New Pieces for First Friday Show at the Lake House

These are a few of the pieces for the First Friday show at the Lake House on December 5, from 4 - 7.

This is a new glaze combination that I like on this set.

Some coffee mugs

Wavy Serving Dishes

Cosmic Colanders

Espresso Cup Set

Banded Bowl

Pearlescent Bowl

Tea Cup Set

Chip and Dip Sets

Chris Gustin Exhibit and Lecture at AMOCA

I went to the Chris Gustin exhibit and lecture at AMOCA over the weekend.  The lecture was educational, inspirational, and well done.  He is an incredible ceramicist.  I have always admired his beautiful work.  You have to see it in person because you will say wow!

New Work for First Friday Show at the Lake House

On Friday December 5th I am the featured artist at the First Friday event at the Lake House in Cedar Glen from 4 - 7 pm.  I am currently making a lot of new work for the event.  Below are some of the pieces I have been working on.  Come on out to see all the pieces completely finished and have a cocktail and hors d"oeuvres.

This is a large platter that I am working on. It is still on the wheel because I am pushing it down some more.  As you can see, I throw standing up.  I learned this from ceramicist Mark Shapiro in Massachusetts.  It is better for the back and you can use your body weight for leverage.

These are some large wavy serving dishes that I love to make.  I throw the sides, alter them, and then attach them to a slab bottom.  These are good to display things in, cook in, or serve in.

This is a set of espresso cups, my favorite beverage in the morning.

A set of bowls to make it look like an opening flower.

Some larger bowls with a contemporary asian influence.

A new larger serving boat design totally made out of slabs of clay.

Some mugs.  I like the balance of these after I put the handles near the bottom.  The handles feel good in the hand and the mugs are also very hard to tip over.

Cosmic colanders just drilled out.  These will also have a small shallow cup to catch the water.

Please check back to see more pieces in the works.........

Bottles

I made these dancing bottles

for a show at the David Shelton Gallery in San Antonio (now in Houston) a few years ago and have always been drawn to making groups of different types of bottles.  Here are two new sets that I finished this week.  I always try to make more contemporary pieces.  However, these are a look to the Japanese past.  I did the imprint on the front and backside with a piece of bark from an old pine tree.

Usually I start out by making templates for the shapes with roofing paper like so.

Here are the second group of bottles that I finished using the above templates.

Cosmic Colander

I spent the day drilling holes in the Cosmic Colanders.  A good friend came up with the name when she saw me drilling the first ones and she said "that looks cosmic".  So the name was born.  After I have trimmed all of them, I drill them out on a turntable before the pieces get too hard or else the edges of the holes may chip.  I use four different sized drill bits and either the cordless drill or the electric one.  I start with the first grouping of holes and then eyeball the placement of the rest.

Coffee Mugs

I am always trying out new mug shapes with a few things in mind.  Will it feel good holding it with one hand and with two wrapped around it?  Will the shape allow for the coffee to stay hot longer?  Is it well balanced so that it does not fall over easily?  What glaze am I going to use?  Does the design speak to me?  Sometimes I will start with an idea in mind but it can all change once I start throwing and the clay tells me what it wants to do.  Here is a new mug I was working on the other day.

Earthy Shino Type Glaze

These are some new pieces that have my Sahara glaze on them.  It is a shino type glaze that crystalizes nicely when it is put on thick and cooled slowly.  I like to put a band of oxide on the rim of bowls that have this glaze because it usually bleeds down into the bowl.