Temple Rest #3

The latest in the Temple Gate series:

I thought the piece looked sort of like a leaf, but when I went to glaze it, something about the form seemed like this combination fit better. One of my classmates said the piece reminds her of a bird in flight.

I like the contrast between the sea green and black, which you can see better in the shot of the basin:

Batter Bowl #2

I made this batter bowl for two of my friends who just recently were married. It's on the smaller side, but it's the perfect size to whip up a couple eggs or a small batch of pancake batter:

I'm really liking this glaze combination - it turns out great every time as long as you can control the running.

Spade Dish #3

Here is another of the spade dish series. This one is a nice size -- about enough for a small spoon rest. This combination of glaze was an experiment, but it's kind of fun I think:

I also made the small foot on this one instead of rounding out the bottom. You can see the contours of the lines a bit better from the side view:

Batter Bowl #1

I've been trying to work on bowls the last few weeks. I've found that I seem to enjoy two types - ones that have a fairly wide base and ones that have a fairly narrow base. The extremes of the bowl world I guess. Anyway, one of these forms takes this shape, which I call a batter bowl (although I don't put spouts on it for pouring):

This glaze combination was really successful I think. The tone of the inside has a lot of deep blue/green and black. Plus, I kind of like the feel of the piece that comes from being able to see some of the brush strokes:

Clover Trinket Dish #2

Another little one in the clover dish series...I think I like this one as much as the other one.

Of course, this glaze combination is always a winner as far as I'm concerned. The shape of this particular pattern is really growing on me too - I'm hoping to make more in the near future.

Medium Bowl #4

The theme for today's posts is going to be purple. I've been working on some bowl forms lately, and this one happened to turn out okay:

The runs accent the inside well. You can't tell much by the picture, but there is a bit of unevenness at the bottom of the bowl. I'll need to work on that as I make larger forms:

Flower Dish #5

Here is another from the flower series. I'm finally starting to get the hang of glazing these so they actually end up looking like flowers with a solid center:

I really like this deep purple/black combination. You can see a bit from the side too in the natural light:

Spade Dish #2

Here's another spade dish, this time in green and blue hues. The green color is sort of mossy, and the blue is light, like the sky:

Here's another view from the side showing some of the detailing in the run pattern:

Spade Dish #1

This is a new shape I've been experimenting with for small dishes. I like that the wider surface area on the bottom allows some interesting color combinations:

Here's a view from the side that shows a bit more of the brown/green undertones:

Ying Yang Platter #11

Today's theme is green -- for some reason I've had a lot of green pieces come out of the kiln lately. Perhaps it was the summer inspiring me, or some other muse who thinks there should be more green in the world. Anyway, here's the latest in the ying yang series. I made this specifically as a wedding present for a friend getting married next month:

I think the runs turned out fantastic on this piece. The form is also really great given the others in the series - very little warping, and an even tone overall. Here's a close up:

Bamboo Vase

This is a hand built piece in traditional celedon glaze -- I wasn't too excited about the section of the course on hand building and pinch pots, but I thought I'd experiment. This particular piece elicited a lot of odd looks from folks as they were saying "I'm not sure you're supposed to hit the clay so hard it indents..." The result though is quite nice:

The lines in the pot give it a bamboo texture, especially with the variation of color from the green glaze. From the top here you can see how I opened the pot.

Strawberry Platter

I'm not usually one for predetermined shapes or forms, but I got it into my head that I wanted some kind of strawberry serving platter when I saw a display of strawberry related stuff at a store earlier this summer. The idea inspired the following:

Here's another picture on a different background. I was really happy with how the colors turned out. I'm thinking about trying to make another one soon. It takes quite some time for the painting part, but in the end it might be worth it!

Desk Bowl #5

Here is another desk bowl. This one has a tan and blue combination that is pretty interesting:

Another view from the inside, and on a different background:

Flower Dish #3

Here is another fun flower dish with a summer flare. The green is a bit darker than it seems in the picture, but it's still fairly bright. I'd call it sort of a kelley green color:

And here is a view from the side so you can see the depth:

Desk Bowl #2

Here is another desk bowl - the shape on this one is a bit squarer than some of the others, but I think it turned out nicely. The bottom glaze is kind of a peach color with some yellow streaks, and then the top has a dark red/grey sort of thing going on:


The inside is what really sets this piece apart. I randomly put a few extra drops of glaze in there, which contributes to a fun bottom:

Partner's Favorite

I'm not entirely sure what to call this. It's an abstract form - and so far people have told me it looks like a flower, a sunrise, and fire. I kind of like the idea of fire, so someone come up with a catchy name and leave me a comment. Until I get a name, I'm calling this Partner's Favorite because of all the things I've brought home, it's the one piece he has really latched on to:

To give you another view from the top - you can see the colors are sort of a burnt tan, peach and white/cream. This piece was actually kind of an accident - I had a large piece of left over clay that I didn't want to waste, so I let it just be what it wanted to be...which is this:

Clover Trinket Dish #1

This is just a small little thing, but I really enjoy the deeper moves from blue to brown in this piece. The edge is even a bit on the black side, so if you stare at it long enough, you see a ton of colors:

Here is a view from the side to get another look at the runs. See the little white/tan pockets in there? Lots of fun.

Ying Yang Platter #6

Here is the latest from the Ying Yang series. I am REALLY pleased with this one. It's quite bright, but I love the ambiguity of the black runs:

A close up of the corner:

Small Temple Gate

Here is a small version of the temple gate theme. I went a little more abstract with the shape of the basin, and tried an experimental glaze called Turkish Amber. You can't see the color too much, but it's a glassy brown with small pockets of honey - especially on the edges. I will use it again for sure. Here is the front view of the gate:

And here is a view from the side:

And finally, the basin:

Small Bowl #2

This is a small bowl - a bit bigger than a regular desk/rice bowl would be. The glaze did some interesting runs through the inside with blue as the base, but tan and grey streaking:


The outside also has some of the same features, but more blue and grey - less tan. Overall, I was pretty happy with this one:

Flower Dish #2

Here is a small flower dish in some fun summer colors - since the colors are so light, I tried a darker background. It seems to make them pop a bit:


The inside is yellow, and the petals are various shades of blue from baby blue to some darker patches on the sides. Here's a view from the side:

Soup Bowl #2

Here is the second soup bowl -- I like this combination much better than the last one. The contrast between the darker blue and the orange is kind of cool (though in this picture the orange seems brighter than it is in person...the next one is closer to the actual color):


And on the inside, the burnt orange color looks like a sunset. The only thing I'm not sure about are the random dark pockets in the glaze - there is something chemically there that I can't explain. I still think it looks pretty cool though:

Teardrop Dish #2

Here's another little penny dish. The glaze combination is similar to the I posted with the flower dish earlier, so you get the same ice blue runs!
Here is a view from the side. I really like how this one turned out:

Ying Yang Platter #4

This is the latest in the Ying Yang series. Everyone in the studio was raving about it, and I must say I am incredibly happy with the results:

When my mother saw this over the weekend, she convinced me to give it to her. She's planning on giving it to a family friend as a birthday gift, and since I like the friend, I agreed. Here's a close up of the glaze: