Welcome to All in One Bonsa

Bitten by the Bug


Welcome to All in One Bonsai...a blog that aims to remind me of what I have forgotten. Over the years I have been finding out as much as I can about the art of bonsai. I hope the information in this blog will shed some light to the beginning bonsai enthusiast out there.


I saw some bonsai trees at a corner market one night in Taipei and asked the guy if he was willing to teach me how to create these miniature trees. He directed me to a night school where all the instruction was in Chinese. My Chinese ability is very ordinary at the least so although I was learning bits and pieces, I really wasn't getting all I wanted from the course. The best parts were when the teacher would start pruning a beautiful tree or when he showed us how to repot a bonsai. The mystery was still out there but my interest wasn't waning, if anything it fueled my motivation to find out more. And so I did.


Let the adventure begin...


Recently I have discovered the joy of pottery. Bonsai and pottery are close friends so it was only a matter of time before I was introduced to her. Welcome to All in One Bonsai...and pottery.


Feel free to visit my site where you can purchase some of my handmade pottery. Quite a few pieces have been wood fired as it is the prefered method here in Taiwan:


Esty Shop: AllinoneCeramics




Tuesday 16 December 2014

Back from the Ashes

Red Heat

I have been using some Japanese red clay lately and was curious how this clay would look under the extreme heat of a wood fired kiln.  Below are some pictures of the pieces I thought were worthy of having their photo taken.  

A coil build vase.  Once I picked it up it felt like it should be a drinking jug as well.  We will have to put some beer in there and see how it holds up.  I tested for any leakages...NONE!

I was pleased with the finish.  I got lucky having the front view turn out smooth and shiny.  

The wood ash didn't have a chance to reach the back of the vase but it was still a nice deep purple colour.

A smallish vase.  I have now bought a wheel so am attempting to throw more pieces on it. I was happy with this guy.  

I tried to etch in a pine tree on the side which didn't really work.  It was just passable.  Maybe I rushed it.

The other side of the vase avoided the falling wood ash from the kiln.  There were so many pieces in the kiln and the rookie gets the corners.

A finger swirl to give it a bit of character.

I have lost my chop so am signing my name.  It just doesn't look the same as a Chinese character.

Please fill me up with something.

A tall hand-built vase.  I tried making it look treeish.

Rear view.

A smaller one - it broke when drying so I decided to make a smaller version before putting it in the kiln.

Close up of the treeishness.

Mother and child.

I made another tree.  Do you see the visitor?

Hoot!

I really liked the top part - again the wood ash does this as it falls in the brick kiln.   The bottom section of the tree remained dark purple.

If the whole tree had of turned out like the top part I would have been very pleased!

A thrown Japanese style tea bowl.

Not symmetrical as is the style of a lot of Japanese bowls.

Top view.

This piece took me a long time to make.  A lot of trial and error.

The only part I'm disappointed about was the pouring spout.  It was a little chipped.  I think it may have been stuck up against another piece in the kiln and when they were separated damage resulted.  However, you could say it is part of it's charm.  It still pours well.

Taking a rest.

A small dish - platter - I don't really know what to call this.  

The colours on the underside were great!  This section is really shiny.  I still have to take some fine sand paper and clean up the tips of the legs on this piece.  

There you have it!  Merry Christmas everyone.  

1 comment:

  1. Great work!
    I liked all the pieces and find it quite fascinating how the glaze and kiln firing is so hit and miss....guess you get lucky sometimes with some pieces and deal with the disappointments as they come.
    I particularly loved the finger swirl in the base of the cups and everything about the pouring jug: such beautiful colours as well as the etching.

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