Between like to do, and must do

It is cold here, not as cold as "cold" means, but fairly cold for us; +8, +10 Celsius during the day is too cold for me for working with the wet, freezing clay. Nevertheless I tried today to do maintain works like cleaning, and putting things into place and taking pictures. I have also mixed some new glazes for trial in the few coming kilns.

The view from my studio in a rainy day

I was not happy with the bowls I did last time. Although deliberately, I reduced the time and effort I put in every bowl's decoration, the results seem to me dull and less than I hoped for.

The inside of the bowls, being glazed with clear glaze only, look uninteresting.

I must find a way to decorate, like I would like, but still spending less time with each bowl so I could sell it cheaper. Or, I could decide to do what I like best- that means putting a lot of time in each piece, and then sell it for a lot of money. It is complicated; no one here pays so much for ceramic. Maybe the wiser approach should be looking for places which might buy expensive ceramics.

Looking for the right way, I found myself decorating more bowls made of brown clay, combining the two sides of the bowl by decorate the inside as well.

While the kiln works

Part of the new bowls are already in the kiln. Mean while, I have many thoughts whether to glaze them with clear glaze only, so that the inside of the bowl remains white, in order to give more impact to the sgraffito outside. Or should I glaze the inside with colored glaze. but then I had a technical problem, how to glaze the inside of the bowl without staining the carved engobes in the outer side.

I also thought about brushing some colored glaze in the inside, and then cover it with clear glaze, like I did with the small bowls following...

In the end, I was too scared to destroy the work of the sgraffito, so to be on the safe side, I used the clear glaze only, maybe next time I'll be braver.

 

Meantime, some more photos of the previous kiln products, made out of Black Mountain Clay, as well as Laguna wc403, and wc429.

Last week, I came to the studio anxious to open the kiln to see the results of painting with white slip over colored engobes that I made myself…

It was disaster, the deep blue engobe swallowed completely the white slip; all the rims were ugly; very bad experience. I couldn't start working again, I just sat there, disappointed looking at the pots till I knew exactly what I should do:

After that, I could have started again, with new heavy big babies, and with a new aspiration to see them soon, coming out of the kiln beautifully and successfully decorated and glazed.

My first Pottery selling

I was nervous last night; it was raining which isn't a good sign for sale- event, but a very blessed occurrence here.

We all, worked so hard for the selling day; there was the girl who weaves baskets, another one who makes dresses, one that makes metal tea pots, one who makes knitted jewelry, and me with my ceramic pots.

The house where we showed our works is a beautiful house, and each of us got a nice corner. People arrived little by little, not as many as we expected but they eventually came willing to buy our products.

I have sold all the personal - quiche dishes, and a few bowls. It seems that people here like Rutile green glaze and White glaze, although I am sure that one sale event, does not necessarily a solid proof to what people really like.

All these plates were glazed with Rutile Green Glaze on top of self made black-gold engobe .

these ones, were glazed with val Cushing's white matte glaze.

all of them were sold, now i have only photos.

Still looking for my way

I am still looking for a way to express my skills as a painter through my ceramic works.

Although it is so different, especially because I am most of the time preoccupied with the actual technique of creating the pots, finding the right slip, or the right glaze.

When I paint, I could see the results immediately, therefore, could alternate one color with another, add white to reduce dark color, or add some other colors to increase shadows and mystery. Most of my painting process is done by "thinking and visualization", thus my hands act as if they were a light tool or a brush of the mind.

In the pottery realm, my hands are like hard workers. They work, as does my whole body, in full power; my mind is busy thinking mathematically. How to do this or that correctly, how the glaze will come out of the kiln, what color would it be?

(all drawings are from a series called "The Book of Cells")

In the last few weeks I had the flu, like many others all over the world, but now I am back ready to learn and experiment again. Next week I have my first "selling" event. I am very excited. Especially because I am anxious to hear people's response to my work as a potter, for the first time…

Here are some pots from last month works:

Sgrafito technique, on Weiser Honey's Glaze mugs.

Egg Shell Glaze mugs made from buff clay.

Dark Brown (Laguna wc 391) clay bowls, decorated with white slip (Val Cushing's recipe)