New Pieces From the Kiln

These are some of the pieces that came out of the kiln yesterday.  I fired these in an oxidation firing to cone 8 with a hold at peak temperature so that it pushes cone 9.

I am the featured artist at the December First Friday event at the Lake House in Cedar Glen so I am starting to make the inventory for this show.  Some of these pieces will be there.  Enjoy.

 These are a few of the new tall slab vases that I have been working on.  They are the tallest pieces that I can fit into my kiln.  They are about 26" tall.  While I like how these came out, they are still a work in progress.  The white ones I embellished with slip on the outside.

 These I tried using stains to show off the markings on the outside of the piece.

 For the show in December, at the Lake House,  I will be selling pairs of mugs.  Every set will be different by shape, size, glaze, or handle.

Espresso sets......

 My favorite colored bowls....

My mother was here visiting for a few weeks so she got a chance to play in the mud with me which is a very enjoyable experience to share.  She is definitely where I got my creative juices.
When we were at Scargo Pottery on Cape Cod recently, she saw a new tray design made by Meden that she liked.  He makes them out of slab and he rolls over the edges similar to what you see here.  I can proudly say that my mom did an incredible job on her first attempt.

Kazunori Hamana, Yuji Ueda, and Otani Workshop Ceramics Show at Blum & Poe

This past week I went to the stunning ceramics exhibition at Blum & Poe.  It featured the work of Japanese ceramicists Kazunori Hamana, Yuji Ueda, and Otani Workshop.  The exhibition was organized and curated by Takashi Murakami.  The pieces represented a wide range of forms, designs, and materials. The asethetic was wabi sabi.....the quintessential Japanese aesthetic.    It is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.  It is the beauty of things modest and humble.  An idea that I have come to appreciate.  When I first started ceramics I would always try to make things perfectly and worry too much about imperfections.  It wasn't until I took a workshop from Dimitri Hadzi and started to do Raku that I began to appreciate this aesthetic.  And lately, the beauty of this aesthetic was reinforced in me when clients  enjoyed the beauty in some of my pieces that I thought were too imperfect.

Here are pics from the show.

Beautiful Blue Ceramic Pieces

Here are a few new pieces that came out of the kiln two days ago.  The blue glaze on the mugs and bowls is one of my favorite glaze combinations.  I layer a rutile blue glaze over the top of a tenmoku glaze.
The tall blue vase is a new design and I am happy with how it came out.

Last night the Lake House had another fun First Friday event showcasing two artists.  Here are a few of my pieces on display.

Scargo Pottery Inspiration

On my recent trip back east I went back home to visit my mother on Cape Cod.  I have always been thankful that my mother opened up my eyes to art when I was younger.  I can remember going to see museum and gallery shows with her.  She would also take me to ceramic studios, primarily on Cape Cod, that had retail space attached.
One of my favorite places to go was and still is Scargo Pottery in Dennis, which is down the street from my mother's home.  Whenever I am back home I stop in at Scargo.  I enjoy seeing what they are up to and speaking with them about glazes, trends, new work, etc.  When Harry Holl, who established Scargo Pottery, was still alive, I loved to watch him work.  He was an inspiration.
Here are a few images from my visit.