The first handle vases complete; or, The Wonders of Glaze!

So, all of the studio work for the winter session was fired, and we gathered en masse for the unveiling today (very exciting results from the new oxidation kiln… I’m looking forward to using oxidation next session.  All of my pieces were fired in reduction still, though, so these colors are one-of-a-kind.)

Here’s the whole studio’s output:

Out of which I was able to find my six pieces…

Now, before we look at each piece’s close-up, don’t you think we should compare them with how they looked before the firing?  Let’s go piece by piece, shall we?

Remember this piece?  The last of the symmetrical handled pieces…

Add glaze:

Then we started going asymmetrical…

More on that theme…

Glazed simply…

Another asymmetrical piece…

Notice especially a happy accident which happened to the bottom of the handle on the left side…  I wasn’t paying much attention on these early pieces to the internal connections within the ribboning.   Look what happened where the handle separated slightly.  I love it!

It actually adds support and an airiness that I like…

Then we did the over-the-top, God-reaching-for-Adam vase…

Glazed (notice how there’s some movement, or slumping, of the handles, which change the relationship a bit, and how the ribboned handles hold glaze, sometimes enough to create a nice glaze drip or bubble)…

And finally my studio mates convinced me to break away from the linear plane on the handles…

Which glazed seems to auger well for the pieces I left for glazing next session, don’t you think?

So there we go.  Thanks, everyone, for the input on glazing.  Let’s see where this new direction takes my work, okay?

Possum’s new owner…

Ok, not something I knit, exactly, but can I be the only person NOT allowed to post picture’s of Mia?  No.  So here she is, excited to receive the possum (probably not pictured)…

Wait, I think I see the kiwi somewhere in this photo.  That justifies the post, no?  Note to self: knit animals can’t compete with mylar ballooons.

Hello, Possum!

From the wonderful, out-of-print Cleckheaton Wildlife in 8 Ply, from Australia, an entire set of patterns for Australian wildlife knit with yarn, comes my new friend, Hello, Possum!

With a squeaker in both his belly and in his face, Hello, Possum is a very vocal new friend, though he can also roll over and play dead…

I look forward to making his friends, the koala, the wombat, the bilby, and the Tasmanian devil… so many friends to knit!

The last of the red clay handle pots…

Next session I may switch to porcelain for a challenge.  Also, I want to start making these vases in smaller form (these below are currently over 15 inches tall, which is difficult for firing…)

Let’s go through the process together one more time, shall we?  All together now, we start with the rough pieces…

Then we trim them…

Then we fuse them together…

Then we look through the handles we made the previous week…

And we let our imaginations run wild…

But now we do something new!  These pieces are not exactly the easiest to turn upside down to look for my signature, so I’ve made two signature stamps.  I pressed out a bunch of stamped signatures…

And then had to decide where to put them.   First I tried on the front of the pieces, near the handles or near the base…

But that didn’t seem right, so I removed them and then found the perfect spot… inside the upper rim!

These will be glazed in the spring session for firing with the new oxidation kilns, so it remains to be seen what color palette I will be using.  Hope you enjoy!

Inspector says handrails, we put in handrails!

We had the first inspection and they require handrails in both the front and back of the house.  At first I wasn’t pleased, but seeing them now and using them, okay, I’m a convert.  We’re still going to have a bilco covering the front against storms and such, but in such a way that light will still come through the windows at the top.  We also had the gate reversed so it swings outward into the street, which makes it much easier to use.  The handrail is removable in case we bring in wide furniture.

In the back, we had to build a bit of railing as well for protection, according to the inspector.  Again, not in the original plan, but the contractor did a great job with it to match the rest of the work done years ago.  There will be a wooden gate on this as well in case we need to access the utilities at the wall…

The closets are being built now, the shelving inside them, that is.  All finishing touches.  It feels finished to a large degree, which is a thrill, though we’re still dealing with the contractor daily, so one can’t exactly forget.

So close we can smell it…

We’re really in the final stretch now!  We have had the door from the street painted, and both the marble sill and overhead light installed (we’re still designing the bilco cover and the handrail)…

We’ve had the exposed brick sealed, and all of the closets painted, now that we’ve corrected the door issues we had (the closet systems have been designed but still need to be built/installed)…

The utility closets are finished and even have the heat detectors in place…

The marble sill to the bathroom is in place and the tiles in both areas have been finished off and grouted…

And in the bathroom we have the shower finished off including the fixtures (finally)…

And the sink, towel bar, medicine cabinet, light and toilet are installed and fully functional…

And in the kitchen area we have the backsplash, the microwave/fume hood, the new cabinets with hardware, the sink, the marble counter (we still need another hole drilled into the counter for the soap dispenser)…

Across from which the pantry and hall closet and main entry way are completed (though again the closet interiors need to be built)…

We’ve had the antique cast iron stove refinished…

Which will live next to the fireplace, now that the brownstone has been cleaned…

Let’s take a close look at the beautiful mosaic again, now that it, too, is grouted, shall we?

We’ve had the bar area correctly sized for the wine refrigerator and rolling bar/stool set to fit below, and the stained glass doors we designed ourselves are finished and waiting to be installed…

The new back door and window are in, and the pipes have been moved so that they don’t obscure the view too much…

Again, all of the exposed brick has been sealed…

All the way into the new storage area underneath the internal staircase…

We’re almost there!

Water Works, to go with Electric Company

See what I meant about the color of the doors making a huge difference?

And the shower has been installed…

Practice!, or, follow your husband…

David played Carnegie Hall this evening with the NYC Big Apple Corps symphonic band.  It was a great concert.

This week’s home game!

Starting with these two vase bases…

And these two neck flutes…

And these funky extruded pieces I formed last week…

What would YOU come up with?

I had no idea.  But then, playing around with the pieces, first I made my first piece which doesn’t have the handles exclusively in a single plane…

And then there’s the piece I made which according to my fellow potters is a “Creation of Man/God reaches for Adam” vase…

Some shots of the girls…

I stopped by to visit Steph and Mia to drop off all the stuffed animals I had made her these past few months.  Not many shots of the knitting, but what’s important here is the now ambulatory Mia-zilla!  With her new baby eggplant!

Nap time  over!  Grab your kiwi and look adorable…

And then we’re off for our walk!