Take a look at the pots on this link! Simply gorgeous! Terry Davies
The second phase of setting up my pottery studio involved adding more equipment. I had settled into my “room”-decorated with Aboriginal art-chinese kites-tables, chairs and, of course, lots of inspirational photos of other people’s pottery that I admire. I had my most eclectic menu of music on my iPod player, a sweet breeze, and a mini fridge filled with diet coke (of course) and water – no chocolate though as I can’t be trusted. Out front, there were benches and fantastic hammock swings for relaxing and having those soul-searching moments. It was awesome!
And…then..Brad at Picasso’s Ceramics told me about a fibre-lined gas kiln that was for sale!!! Exciting!!! I had always “wished” for a gas kiln (as I believe that only gas can give you the flow, colours, and depth of glazes that I coveted), but never dreamed I would be able to have one of my own, let alone learn how to use it. That is when the evolution of my studio started.
Originally, my studio was completely housed in the lower part of this building (seen in the photo above) which was the offices for Griffith Tablecraft.
Behind the front office, there is a huge barn (or shed in Aussie speak), where the furniture was made. It is enormous! In fact, according to the picture of the building of the pole barn, it is the largest one in the world! But, I’ve heard since it is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
So when we bought the fibre-lined gas kiln from a lovely lady who was moving into assisted living, we also gained the remainder of her studio-all of her tools, equipment and old clay. Lucky me! but I needed more room, so my studio space then expanded into the big barn.
Moving the kiln, pug mill, wheel, and years of other equipment and tools was no easy task, but what a find! My studio just moved from quite adequate to simply amazing! I had no experience or knowledge of this type of kiln, so I was in for a learning curve-but a fun one! It was in good nick and required only the attaching of some fibre around the door.
In addition to the kiln and pug mill, we also got a Venco wheel, all of her chemicals for glazing, tools, kiln furniture and shelves and heaps more! Now the task to make pots is set!
Setting up a studio begins with a wheel (in my opinion), shelves, and a few tools. All the rest will fall into place over time. This space used to be a laundry room, so although small, it is cozy, with great light, and secure doors- snakes are a problem here! I bought a used Venco wheel from Picasso Ceramics
So I began small and never could have believed the treasures that could be found in Australia!
The studio was pretty basic – no frills, but I didn’t really care – I could throw a pot on my own time, anytime I wanted!
I like shino, but I often find it too monochromatic-even when it ranges from white to orange. So I’m constantly looking for ways to make my glazes (and especially shino) more interesting, more colourful, and fluid. I came upon these cups on the blog posting by Bulldog Pottery,
Around and About with Bulldog Pottery: Bulldog Pottery Holiday Weekend
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the addition of turquoise to the shino. The combination really pops and adds life to the pots! Can’t wait to try this combination! Good turquoise glaze too-need that recipe.
As I’m setting up my studio, one of the things I need is a plaster drying block. Lori Keenan Watts, potter/blogger posted this excellent tutorial on how to do this! Thanks!
Fine Mess Pottery: Side Effects, and How to Pour a Plaster Drying Block
I was so amazed by the fireworks in Sydney on NYE!!! It reminded me of the effect of color on our senses and emotions.
This link explains how color affects us.
Achieving amazing results in glazes on ceramics is my quest. Wishing you all the best and great success in all your endeavours this new year!
Greg Daly is the master of lustres on ceramics and his new book is now available!!! Very exciting!!! Greg Daly’s New Book on Lustres!!! His workshop on Lustres in Coffs Harbour was amazing and I’ll post more on that later. For now, get the book!! Yeah! Can’t wait to get mine! I checked Amazon in the USA and it is listed but not available quite yet-keep checking!
My daily perusal of blogs, websites, and the internet in general will often allow me to stubble upon some inspirational and wonderful stuff. Alex Solla’s blogpost today definitely “wowed” me! Love his photography and the work of Renata Wadsworth. Great form, colour and design- now go make a pot!
I suppose my move to Australia from the USA introduced me to colour – vibrant colour, not subtle in any way, In Australia, the flowers, trees, birds, houses, beaches, fish, and people tend to be more colourful.
This bombardment of colour seems to have produced in me a desire to create those colours in the glazes on my pottery.
I’ve always loved blues (OMG!!!) but I when I first saw a book on the glazes and work produced by Greg Daly, reknown Australian potter, I was gobsmacked (Australian for flabbergasted!). I had never seen colour used so beautifully, intricately or interestingly. It was vivid colour as well! Not the typical “pottery” colours that so many of us are used to. So I was motivated to learn how to do this myself.
Fortunately, the Coffs Harbour TAFE and the Coastal Claymakers were hosting a workshop by Greg Daly and I purchased a spot. Greg’s workshop was fantastic! He is such a generous, knowledgable, inspiring potter/teacher/man.
The first day of the workshop was centred around lustres and how to formulate, fire, and use them on pottery pieces. His slide show was impressive, especially in that he could focus in on a small portion of the glazed piece to show an incredible interaction and how it was achieved. The ability to look at glazes in minutia is key to the development of interesting interaction of colour in glazes.
Greg Daly showed how to mix glazes (as described in his book) so that you can test line blends and then see the results and develop new glazes.
These test tiles show a few of the colours achieved by using this line blend technique. Although I would love to merely have a great, reliable glaze recipe for a particular colour, the process of developing the glazes is very educative and interesting.
These test tiles are examples of some of the colours that can be achieved through this process-pretty exciting!
Applying glaze to pottery is an art in itself and Greg Daly was great to show us how he layers, waxes and applies various glazes to a piece. For example, this bowl had five glazes, waxing, dipped glaze and painted glaze.
I’d never seen anyone plan so intricately for glazing a piece.
I’ve only begun to dip my toe into the crazy world of colourful ceramic glazes, but I’m having a bit of luck and can’t wait to see what I can come up with! This bowl was in the third firing of my fibre-lined gas kiln cone 10 reduction. The base glaze is Royal Blue. The bowl was then waxed in a criss-cross pattern with Greg Daly’s formula of mixing baby oil and turpentine with wax so that it flows better and “paints” on. However, it is very important to wear a protective gas mask while using this type of wax. The piece was then sprayed with Cone 6 Copper Red from the book, Oriental Glazes by Bailey.
There is something about a spoon, especially a ceramic handmade spoon. It makes the piece seem so much more complete and useful. I love the work of Gwendolyn Yoppolo. Check out her website for more beautiful examples of spoons!