My Christmas Gift
Well, Christmas has come and gone. Out with 2015 and in with 2016. The years seem to approach at a faster rate every year. My small family and I decided to slide down to Australia for Christmas and see people. Just before we left I boxed up a few pottery pieces that were due to be wood fired on Christmas Day. My pottery teacher was kind enough to place them in a desirable position in the Maoli kiln for me and then also collect them after cooling. He is a champion.
On returning to Taiwan I had to patiently wait. It is such a buzz anticipating the results. You never know what surprises or disappointments will come your way. The aim is to at least get a couple of keepers!
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| It is meant to be a sake bottle, but it could masquerade as a bud vase. I recently bought a paper back ground to help me with my photo taking. |
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| I prefer this side. The natural wood ash ended up smoother, almost pebble like. |
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| Some nice little splashes of color here and there. |
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| I applied a Japanese shino glaze to the white fired clay. The shino glaze is typically orange in colour so I'm not sure what happened here! |
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| Drunk already! |
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| A tea jar, possibly? I bought a variety of different sized cork lids and have trying to throw the opening of the clay jar to fit the lid with the use of calipers. This one worked. |
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| I have been experimenting by adding more texture to my pots. This guy has a few rings around the neck. |
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| Proof. I'm still undecided to sign my name in the clay, use the chop, or do both? |
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| This section was quite shiny. I do like how all parts of this jar were different. |
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| Another sake bottle. I kind of like it as a bud vase as well. |
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| While the clay was wet I squeezed the sides with my pouring hand. This way once fired it becomes easier to grab and pour. |
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| I threw a few small tea/sake cups. This could be a set. |
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| Clouds and a sun set? Not really. |
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| A vase. I liked this one because I convinced myself there was a mountain range on this pot. |
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| With a golden wave. The joy of wood fired pottery. |
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| Some things moving around. |
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| Those two lines in the pot were intentional. While the pot was slowly drying out after I initially made it, I hit it with the sharp edge of a block of wood. |
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| The seal. |
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| Another lidded jar. My plan is to use ceramic glue and stick a stone that fits on top of the lid. I left a concave section for that purpose. I am yet to find a suitable rock. |
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| This one was quite smooth. |
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| A close up of the lid. |
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| A third sake bottle. This one was my least favorite because of the rougher texture. |
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| It still had a bit of character though. |
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| There were some sections that were a little sharp to the touch. I used some sand paper to try and make it more hand friendly. |
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| Everyone likes looking at the foot ring right? |
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| I threw about 10 of these cups. The other 8 were either cracked or misshapen. |
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| 2 from 10 |
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| Twins |
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| These bad boys were interesting. I wanted them to look like rock. |
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| I threw the opening of the body of these pots a little wide. As a result the lids did fit, but it wasn't snug. |
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| The orange shino glaze trying to come through, |
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| Another one. |
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| These were fun to make. A different style lid was what it was all about. |
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| Another angle. |
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| The foot ring next to my seal. |
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| My first wood fired tea pot. I want to make more tea pots. I have made tea pots before but never placed them in a wood fired kiln. |
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| A nice contrast. |
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| A hole in the lid to let the hot air escape. |
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| We had tea with this tea pot last night. |
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| The idea is to align the handle and spout in a straight line...as best you can! |
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| Tea anyone? |
I was reasonably happy with these results and feel like they were my Christmas gifts. Hopefully, it is a good sign that 2016 will be a lucky one. I wish you all have a brilliant 2016.
Cheers!
Please visit my online shop at AllinoneCeramics for these and other pieces.
