered and embraced was the use of slabs and extrusion elements for sculptural pieces. I never used an extruder before. What was I thinking ? Pop in the clay, and here it comes out in multiple forms and shapes. So easy, so simple. It opened the door to another world of creativity. Now my studio must-have list is growing longer: extruder, slab-roller, more shelf space...That's a lot of mugs to sell, better get started now !
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| 5" high mug; soda fired; Matt Long's yellow flashing slip; Tenmoku glaze (inside) |
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| 16" high sculpture; soda fired; Avery flashing slip; Mustard Yellow slip; Tiger Ash glaze; frog: Green Soda slip |
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