My "Suggestion" made Ceramics Monthly

You may remember this image of the handles drapped over my shovel from a previous post.

I felt that this method was so fool proof that I should share it. I sent the idea and a couple images in to Ceramics Monthy Magazine and they thought enough of the idea to publish it in the June/July/August 2009 Issue that just came out.

Handbuilt Mugs Doing Well on Etsy

I worked on Sunday building these 4 mugs. They are 5.25" tall and 3" in diameter with an extruded handle. Top image shows the use of a Damask stamped texture and the bottom using a vintage Indian textile stamped texture.

I have had some nice comments and a lot of hits on my Damask/Brocade mugs on my Etsy store. Of praticular interst are the Sky Blue mugs with over 50 hits since the weekend. I plan on using this combination again. See image below.

Trimmed Greenware

I just finished trimming 6 large soup cups and saucers that I threw on Monday. The saucers are extra deep.

Black Brocade

This serving bowl was one of the out comes of my recent study of handbuilt bowls with stamped brocade and damask patterns. I thought the contrast between my gun metal black glaze and green interior was kinda cool. I would like to pursue this combination in more pieces, perhaps a 4 piece bowl set in my next series of pieces.

Cup and Saucer

I produced several of these cup and saucer combinations in my latest glaze fire. I felt this combination of glazes was praticularly nice.

Damask Handbuilt Items out of the Kiln

Blue Damask Bowl, 10" x 2.5", Handbuilt Textured, Fired to Cone 6

Damask Mugs, 3" x 5.25", Handbuilt, Textured, Fired to Cone 6

These are a few images from my latest attempt at using textured damask patterns. The mugs and bowl are handbuilt.

Glazed Pendant Results

My latest kiln fire went well. 10 hours to Cone 6 and 24 hours for the kiln to cool down to 180 degrees.

I thought I would share how my little pendants turned out. The first photo above was taken of the pendants inside my kiln just before I closed the lid. I did glaze both sides of each and then rested them on a very small 3 prong stilt. I crushed some blue and yellow glass and sprinkled it on the top of each pendant. You can see the results in the second image. The last image is the back side of one of the pendants which is typical of all three. As you can see it has three small prong marks from the stilt. I expected that, but I don't know how objectionable it really is...maybe OK? I did grind of any sharp points to the prong marks and they are smooth at this point.

Hand Built Square Plates with NEW Makers Mark

I have just returned from 2 weeks traveling for my day job as a furniture designer and I have been anxious to get back into the ceramic studio.

A friend asked me about creating a series of square plates for him and I started thinking about how to proceed. I've started with a plaster mold and a rolled out a slab about 3/16 of an inch thick. I drape the slab over the mold and trim. My challenge with square plates in the past is that I haven't perfected a good foot ring solution. Not easy to turn a round ring on a square shape...or is it? "Why haven't I thought of this before!" I took my square mold and drilled the bottom with two holes to align with my wheel bat plugs. I now can turn a square plate on the wheel and it's centered. You can see the results in the image above. I extruded a round profile of clay and added it to the bottom of the plate for a perfectly round foot ring.

I have also been unhappy with my normal signiture mark on the bottom of my pieces thinking it is not very finished looking. I recently started marking my pieces with a rubber stamp "N*S". Thoughts on this look? In the past I just took a tool and ingraved a star with my initials and date.

I am also happy to report that I now have enough greenware produced to load the kiln this weekend. I can't wait to start glazing.