Hot Out of the Oven - Bowls!
I have a new hobby, throwing pottery on a wheel. It's something I am trying to teach myself and it's been slow going. My work space isn't heated so I can't work in the winter and the lighting isn't the best so I can't work at night. Of course, what I am really saying is, I am not very good. You know what they say, a poor workman blames his tools.
It's a perfect craft for me. You throw a pot, let it dry and if you like the look of it you can move on with the process. If you don't like it, you whack the pot to bits, recycle the clay and start all over. There has been a LOT of whacking and recycling but I thought it was time to move on and fire a few of the less offensive bowls.
It's like Christmas, the waiting is agony! It takes a whole day to fire the greenware into bisque and most of the next day for the kiln to cool down so you can open it. You never know if you have been successful until it's too late. If the greenware isn't completely dry, the pot can explode. Sometimes one exploding pot can ruin all the other pieces in the kiln, devastating!
If things go well, you move on to glazing and transforming the bisque into stoneware. Once again it is a voyage into the unknown. Will the glaze be an attractive colour? Will it drip and cement the pot to the kiln shelf? Have I put on enough glaze? Have I put on too little? Don't open the kiln too soon or you will hear that sickening 'PING' of glaze cracking and breaking and destroying all your hard work.
I don't mean to make it sound so horrible. Actually, it's wonderful, messy, exciting, the extreme sport of crafting! If making a few wonky little bowls is this much fun think how great it will be if I ever make something really good!
It's a perfect craft for me. You throw a pot, let it dry and if you like the look of it you can move on with the process. If you don't like it, you whack the pot to bits, recycle the clay and start all over. There has been a LOT of whacking and recycling but I thought it was time to move on and fire a few of the less offensive bowls.
It's like Christmas, the waiting is agony! It takes a whole day to fire the greenware into bisque and most of the next day for the kiln to cool down so you can open it. You never know if you have been successful until it's too late. If the greenware isn't completely dry, the pot can explode. Sometimes one exploding pot can ruin all the other pieces in the kiln, devastating!
If things go well, you move on to glazing and transforming the bisque into stoneware. Once again it is a voyage into the unknown. Will the glaze be an attractive colour? Will it drip and cement the pot to the kiln shelf? Have I put on enough glaze? Have I put on too little? Don't open the kiln too soon or you will hear that sickening 'PING' of glaze cracking and breaking and destroying all your hard work.
I don't mean to make it sound so horrible. Actually, it's wonderful, messy, exciting, the extreme sport of crafting! If making a few wonky little bowls is this much fun think how great it will be if I ever make something really good!
I think they look excellent! I would proudly display one of them on my counter and tell everyone that passes through my house how talented my sis-in-law is! :) Very cool!
ReplyDeleteLove, Jena
Oh thanks, but I still have a long way to go until I am really happy with my bowls. I have lots of refining to do. I have issues with glaze colours and I want to be able to make a bowl big enough to make bread in. That takes a huge amount of clay and I am not strong enough to manage it..YET! Still, it's one of the most fun things I've ever tried to do! : )
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