Glaze Tests

I have been extremely busy with testing glazes the last 3 weeks. My first batch was from Michael Bailey's book. I chose the AM1 base as I fell in love with the colors. They came out perfectly but proved to be too matt and opaque for functional ware.

My second round of glazes tests are from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes by John Hesselberth & Ron Roy: http://www.masteringglazes.com/index.html

They came out perfectly! I am so pleased and excited by the results. I will run another kiln load next week and post those pictures. Now I am dying to get on the wheel to make more! To check out my latest work with the MC6G tests, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/SunnyDazeDesign/MC6GGlazeTests1?authkey=i-BZTFQjkmg and http://picasaweb.google.com/SunnyDazeDesign/MC6GGlazeTests2?authkey=87aG5aHhyC8

Christmas Presents

There is nothing more special and rewarding than making something yourself and giving it to a family member or a friend. The candle holders to the right were gifts for my sister at Christmas and the Beer Stein and coffee mug was for my brother.

I wanted to give something extra special to my mother but I had yet to complete (fire & glaze) a piece which I felt was good enough or special enough. Luckily her birthday is coming up in a couple of months!

I'm Bustin'!

I love the shape of this bowl and the colors!!! Look at the cool effects where the green and black meet! This was going to be a gift but I like it too much to give away. Click on it to get a closer look!!!

A couple of days ago I was sitting at the wheel and I made something that made me say "Wow" for the first time! I am starting to be pleased with my results! So the lessons are paying off. I now have control over the clay and now it is just a matter of practice, practice, practice!

My test glazes are almost done so that is the next step! It is exciting and scary at the same time because I need to experiment with the glazes but I want results now that I really am starting to like what I am making. Yikes! Patience was never one of my assets!

Glaze Fire Success !!

My first kiln load of glazed pieces was also a success! I had a bit if a panic because I couldn't see my cones properly but in the end everything worked perfectly. The picture on the left is my favorite piece.

The kiln worked great and the glazes came out perfectly but I am not really all that impressed with the results. Not that there were any mistakes just the painting with a brush (versus dipping or pouring) has a very, how could I describe it, juvenile result. But I wasn't in love with any of these pieces as they were the first ones I threw on the wheel and the first ones to experiment with the glazes.

I did have some cool results where the glazes over-lapped and I will duplicate that again on future pieces. Now I really have the incentive to make my own glazes versus premixed glazes. I am just waiting for one more piece of the puzzle and I can embark on marking my own glazes very soon.

Bisque Fire Success!

I put Estrin (new kiln) through the paces of her first bisque firing yesterday. I was in the garage at 6am when it was -18C with the wind chill. She worked great and the bisque was a complete success. Not a single crack or loss! It took 10.5 hours to get her to just short of 1800 F. A little slower than it could have been but I was paranoid and I wasn't sure how fast the kiln would heat up so I was playing it safe. At 7:30am today the temp was still 300 F with the peep holes open and -10.5C outside.

The picture above is the bisque ware fresh out of the kiln ready to be glazed. Tomorrow I will load up the kiln again for a glaze firing. Cross your fingers!

Dyna (the old kiln) has found a new home at a shelter in East Vancouver. The man who picked it up repairs kilns and will be able to get her going without much cost. So everyone is happy!

Good-Bye Dyna, Hello Estrin

Dyna was supposed to be my new best friend but after much investigation it was going to cost me $200 - $300 to have her wired up and that was IF we had enough room on our electrical panel to do so and I wasn't even sure if she worked.

So welcome Estrin who is a much newer model (if you call 1978 newer). She is in perfect shape, the same size AND she will plug right into the dryer outlet so no need for creative wiring!

Online Galley & Items for Sale

It's official! Click here to check out my latest pieces plus items for sale.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SunnyDazeDesign

It is a little sparse at the moment but I will add items as they are completed so visit often!

Pottery Class

So here they are, some of the lopsided items I made in the pottery class I just took. They all dried to the bat so upon trying to remove them their bottoms got ruined and they turned out a little lopsided. But I learned a lot from the course and am now taking my second course.

I have been making lots of stuff on the wheel and hand-building by using my extruder and slab building. So as soon as the kiln is up and running I will post some more finished pieces.

Kiln

I'd like you to meet Dyna. She's old (40+ yrs), she's ugly and she's needs some work. Apparently she works and she is going to be my new best friend. Her interior is in great shape! She is an old Dyna-Kiln H-8800 from L&L Manufacturing. L&L has been around for 60 years and this is one of their oldest kilns. She needs some new wiring, shelves and a little love but I hope to have her running this coming weekend. I have a bit to learn as she is completely manual. She does have a pyrometer but I will need to get some cones to ensure she fires to the appropriate temperature for bisque and glaze firing. Needless to say, I am very excited to have my own kiln as I can be completely self-sufficient.

Tomorrow we are pulling out all of our glazed pieces at the studio where I am taking a course so I will post some of my drunk-ware (aka my lopsided pieces) shortly. If we have enough people the wheel-throwing course will commence this Thursday!

Gettin' Muddy & Takin' Classes

There are things you just can't learn from a book or video! I have many books on pottery and a couple of DVD's. These are great for ideas and tips and tricks but to really get started you need to take lessons or be shown by someone first hand. Pottery is such a hand's on skill and a lot of things can be learned by handling clay to see what it will or will not do, by pushing the clay and yourself to the limits. But the basics of centering and throwing clay are rarely self-taught.

I have been fortunate enough to be taking a beginners class in pottery fundamentals - hand-building, throwing on the wheel and glazing right here in Squamish. I already had some basics but I have much to learn and have learned so much in this course. I'm very excited about the up-coming wheel throwing class with Kay Austen!

Needless to say, I have many pieces right now. Luckily I have lots of family members!!!

Oh and I pick up a kiln on Saturday!!! My very own kiln! It needs a little work but it should be running in a week or so!!!!

More to come on that!!

Quote's

Pottery is very individual and very personal. There are two quotes which sum this up:

Jenny Smack is a local potter here in Squamish, BC. "I have an inner urgency and passion for clay, as it allows me to indulge my senses into creation....the raw tactile connection I experience with the clay. " http://members.shaw.ca/jennysmack/

Bill van Gilder from the DIY Network in the US "The more we sit behind our computers, the more we need that handmade mug, serving bowl, or plate that grounds us. They not only connect us to earth materials, they connect us by touch to all the thought, emotion and creativity that went into making them."

Greenware

Here is my first batch of "stuff" that I made on the wheel. Although not perfect, I am pleased with the results. I have learned a lot of "what not to do" in this process.

Drying is a slow process (1 - 2 weeks) and should not be rushed. The pieces are flipped over so that they have a chance to dry uniformly to prevent stress on the piece which could lead to cracking. I dry my pieces for 3 - 7 days in the garage where it is cool and damp and then move them into the house after trimming.

Once the greenware is completely dried it is ready for the first firing in the kiln. Once it is fired, the bisque ware is ready to for glazing. Then it will be fired at a higher temperature a second time to set the glaze. More on glazing later!

The majority of these pieces will also be used to test my glazes and different types of glazing techniques.

For more information about pottery visit http://www.answers.com/topic/pottery

Trimming

Today I trimmed a bunch of my work which I have thrown on the wheel. Trimming is the last stage before bisque firing. Work that is thrown on the wheel often needs to be trimmed or turned to make its thickness uniform and/or to form a foot on the piece. This process is done when the piece has stiffened enough to survive manipulation. This condition is called leather hard. As you can see by the picture, the finished work is placed upside down on the wheel and held into place by bits of soft clay so the piece does not fly off of the wheel.

The piece is allowed to air dry until it is hard and dry to the touch. At this stage it is known as greenware. Items of greenware are very brittle but they can be handled with care. Greenware items are occasionally sanded with fine grade sandpaper to ensure a smooth finish in the completed item.

The greenware is often given a preliminary firing in a kiln. Once it has been fired the articles are known as biscuit ware or bisque.

Welcome to my Blog!

As a child growing up in Scarborough, Ontario I always knew two things. One was I did not want to live in a big city and two was that I always wanted to be creative. I wanted to be able to create something with my hands. Something I could be proud of because I made it.

I moved to British Columbia in 1994 and fell in love with the mountains and the ocean but Vancouver was still a big city. In 2002 I moved to Squamish and for the first time in my life I felt like I was home to stay. Squamish is everything I every dreamed of as a child and I feel so fortunate to have found the perfect place to live and grow.

I have tried many different mediums of art over the years but nothing really captured me until I tried pottery. In 1999 I took my first course in pottery focusing on hand-building techniques and I fell in love with clay. I dabbled a bit but did not have the adequate environment as an incentive to be creative. I always wanted to try out the pottery wheel but I felt a little intimated because I knew I wanted to do it, but what if I couldn’t do it? Patience was never one of my stronger attributes but the desire and need to create with clay was lurking inside and looking for an avenue of escape.

In October 2006 I had the opportunity to take a wheel-throwing course at Clayworks Community Pottery Studio in Squamish and I was immediately hooked. Since then I have taken more courses, set up my own studio with a wheel, a kiln, an assortment of tools and I make and experiment with my own glazes.

I am completely addicted to clay. I lay awake at night thinking about different forms, methods, ideas and glazing techniques. I have a constant urge to get out into my studio and immerse myself in a project. I like to push myself and push the clay to its limits to learn what the clay will do. Clay used to control me, then I controlled the clay but now we cooperate.

I enjoy all forms of pottery from slab-building; coil-building; using extruded shapes; sculpting to throwing on the wheel. I use a multitude of mediums in my work and I am always thinking of the next 100 techniques I want to try or things I want to make. There are just not enough hours in the day.

I have found my home here in Squamish and discovered my passion for pottery. I feel very fortunate for the opportunities I have had and I am looking forward to growing and developing my skills. I am proud of my accomplishments thus far and I am excited about advancing my skills to the next level. This is a dream come true for me as I have a persistent inner desire and passion to get muddy and “play clay”.