Wax Resist Vase

In my last post this same vase was pictured, the only difference is that in this photo I used black underglaze and painted the recessed areas. This vase is in its leather hard stage.

Oops. I suppose I should explain about the wax resist. Once the vase was leather hard I used hot wax and dripped it over the pot. I used a cheap 2 inch paint brush to accomplish this. Once the wax was dried I used a wet sponge and rubbed over the unwaxed parts of the vase. This created the recessed areas. I didn't know how I was going to fire it. The next day I was looking at it and I thought to myself "black underglaze," so I did that.

I still don't know how I'm going to fire this piece yet but I'm going to try this method of wax resist and "sponging" on another vase or two.

Handbuilding Again

For the past couple months I've been caught up carving my tea bowls. Now I'm moving on and getting back into handbuilding again. Here are a few of the vases I've started.

I've made my own little slab roller and I roll out a slab for the cylander and the bottom. The final cut measurements for the cylander are 12 inches by 8 inches. I then use a piece of 3 inch pvc pipe that is wrapped with a single page of newspaper and then roll the slab around the pipe. The ends are slipped and scored and pressed together. I then set the cylander upright and pull out the pvc pipe. The newspaper is carefully removed from the inside. I cut the bottom to fit, slip, score, attatch and now I have my basic vase form.

I've learned a few little tricks while making these and they're actually getting easier and faster to make. If anyone has any questions just ask and I'll answer. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fire these vases but I think I will try firing some in my barrel kiln, raku some and even fire some with commercial glazes in my electric kiln. Anyway, that is what I've been up to lately.

Oh! I also want to put a plug in for my other blog, Coulee Region Art. This is the one that I write for WKBT News Channel 8. Please check it out. There is all kinds of interesting information and resources on it, and I'm also trying to post another month of growth in viewers/readers--8 months in a row. It is really gaining a loyal following. Thanks.

W.R.A.P. Honorable Mention 2009

These are the three pieces I entered in the Wisconsin Regional Art Program Exhibit at The Pump House Regional Art Center.

Of course I was hoping for "Best of Show." They actually paid a cash award for that. But, I did win #1 Honorable Mention. That recognition was bestowed upon the raku fired tea bowl on the left.

This was actually one of my favorites when it comes to tea bowls. I loved the exterior metalics/lustres and the interior crackle pattern was outstanding. This piece also sold for 45 dollars to a person from New York. The gallery took 40 percent but it still felt good selling a piece from the exhibit.

Wisconsin Regional Art Program - La Crosse

This is one of my entries for the WRAP exhibit here in La Crosse, WI. It is a tea caddy to compliment my two raku fired tea bowls. This piece was barrel fired. Anyway, back to the Wisconsin Regional Art Program.

WRAP was establisheded in 1940 and encourages Wisconsin citizens with a serious interest in art to make art purely for the love of it rather than fame and fortune. Its main purpose is to encourage nonprofessional artists to develop their abilities by providing workshops and exhibits.

This regional exibit is being held at The Pump House Regional Art Center, here in la Crosse. The Wisconsin Regional Artists Association (WRAA) co-sponsors the statewide exhibit and conference in Madison in September. One third of the regional entries will move on to the statewide exhibit.

Sneek Peek 2

I really had a hard time picking out two tea bowls that I wanted in the WRAP show. I fired my raku kiln for a week straight I bet. I ended up with a lot of bowls. The good news is I kept track of how many firings I can get to a twenty pound propane tank--8 full firings and I still had enough in the tank to light-up my barrel kiln the other day. Anyway, I decided to put this tea bowl in the show because it was a great example of my carving abilitiles, it had the perfect clear crackle pattern on the inside, and the exterior glaze was just too good to pass up. Unfortunately I do not have the recipe for the exterior glaze. I had two small buckets of dry glaze mixed up, but over the course of the winter the recipe tags disappeared. I didn't want to waste the materials so I mixed them together to see what came out of the kiln. I'm actually really happy with the glaze because I can produce a few different colors and effects depending how I fire and reduce. But, once the glaze is gone, its gone.

Barrel Firing Again

Yes! I'm barrel firing again. I think it has been a year since I last lit a barrel. I've been lighting-up my gas raku kiln almost everyday for the past week and I've had some pretty awesome results. You can see a few of the tea bowls on my flickr site. I'll post a few more next week.

Anyway, back to the barrel firing. I'm participating in Wisconsin's Regional Art Program Exhibit, which starts in a week. I need to drop off three of my peices to the Regional Art Center tomorrow morning. I have picked two of my raku bowls but really wanted to include a piece of my barrel fired pottery. I've been anxiously waiting for a day to light it up but the weather has not been too cooperative the past two weeks. If it wasn't raining it was too too windy . Yesterday was a bit windy but the deed had to be done.

I started right after work. At 2:45pm I filled the bottom of the barrel with about 4 or 5 inches of sawdust, placed the pots in the bottom, sprinkled my magic dust around the pots, and loaded the barrel full with an assortment of really nice wood from the wood shop. There were lots of scrap pieces of oak, cherry, maple, birch, you name it. The best part about the wood, outside of the fact that it was free, was that it was clean and free of dirt.

Usually I fill the barrel full of wood and then build a pyramid with more wood that sticks up about 24 inches above the rim of the barrel. Because it was a bit windy I didn't stack a pyramid and loaded the wood about 6 inches from the top of the barrel. The Fire was lit with my raku torch at 2:15pm. At 6:15pm there was very little flame and the barrel was half full of glowing coals. The coals will burn through the night and die out. Friday afternoon after work I'll see what the burn has produced.

Hand Carved Tea Bowl

This is one of my favorite tea bowls that I have made. First of all I carved it out of a solid round of clay. I've been carving all my bowls lately. It took quite a bit of time but there is something about the process of carving and actually visualizing a tea bowl in the solid mass of clay. It is also one of my favorites because it just feels so good in the hands. The glaze is Soldner's Clear Crackle, 80% gerstley borate, 20% nepheline syenite. I have a few other new tea bowls that I have posted on my flickr site.

The Kodai

The kodai or the footring is said to reveal a whole lot about the potter who made the bowl. What does it say to you? I can see a lot of me in this hand carved kodai. I signed the bottom with a gold pen. I never really liked signing my work. I'm not sure why. When I first started ceramics I made a small plaster stamp with my initials JG on it. I loved the stamp but people who wanted to buy my work always wanted me to sign it. I can't even read my signature so I know other people can't. Oh well.

Remember Me?

Remember me? Uffda! It has been a long time since I first started this porcelain mask. I'm thinking last October, and it sat around on the drying shelf until now. This mask made it through the raku firing just fine. It is broken in half because of my stupidity. Oh well. I'll start another one soon and do it again. I did post a short slide show of my raku firing process on the blog that I write for work. Just click on the link to view the post. Raku Firing Process.

How To Make A Chawan

Not a whole lot to say in this post but this is step one in how I make my chawans (teabowls). I start by wedging up about 3-1/2 pounds of clay. Once that is completed I pound and shape it into a nice round disk approximately 5 inches wide by 3-3/4 inches tall. I also gently roll the clay disk on its' side, on my canvas covered board, to get a nice round form for the exterior of the teabowl. I also have another piece of clay ready to carve covered up in the plastic once I complete this bowl.

Tools Of The Trade

This bowl is really coming along and I'm almost done. In this photo you can see what types of tools I use to carve my chawans. I need to thin-out the walls a little bit and then carve the footring, called the "kodai" in Japanese. Even though the kodai is hidden from view until after the tea has been drunk, it is a key element of the chawan and can reveal many things about the maker, such as skill and mindset. Since it is the only part of the bowl that is not glazed it also reveals the "tsuchi-aji" (clay flavor). You can see the tru color and texture of the clay by examining the kodai,

Hand Carved Chawan

I started carving this chawan last weekend and just finished up yesterday. I probably have about eight hours into the bowl but I think it is the best tea bowl I have made to date. I definately have a lot of heart and soul into this chawan and can't wait to fire it. There is just something about it. First of all it looks good and when you hold it in your hands it feels good. I'll end up raku-firing this but I don't know what type of glaze I am going to use. And speaking of firing, I'm going to have to wood-fire this. Something about this bowl just says "wood-fire me."

Classical Birdfeeder

This birdfeeder has been sitting on our deck for the past six years and over that time I never gave it much thought. It was almost like it wasn't even there. Quite often it didn't even have bird seed in it (sorry birds). Yesterday I happened to take a closer look at it and thought to myself "Hey Man! This is really a cool birdfeeder." Anyway, on to the story behind the feeder.

When I got back into clay, after a 10-year hiatus, this is the first thing I made. I still had all my clay tools but had no clay, glazes or underglazes, so I got on the phone and ordered some materials to get me back into clay. Kind of odd because although I ordered the stuff to start making things, I had no way of firing them. I didn't even think of that. I must have been caught up in the excitment of getting muddy again.

Ok. The stuff was ordered and it would take a week to deliver. In that time I was constantly wondering what I was going to make. Not only did I not have a kiln, I also did not have a potter's wheel so I was going to be limited to handbuilding whatever project I decided to tackle. I sat on the deck trying to sketch out some ideas in my sketch book and realized we didn't have a birdfeeder to feed any of the birds chirpping about the deck rails--Tah-Dah! A Birdfeeder was going to be the first project.

Still at the sketchbook, nothing seemed to be working for me and eventually I ended up looking at drawings of a pitched roof with four supporting columns. Thank goodness the clay gods stepped in and I had an epiphany--The Parthenon of Ancient Greece! Unfortuantely, after looking at a photo of the temple, it seemed to be too big of an unertaking for me so I started looking at other photos of Greek Temples. Turned out that all of the temples seemed to intimdate the hell out of me so I looked at my last drawing, the one with four columns and a pitched roof, and said I'll just make this simple but "Greek-like." And, it worked.

Once I had created my temple I still had no way to fire it. A couple months later I ended up enrolling in a pottery class at the college, fired the feeder and a bunch of other projects, and the rest is ancient history.

The birdfeeder is made out of a lowfire talc clay body and I used a red iron wash for the roof and and used a more diluted soultion for the base. I then brushed three coats of lowfire clear glaze on everything but the top part of the roof. It has been outside in the elements ever since and gets better looking with time. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see that lichen has started to grow on the feeder making it look even more "ancient." Well, thats the story. Hope I didn't bore you, but I really thought the whole thing was worth documenting.
Cheers!

Chawan Is Looking Good

This bowl is really coming along and I'm almost done. In this photo you can see what types of tools I used to carve this chawan. I need to thin-out the walls a little but and then carve the footring, called the "kodai" in Japanese. Even though the kodai is hidden from view until after the tea has been drunk, it is a key element of the chawan and can reveal many things about the maker, such as skill and mindset. Since it is the only part of the bowl not glazed it also reveals the "tsuchi-aji" (clay flavor). You can see the true color and texture of the clay by examining the kodai.

Making a Chawan, Step One

Not a whole lot to say in this post. I am working backwards as far as posting so my blog post go in order from step one to completion.

I started my chawan by wedging approximately 3-1/2 pounds of clay. Once the wedging was completed I pounded it and shaped the ball of clay into a small form that was approximately 5 inches wide by 3-3/4 inches tall. I also rolled the ball of clay over my canvas covered board to get a nice round form for the outside of the bowl. The piece of plastic to the right of the ball of clay is another wedged and rolled out piece of clay for my next teabowl.
I wanted to start carving right away so I left the first wedged round of clay out on my board overnight. This made the clay hard enough but yet still moist enough to carve with my tools.

Back In The Studio Again

The weather is starting to feel and resemble Spring again and therefore I've been spending more time at the studio. I've even started a few new projects and am finishing up a few older ones. I'm almost done with my "American" version of an ancient South American stirrup jar.

The clay body is lowfire terra cotta and It is really sucking-up my underglazes. This has proven to be a pain-in-the-butt to paint. I've forgotten how many coats of white underglaze it has taken me to cover up the red clay. All I can say is, I've got a lot of time into this piece.

Today I'll paint three coats of clear gloss over the piece and hopefully fire it this coming weekend. Will post a photo of the finished work when I get it done.

This past weekend I also started hand carving a few Chawans, (teabowls), which I think are my best to date. If all goes well, and weather permitting, I'll raku-fire these this coming weekend. I'm hoping to have some firing company as well. More info to follow.

Raku Kiln Number 3

As most of my friends know, last years' flood took out my raku kiln. Here is a description of how I built raku kiln number 3.

I was too poor and cheap to buy a new galvanized garbage can so I used one that had been previously used as a post-firing reduction chamber.

I had just recently purchased 50 square feet of kaowool fiber from E-Bay. I thought it was a steal at 120 dollars, that included shipping. It was 1-inch thick, 8 lb. density, and 24-inches by 25-feet long.

I also found a box of homemade ceramic buttons that I made over a year ago and a package of high temp wire. Its amazing what you can find when you clean up the studio,
(It was Spring Cleaning Time). I'll get to the buttons a bit later. Ok, on to the construction description.

As you can see in this photo I traced a 5-inch circle on the bottom of this can. Then I drilled a starter hole on the line and used some tin shears to cut out the hole for the burner port. Once the hole was cut out I used a metal file and filed off any of the sharp burrs left behind from the shears. I also did the same proceedure on the garbage can lid for the exit flue.

Next I rolled out some of the fiber and traced the bottom of the garbage can on the fiber with a black magic marker. Then I cut the circle out with razor-blade type box cutter. I cut two of these circles and placed both of them, one on top of the other, into the bottom of the can. The reason for two is because with two inches of fiber on the bottom, only one piece of fiber, 24-inches tall, is needed to line the kiln. It is a perfect fit.

Ceramic Buttons

For my last two fiber kilns I used high temp wire and pieces of 1-inch by 1-inch fiber board to secure the fiber to the garbage can. About a year ago I read an article about somebody using ceramic buttons. I tried google searching for ceramic buttons and had no luck finding any. I probably couldn't afford them anyway so I made my own.

These buttons were made from a regular raku clay body. I rolled out a slab of clay about 1/4-inch thick and used a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out the forms. I then rolled out a coil of clay, cut little pieces off and slip and scored them to the 2-inch rounds. Once they were dried I used a small drill bit to drill a hole through them so I could thread the high temp wire through the buttons.

The article I read regarding these buttons warned that sometimes these buttons would occasionally break due to the stressful nature of rapid raku firing so I made several extras just in case.

Raku Kiln Chamber

This kiln is not constructed with two layers of 1-inch fiber. The Garbage can is not a straight cylander, it tapers in towards the bottom. So rather than trying to taper the fiber to fit, I used a strip of fiber 1-inch by 3-inches and glued it to the trash can with sodium silicate. This made it really easy to use one piece of fiber 24-inches tall for the interior without haveing to make any "pain inf the butt" cuts.

I used three ceramic buttons with high temp wire to secure the fiber to the garbage can. I didn't use any at the bottom of the can but can add them later if needed.

Two holes for each button, slightly larger than the high temp wire, were drilled into the can and the buttons and wire were feed from the inside out. This proved to be a little challenging, patience helps. Once the wires were fed through the holes, the ends were twisted from the outside with pliers to tighten and secure the buttons.

Raku Kiln Lid

I'm not really sure if this lid is really "finished." I painted a thick layer of sodium silicate on the garbage can lid and then placed the round piece of fiber into the lid and used a rubber kitchen spatula to kind of tuck in the edges.

Once I fire-up the kiln for the first time I'll find out whether or not I need to add any additional buttons to hold the fiber in place. If any additional buttons are needed, I'll add them. Each button takes just a few minutes to install.