Friday, February 06, 2009

a tale of woe

So much for new year's resolutions. I guess it has been about 3 weeks since my last post. I was disappointed in the fruit of my last glaze firing and did not want to talk about it! There were a couple of pieces that I am happy with but mostly it was diappointing.
I like the 3 pieces that were made on wooden drape molds:


The smallest (6.5X2.5X1") accomodates a package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese or a stick of butter.


The middle sized one (9.75X5.5X1.25) is a nice size baking dish for the three of us.


The largest (11.5X9X1.25) holds just under 2 quarts. I filled it with a wonderful "Zucchini & Summer Squash Gratin" last night. I should have photographed it before we dug in--it was picture perfect! I wish these two casseroles were a little deeper. I want to figure out how to extend the sides of the mold so I can make them deeper.

The biggest disappointment was this small yellow bowl. The glaze crawled badly on the outside and the inside was unevenly colored. I had painted the glaze onto the bowl because I had very little of the glaze--not enough to dip the bowl into the glaze.


My attempt at adjusting my claybody was unsuccessful--there was no change in the rate of absorbency. I'll just keep experimenting with that for a while.

Meanwhile, I'm back at the wheel working on another kiln load of greenware. I have several bisqued pieces that need to be glazed and fired--but not a kiln load yet.

4 comments:

Tracey Broome said...

I think the casseroles are lovely. Like them a lot. If you want the sides higher, you could just add some coils and pinch them up. I know how you feel with glaze disappointment, last fall I threw away an entire kiln of Earthenware. The glazes crawled, some were on too thin, slip was rubbed off in not a good way, everything! Very sad for so much work but I learned a lot in the process.I kept one piece out of all of that. Just enjoy the process. It's all lessons, as my friend Stewart says!

potterboy said...

Yep - I can relate to all that. I've just come in from an epic 23 hour firing of my gas kiln and it would not get to temperature - it says cone 9 was down and 10 half way but i doubt that it's going to be mature. Why do we do it? I don't know...

Jerry said...

Those casseroles are nice. I was thinking that if you wanted the sides higher, you could just prop the molds up on a support and the clay could drape down past the mold. Then you could cut any type of rim height and finish desired.

Sister Creek Potter said...

I cut the rim by cutting against the edge of the mold. The texture is developed using a stamp pressed against the mold--creating the undulating rim. I need a solid side from bottom to the rim to accomplish these actions.