Thursday, February 16, 2012

That was quick

Truth be told those blues the other day were chased away by the time I was out in the studio. It really is a wonder how just the walk across the yard and in to the studio to work can change everyting.
This week is high production mode with some kinks thrown in for good measure.
production- candle bottles 3 different sizes...

The production went along pretty smoothly but we have a few pieces left to work out on the collections and there are times that vision and actual made piece don't work.
On paper a straight sided bowl with a foot 4"X 10 inches finished.
take in shrinkage and the wet size is oh, about 4.9X11.5 ...yeah, I am guessing.
So Mark made a few and I walked over and said- No to them. The shape screams problems to me.
Starting with the wide flat bottom, handling to trim and  the ease of warping, plus she has no shape and no personality.
We decided this is a bowl that needs to be tweaked.
So we tweaked it.
Mark  made it more like a bowl we were working on in January, but smaller.
Upper board left hand side. We scraped 2 of the prototypes and changed one to a heavy rim.
We have found a few things that just don't translate and lucky for us the designer understands when we tweak. We do let her approve the change, but it has been interesting to work from the drawings.
never hurts to say good-bye............
I am enjoying the shape of this low fat vase we are making for collection 2. This is the smaller of the 2 vases and there is one a step up. They are nice and fat and fill my head with possibilities.
I am excited as we pull finished pots out of the bisque kilns and fill shelves with bisque for the collections. It will be fun to see these as they come out of the gas kiln.
 These are samples of glazes: Sunrise to the left and Long-leaf to the right.
The one we are calling Sunrise is one we have worked with for awhile.
We will have to be careful on how some pieces have the top wood ash glaze applied.
 Otherwise we will be investing in more shelves.
The Long-leaf is a nice solid green with some speckles.
 It is interesting to me to see the simplicity of this glaze.
 They both play well with the fabric samples we have.
That is all I have today.
Best get cracking!
M

20 comments:

gz said...

I'm making storage jars like the low fat vase. It is a satisfying shape!

cookingwithgas said...

HiGZ- we could see these with lids on them. Mark wants to call them jars but I have named them the low, fat vase instead.

Unknown said...

I love the fat vases~ want to pick one up and hug it!

Lori Buff said...

Low and fat has negative connotations. How about calling them well rounded and well grounded?
It's a really beautiful shape for a vase or a jar.

Tracey Broome said...

Some days I feel low and fat, haha!
The sunrise glaze is really perfect for those candle holder/vase shapes, yummy, yummy.
What a year you guys are going to have,
Holy crap now your word verification is like the one Ron has, I can't read these things!

Linda Starr said...

Yeah what's with a two word verfication now, I am having a really hard time reading some of them. What fun to see your process, those last ones almost look like pedestal bowls and I can see that glaze could run right onto the shelf, scary prospect.

Judy Shreve said...

I love all of these pieces - low fat round tall sunrise - yikes! Such great work - love hearing about your process - and what fun to have new work to think about and create! YAY!

Michèle Hastings said...

Lori's comment cracked me up! Good choice on the bowl change. You guys are really cranking out the pots over there!

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

Isn't it great how the flow of our work can get us out of the blue and into the bright possibilities of our life?! Love it. Love seeing all those yummy forms too. Beautiful.

Dennis Allen said...

Love the fat jars ( they are all jars to me ,lidded or not ) The tall pitchers(jugs)on the top shelf look great too.

cookingwithgas said...

how funny Lori a well grounded vase...I can now apply that to me!
I am trying to use the word fat as in good- fat is not always bad unless we use it that way.
Thank you all for your kind words, back to work!

cookingwithgas said...

ps---what is up with the two hard to read words???? It took me 3 tries on TB site last night.
Hey blogger we hate those hard to read words!

ang design said...

me too!! i read your post last night.. man thats some production line you have going M... happy throwing

Gary's third pottery blog said...

oh yes, your glaze....oh my :) and such nice fat pots, yeeeeeeessssss!

Tracey Broome said...

Phat pots :)
I'm turning off my word verification, I can't stand those things.

Julia said...

I love the fat vases!

The glazes are very earthy...lovely.

cookingwithgas said...

Hey yous guys thanks for the reading and comments- we are working hard. I have been up with the stars and moon this morning checking pots.

smartcat said...

That bowl has a very holdable, usable feel....and oh my! those fat guys....like cubby huggable babies!

And yeah......the verification sucks!

Laurie said...

Especially love those bowls! Hard not to be cheerful on these lovely days!

cookingwithgas said...

chubby holdable babies....I like that and yes to sunshine!