Finished Pieces from Tony Clennell Workshop

I picked up a lot of finished pieces today, including those from the Tony Clennell weekend workshop, and I was VERY pleased with the results.  I think the glazes are finally working for me instead of against me.  Here are the beauties from the Tony Clennell workshop, and I will post the other pieces another time.


During the workshop (which was 3 days, but we took a 4th day to finish up), I created 4 large pieces, and 4 mugs.  All turned out well beyond my expectations.


Let's start with this covered casserole dish...

1) This casserole dish was thrown from B-Mix white clay.  It was very stiff (and the P570 white clay which I love because it is buttery smooth and soft was sold out), but I managed to throw it.  The base was thrown as a shallow dish from approx. 2300g of clay.  The top part was thrown as a bottomless bowl, from 2200 g of clay, and attached.  Then the pedestal and the lid (approx. 2000 g) were thrown from the same clay.  The handles on the side were thrown as a ring, and then cut in half and attached.


It is decorated on the sides with thick slip. The glaze is Ash Yellow, which gives the look of a soda fired vessel, and has some beautiful visual texture.  I sprayed it lightly in spots with Khaki, which gives it a slight blush.  But even under the lid, which I don't remember spraying with Khaki, I have some beautiful blush of a rusty color.  It couldn't have turned out more beautiful, in my opinion.  When it was bisque fired, the handle on the top of the lid had popped off, but very cleanly.  So I took a chance and attached it with glaze, and that did the trick.  I'm very happy about that, as I had already accepted that I may end up with a lidless casserole, which would have been a shame, since it is such a beautiful lid.  The little dimple on top is something I learned from Tony, it makes it easier to grasp the lid.


I made another one which is very similar, except it features a large thrown handle :

2) This big fella was thrown from similar amounts of B-Mix clay.  My notes say it was 2300g for the base, 1400g for the top, 1400g for the thrown handle, and 600g for the pedestal.  The big handle was thrown as a ring, cut in half, attached together, and pinched to give the join more compression, as well as to create a beautiful spine on the handle.  (It reminds me of my big dragons.)  I really like the beautiful swirl on the inside, and also the line which I added on the pedestal.  I had also added some dramatic Tony Clennell style loop handles on either side of the big handle, but they had cracked off during the drying process.  We all seemed to suffer some losses, probably since we were rushing so much to finish everything, and it was a very hot and dry day when we were working on the pieces, so they were quite dry already when we combined and added attachments.  I'm glad they popped off cleanly, leaving no trace, so it looks great without them.


The glaze is again the Ash Yellow, which performed beautifully.  My notes say I sprayed a bit of Khaki as well, but I see that it was just on the underside, which has a slight blush.  Beautiful.  And I used Deep Blue to accent the fine line on the pedestal.


And the final one thrown and assembled in a similar manner :

3) This big fella was thrown from Columbia Buff w/ Grog clay, 2300g on bottom, 1800g on top and pedestal of approx. 700g (which I later cut down since it was too tall).  It is glazed in Tenmoku, and then Copper Red added inside.  It is a bit dark for my liking, but I knew this Tenmoku + Copper combination would produce an interesting result, and it didn't disappoint.  It is quite swirly, which is what I was hoping.


This is my final large piece, which Tony demo'd as a pitcher, with a spout and handle.  But I couldn't get myself to create a pitcher.  I had decided I would like to add two handles, but in the rush to finish, I decided I liked it without any handles, just as a simple vase.  It is more versatile that way, right?

4) This big boy is a full 14" tall.  It was thrown from B-Mix clay in 3 pieces :belly (2600g), top (probably 2/3 of that), and closed pedestal.  It looked a bit too weird (the proportions looked wrong to me) when finished, so I added a very gritty slip to it as decoration.  The glaze is Ash Yellow, then sprayed in the middle with Khaki.  I really like the resulting rusty color, I think it matches the rough texture very well.


Then my 4 mugs, which I experimented with applying very different glazes :

This first one is very rustic, suitable for a cabin :

 5) This rustic mug was thrown from 700g of the Columbia Buff w/ Grog clay.  The handle is pulled to one side, suggesting a snake, or perhaps a horse tail.  It is surprisingly comfortable.  And the little decorative button on the top of the handle (with seashell pattern) begs to be a thumb hold.  It is finished in Ash Yellow glaze, with Deep Blue accents on the handle and seashell.  I love the variation in colors and the heavy freckling.  It really looks like something which would come out of a wood firing.

 6) This mug is also 700g of the Columbia Buff w/ Grog clay.  It has a simple rustic bottom, but appears sleeker and more refined than the previous mug.  It is glazed in Copper Red, which I dipped, and then double-dipped the top half.  I haven't had good success from Copper Red in the past, usually ending up with white, but this is a beautiful Copper Red result.  Very rich and even hinting at being drippy.  I really love it, and  again it is surprisingly comfortable, and I really like the spiral embellishment on the handle.

7) This was also thrown from 700g of Columbia Buff w/Grog.  It features a trimmed bottom, which I prefer.  The glaze is Carbon Trip Shino, which is so unpredictable, but usually beautiful.  Surprisingly it came out mostly the same color, except the rim is shinier than the rest of the mug.  The color is really rich, I think because of the high iron content in the clay.  It is a bit funky to drink from, with those pulled up sides, but I think it could become a good friend to someone.

8) This is probably my favourite of the 4 mugs.  In fact, it may become my mug at work, as the (commercial, mass-produced) one I have now is a bit chipped.  It is a bit smaller than I'm used to (the other easily fits 14 oz), but it has a really beautiful feel, is artistic, but refined.  It has a trimmed foot which is pushed in in 4 spots, to mirror the rim which is also pushed in, to form a sort of floral shape.  Thus the embellishment on the handle is floral also.  There is a nice swirl inside at the bottom, and the Tam's green glaze is rich but elegant.  Yes, I think this one will need to come to work with me.


Speaking of mugs and pottery, I am ECSTATIC to announce that Hemlock Mountain Coffee Co. in Agassiz is now carrying my pottery.  If you are ever passing by that way, make sure you stop in for a coffee and browse their giftware.  They have excellent online reviews for both their coffee and their service.

I just stopped by their Facebook page, and was excited to see my pottery in a couple of their photos :

I brought home a lot of other exciting pieces (many of which will end up at Hemlock Mountain Coffee Co., I'm sure).  One piece which will NOT be for sale, at least for the foreseeable future, is my beautiful beast of a vase featuring three winged dragons.  I will post more photos next time I have a chance, but here is me after just arriving home, beaming with joy that it survived both firings, and the glazes look amazing :

Stay tuned.