Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Latest Project

Pint-sized tumblers that I plan on carving. Black underglaze on white clay body. Plan on glazing with a clear glaze..

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Burnishing

I don't know why I started burnishing this pot instead of applying terra sigalatta to it. Maybe I was bored. It has been a while since I hand-burnished. I forgot how time consuming it is. This vessel is about 12 inches tall and 6 inches wide. I have 2 hours into it and still have the rim to finish.
The vase was leather-hard, bone dry, and I applied small amounts of olive oil to facilitate the burnishing process. I have a nice polished turquoise colored agate that I normally use to burnish pots but couldn't find it. Must be at my other studio, so I used a metal soup spoon.
I really thought I could finish this in an hour using the spoon, but I was wrong. This pot will eventually get "raku" fired and get the horse hair treatment.
This pot is smooth, smooth, smooth, and glossy as polished marble.