Wednesday 20 February 2019

More ceramics - working on the wheel!

With the new year, I decided to try throwing some pots on the wheel. I have certainly been out of practise, not really doing any wheel work for about 30 years! My wrists don't seem to have a lot of strength these days, so centring the clay and coning was more difficult than I remembered.


The two dishes I made, though small, could easily have the function of peanut dishes. While the clay was still very soft after I removed it from the wheel, I re-formed one of the dishes to make it a tad more interesting.


I decided that I would use the same glazing techniques for both dishes. For the inside I painted a solid black glaze that is food-friendly and that I have used before on ceramic pieces (knowing that it fires with a bluish tint). On the outside I used a mix of black and a royal blue glaze that I then sponged off. After this was dry, I painted three different glazes, but only close to the exterior rim as these glazes have a tendency to run when in the kiln. Below are the two dishes after glazing, before firing.


I was very pleased with the results! The exterior glazes did not drip too much, and blended together pleasingly. The interior glaze looks more of a midnight blue than black, and I like it a lot!


I especially like the way the wonky peanut dish fired and look forward to using it the next time I have guests.


No comments:

Post a Comment