aaaaand MORE ceramics...

After spending Sunday morning playing for Cornerstone Wesleyan in Scott City (my new job), I relaxed to about four or five cathartic hours in the ceramics studio. I'm in the middle of several projects right now:

This coffee cup says "Teacher" in Hebrew. It's a gift for a friend.

Last week, we were assigned to come up with some sort of large bowl with at least 3 pounds of clay. This wonky bowl is made from five pounds. I was going to scrap it when it first went off-kilter, but I've been learning that unless you absolutely can't stand the sight of something you've made, it might be best just to keep it and turn it into something unique.

These small coffee cups are pinkish in color because they have been bisque fired, which removes all of the water from the pieces. The bisque firing is the first firing, before the glazing and the second (final) firing.

The following pics are of coffee cups (and a bowl or two) that have been bisque fired, and I have begun experimenting with glazes. I really like drizzling and splattering, as opposed to straight dipping.

This is a communion plate. If you look really closely, you can see the Jerusalem Cross stamp I used to create a pattern around the edge. 

This is probably my favorite cup. It's one of those "fortunate mistakes." As I was obsessively trying to perfect this cup (which was originally a pretty good cup), I accidentally pushed too hard on the walls and threw the entire mug off balance. Rather than scrap it, I just kept it. I like the wonkiness. 

This is also a rescued piece. It was originally a honey-pot-looking coffee mug, but it fell off my ware board and smashed against the wheel--however, it made an almost perfect spout. So it's going to be a wonky cream holder.

This was my first "pinch pot," a bowl made by (you guessed it) pinching a piece of clay into a bowl. I thought putting lips and teeth on it would be fun. We'll see how it turns out...

Next week: Some pictures of how these pieces actually turn out (quite different from the way they're pictured above, I'm sure).

Thanks for reading!

Peace,

Joshua