#pottery tag

pic 1: tools! This was from a “your 8 fav tools” meme early on so its by no means an illustration of all the tools i have/use or even prefer anymore but you get an idea xP 

pic 2: Throw clay! or.. make thing. somehow. 

pic 3: this was a vase I made following a similar textural motif as the sculpture stuff, which involved cutting it up into sections, carving/peeling off bits of the edges, then reassembling it back into one piece! 

pic 4: the bigger “swoosh” (as ive come to call them in my head) things were made by cutting those thrown cylindars into strips, allowing them to dry slightly, shaping them into a position with lots of little clay stilts and sponges and lots and lots of patience. Then once they’ve dried some more, cutting and tearing the edges very very very vERY carefully, and then attaching them all VERY VERY VERY CAREFULLY- and drying some more.  Not shown; a bisque fire! Which makes ceramics hard and not able to dissolve back into mud when wet. 

pic 5: I took this after I cleaned out the studio’s “pit” kiln; its literally just a brick wall inside a metal shell- theres no gas or electricity or any other heating mechanism. It was very very dirty and falling apart cause no one had used it in ages xD so i had to rebuild it and remove all the ash and garbage lol. 

pic 6: a picture i took in the middle of loading! smoke firing is neat because its a very simplistic, unpredictable, kind of firing method. usually there are shelving, things to keep stuff from sticking, the heat is very even and consistent, you can control when it gets hot, by how much, how much oxygen is in there, etc. But not in this case!  All you do is “tumble” stack the work on a bed of sawdust, dry grasses, twigs, papers, basically anything combustible! and then top it off with the same, a layer of chicken wire is advisable-  and then layer on some wood. (the wire to keep any big shifting in the wood from falling and damaging anything) And then light it on fire!!! The trick is being able to have enough air flow everywhere so it gets hot all the way through, smoke firing is a veeery low heat compared to most and so the work is much more fragile. 

Oh and theres some copper bits laying on top of that one pot- different metals can add different colours- more explanation later

pic 7: FIRE! This is actually a different kiln and a different firing- but the idea is the same xP 

pic 9/10/11: RESULTS! Ok so. Smoke firing is neat because the colours and such are a result of things like; where the pot had contact with flame and air (white) or where there was a pocket that didnt and absorbed more smoke (blacks and greys) Usually where the pot was laying on and touching sawdust its black- and usually you can see really interesting textures and stuff too. I’m pretty sure the white speckles are from the sparks and bits of hot ash floating around sticking to the pot? Other things can cause different effects; some people add copper (can cause green or a pinkish red) or banana peels or cat food or other really wacky things; they have different chemical components that react in the smokey atmosphere :D