Meanwhile, back in the studio. . .

Small bowl glaze fired twice

The rain has stopped for the time being. I had a wonderful walk with Jasper at our beloved Messalonskee, sprayed the apple trees, did some weeding, and was eventually able to get back to the studio. This time, it was to clean up and photograph some new work. 

I love buttons.

The image to the left was part of a series of about six pieces that elicited a "yuk" from me when I first brought it out of the glaze kiln. It didn't look like this. It was sort of a dull white with a lump of brighter white on the lip. I was ready to toss them all, but something stayed my hand. A week later I was doing some glazing and decided to re-glaze these pieces. What did I have to lose? So I heated them, and then applied a light coat of Pistachio, followed by dipping the lip in Emeraude, which I knew would run like crazy. What I couldn't have predicted is the colors it left in her wake. Very nice complexity for an oxidative kiln. I especially like the orange/red left at the very far margins. A good experiment. A good decision to hold my frustrated hand until a more philosophical me was able to swim to the top.
 

I've also been wanting to make some buttons for two of my favorite jackets. One is a very old dark green swing style that has always has the most boring plastic buttons. When I lost one, I replaced it with a fine silver button that I cast from something in a class. One of my very few casting experiences. I made the ceramic button on the left, above, for that one. It's a little "rustic" looking, but I think I'll like it on that coat. The other coat is a cranberry colored mid thigh length coat that is slicker looking. More urban, if you will. The two copper buttons were ostensibly for that. The one on the right was just a  notion. I took 34 gauge (very thin) copper, annealed it, and leather-hammered it between a plastic embossing template. Then I sweat-soldered it to a brass back (22 gauge), and soldered on a loop. Voila. Button. Relatively simple to make, and I didn't really expect to be taken with it. The middle button is a hollow form (just what it sounds like), and is much more difficult to make. I though this would be my favorite, so I made six of them!  Well. So much for that thought. I love the simpler flatter button, but now need to make 5 more. As we used to say in my lab, "Check your assumptions".

Oval vessel.

This little oval dish is from the thrown-and-altered work I did in my class. (Thank you, Amy, for your patience with my back. . .)  All of the pieces here were unattractive as described above after the first firing. Again, my impulse was to put them in the trash so I would never have to look at the abysmal failure again. My impulse to Not Waste Things kicked in once again, though and I stayed my hand. Smile. Such a quaint turn of the phrase, isn't it?

Anyway, I once again re-glazed (after heating the glazed piece in a microwave,) then applied Pistachio over the whole mess, with a rim of Emeraude. It yielded a different look than the little bowl for some reason. It may have been that I applied the rim glaze less heavily, or just that the combination with the original glazes (the inside is a matt green) gave a different effect. Anyway, it resulted in a piece that no longer embarrasses me. I really like the little foot that I put on after reshaping the thrown sides.

And the inside matt finish is way cool. Humble opinion not.

The last two pieces from the thrown and altered bit were treated roughly the same way, though the little lidded container was re-fired with Forest instead of pistachio. Again. Not an embarrassment, which seems to be my current overreaching goal in life!

Good news? I have a good start on thrown-and-altered work. More good news? It's starting to dry out again, so the garden calls. Turns out, so does the studio. Pleasant tasks all around!