I tried the porcelain sample, after the last clay order, and made a simple square pot. I glazed it with a beautiful light blue celadon glaze. The porcelain was tricky to use, and the pot was a bit wonky, but the blue celadon was so perfect.
I ordered a bag of porcelain. But I put off using it, and it had been on the shelf since January. For the last couple of weeks, I have often moved it to my desk, but returned it to the store unopened.
Well, last Thursday I bit the bullet, and by Tuesday morning this week I had nine slab-built pots in a streetmap pattern. Each pot is a different shape, but the building process is the same, and I have been able to improve as I go. The slabs are quite thin so I have had to adapt the joins. I am not sure how these will fire, so fingers crossed.
I have a lot of options in terms of how to colour these pots. It may be better to break up this set into three sets of three, or even individual pots, in order to test out different glaze and oxide treatments.I have a few things that I would like to try out.
1. I have created an oxide wash that works well under celadon.
2. I have a second celadon recipe that worked last year, but I would like to test before applying it.
3. I would like to test different colourant oxides in the celadon base glaze.
4. I want to add lines of colour using ceramic transfers
5. I want to create texture in the lines, or in the celadon, glaze using different methods to create a weathering effect. I have glaze recipes for three or four different texture effects, to try..
I will have to start on another set of nine pots. This time I will adjust the tops to give a 'roofline' effect, I have worked out how this might be done on a set of nine, although it is quite complex. I need to make a slight change to my measurements to accomodate the change in making the joins. Finally I will look at the variance in the horizontal lines, perhaps this should be exaggerated a bit more?
Rob has suggested I make some solid forms. I considered this idea previously when I looked at Rachel Whitereads' work, and decided that it did not tie in with my concept. However I would like to give it a go on a small porcelain wall piece. I might also make a set of pots into hollow 'cubes' to see how that looks. Finally he wants me to reproduce a larger version of a more freeform maquette that I made, so I have a lot of extra making to do.
I am feeling under pressure that there may be too many options and not enough time, and Ceramic Wales is on the horizon!
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