bird's egg

I so love this. Made it ages ago but finally got around to smoking it yesterday. I think it has 3 good sides, and here's 2 of them!

the doughnut

I'm getting some nice results now but they're a bit samey on the colour front so I decided to try to try body stain to introduce a background colour to the pot before smoking. I've had limited success, getting a dusty pink colour after bisque firing (because I can't go to a high enough temperature to get a more intense colour without risking the loss of the burnishing). I will continue to experiment. Meantime, this is how the 'doughnut' turned out.

...and there's a lighter side to the doughnut...

and it now looks like this...

So the big pot got fired, the given a few strategic layers of slip and a fierce burning in sawdust and straw. I think it's rather masculine and just a little sinister. Can't go much bigger than this, my modest kiln won't allow...

getting bigger

This has been a week long effort, with constructional problems such that I could only get a couple of coils on at a time. It's a bugger that whilst the top is fresh and plastic whilst the bottom has become dangerously close to leather hard - but got into habit of wrapping top in damp cloth and rubbing bottom with a polished stone. Also stretched the clay to its limits and was greatly relieved that it has lasted the course. Have just finished burnishing and it should be ready to bake in a couple of days.

dark pot...

Smoked this baby yesterday, still smells like a bonfire but that will fade. I used dry meadow grasses and the smoking/burning was fast and furious, producing beautiful dark browns, ochres and buff. It will take at least a week to develop and the shades and shapes will become more defined and subtle. 

build it, bake it, smoke it...

I started to work with clay late last year and by the end of the year I was hooked. Taking my inspiration from organic forms, sea shells and seed heads, I made highly textured pieces. By spring my attention turned to smoother clay and larger pieces, again organic in nature, but finer, larger and bolder. I don't want to say too much, I'd rather that I show what I'm doing and invite your feedback. Here's one of my 'stones', hand built, biscuit fired and smoked...

...and here, one of my smaller, 'egg shell' forms - fine, fragile and burned/smoked to this more dramatic appearance.