Here are the first results I received back from Shady Nook. I made these pots in Reston and took them to Shady Nook in the hope that we would have time for glazing. When I first arrived, the kiln was unexpectedly out of commission due to a faulty part. The replacement part arrived near the end of the week and we were able to do a bisque firing before I left. Those pieces will have to be glazed in the Reston studio.
For a few pieces I brought from Reston and one that I created during my week at Shady Nook, I received a lesson in spraying on glaze, something that would not be available to me in Reston, and using glazes I would not normally have access to. I think I sprayed much more than the pots, but fortunately there was a foil system in place to catch the droplets of glaze that went rogue. One particular glaze, which I used on the porcelain vase above and on the small mixed clay bowl, created interesting blooms when fired due to metallic elements in the clay. The result on the porcelain vase is subtle, but beautiful.
On this small vase, which I also created in Reston, I used a teal underglaze, then sprayed a red glaze over it. Meh. I’m not crazy about the vase, but interested in how the glaze turned out.
For the last of the Reston batch, two catfood bowls (heavy enough to not be pushed around by large cats), I experimented with spraying on two-part glazes. These glazes are meant to be double-sprayed (each a different color) to give the interesting mottled effect. I am very pleased with these two, not only for the interesting effect of the glazes on red clay, but also because I managed to make the two bowls the same size. The cats seem happy with them, too.
And here is a garlic pot I actually made at Shady Nook. I decided to concentrate mostly on bowls and pots with lids while I was there. Here is the second garlic pot I made–after my mentor suggested that the first one would barely fit one bulb of garlic after firing. He was right! I made this one larger. It might fit three bulbs of garlic, tightly. Clearly I need to work larger. For decoration, I used black underglaze, clear glaze, and a green underglaze applied last on the lid handle.
Ceramiclectia 