More Finished Pieces from the Summer

I've posted the pieces from the Tony Clennell workshop, and my leaf plates, and the big dragon pot.  I'm posting a few more pieces, which I picked up recently, before the studio closed.  It will reopen in September.  There are a few more I have not taken photos of yet, and it's too late now to get good lighting, so they'll need to wait for another time.

1) I really like how this piece turned out.  It has the look of a wood or soda firing, and I love the variations in colour and visual texture of it.  It was thrown from 2200g of P570 white clay.  I seem to recall I was trying to thrown a double-walled vessel so that I could carve the outside wall, and have the inside wall for a vase or something.  But by the time I joined the two walls, it ended up being in a shape which was not suitable for carving.  For in progress photos see this post.

Anyhow, the floral design really works for me.  I decided to spray it in Ash Yellow glaze, which was a favourite glaze recently, and then I sprayed an accent of Tenmoku glaze, which really makes this piece eye-catching, I think.

2) This is the first of my pieces from the "Go Big" challenge.  It was thrown in 2 pieces, and you can see how I combined and decorated them in this post.  It was thrown from a total of 6300g of P570 white clay, and then decorated in thick slip.  It is glazed with Ash Yellow, and then highlighted with Deep Blue and Tenmoku Glazes, applied with a sponge.  It is still a bit wonky, but it turned out okay.  It is 14" tall, which is a pretty impressive piece of pottery, for me.  Of course, I ended up doubling the weight on the big dragon pot, but that was simply unexpected.

Finished Pieces : Enormous Dragon Pot from this Summer

I've posted my Tony Clennell inspired pieces and the leaf (and snake and roses) plates...  I still need to post the remainder of my pieces from the summer, except the set of 7 large mugs and a few other items I still need to glaze, and ran out of time.  One which I may use for the Raku firing in early October.

But tonight I was to post the big dragon vessel which I threw back in May 2017, and have been allowing to slowly dry, and then it needed to wait while the gas kiln at Shadbolt was replaced.  It waited so patiently, but I am super happy to have it done - without any cracks - and home.  It is currently sitting on our fireplace hearth in the living room.

I was nervous about glazing it, but I think the glazing worked out perfectly.  I sprayed a bit of Ash Yellow on the dragons.  So when I covered the whole piece in Tam's Green (one of my new favourite glazes, for sure), I was hoping it would "break" on the dragon spines and details, to reveal some yellow.  I think it shows through a bit.  The eyes are Red and Black underglazes, coated in Clear glaze.  They turned out perfectly.  Beyond my expectations.

Here are the three dragon faces.  I tried to make each one unique.  Which one is your favourite?

Before our instructor, Jay, demonstrated throwing a similarly size pot (also in 2 pieces), I had never even seen such a large pot being thrown.  I could have never imagined that I would throw such a piece, and then finish it so perfectly.  I don't know how I'll match this feat.  But I'm sure some day I will match and surpass it.  That's what's so wonderful about pottery.  There's always more to learn and try.  And I have a big backlog of ideas in my head, waiting for the opportunity and skill to make them a reality.