(new pots, REALLY NEW, by Gary Rith)
One reason I started this blog was because customers always seem curious about what potters are doing. I feel ordinary and like I am doing ordinary things, but I guess we are a bit of an oddity, outside the mainstream of JOBBY-JOB life. Like, for example, I am always wondering what glass blowers are doing: now thats cool!
Anyway, so customers seem to like seeing what we are doing and making. Here is an example of the magical transformation that gets potters up in the morning: yesterday at 5:20 I had freshly glazed pots, top pic, and fired to about 2200 degrees, reaching it about 4:20 in the afternoon, then overnight the kiln cooled, I was dreaming, I swear I am not making this up, that the firing was VERY BAD, got up at 5:20 and popped the lid, and was relieved to see the lower pic : MOST PERFECT looking. I used a lot of my turquoise glaze on those items, and the temp is down to about 140 right now. Magic, eh wot???? More pics of these things later, when I can take them out and get a couple of pics....
You will see below i was messing with stamps. My old pal Susan and I lived in the same dorm in college, rooms next to each other actually, and knew each other pretty well way back when-25-30 years ago. We also student taught for a year in the college kindergarten together. The magic of FB brings old friends together again, and she sent me a boatload of old rubber stamps to mess with--I was trying to roll out and make plates with a rolling pin....as a kindergartner might.....
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9 comments:
I just love before and after photos. How happy that you opened the kiln and found that your dreams had not come true!
it is magic- don't let me wake up!
It's like Christmas whenever we open the kiln.
twas glorious, top to bottom, everything perfecto!
Waitwaitwait - you put them in looking all plain and grey, and they come out looking like THAT??? Or have I misunderstood something? You must never know exactly how a glaze is going to turn out then - how exciting! It really is like xmas. Or Easter?
I love this turquoise glaze Gary. So funny, you never know exactly what is going to come out of the kiln do you???
Or perhaps YOU are that good and YOU know.
Kindergarten....oh, those were the good days weren't they??? If I could go back for a few days....*sigh*
well, you guess how pots are going to look: make up a bucket of yellow recipe glaze, slop it onto pots then, yes, it looks dry and grey, but after 2200 degrees, hopefully it looks awesome! like baking a cake, really....
George and I always worry when we fire, and wonder if it will turn out great. The wonderful thing about pottery is it is usually better than expected, or perhaps pleasant surprises. However it seems when it bombs out, it really bombs out! hahahahha
Gorgeous glaze!
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