Sunday, August 31, 2014

Ikebana vases upside down

 I've been inspired by a number of bell shaped ikebana vases that I've seen as I've perused the web.      The spectacular, elegant work of Matthew Allison is particularly inspiring.  
Check some of his work out at this link:  http://www.mattallisonceramics.com/2013/01/16/ikebana-bell-form-thrown-altered-2/.





After the pot stiffened up a bit, I flipped it so it sat upside down.  I removed the clay from the narrow base, which created a new opening and added a slab to create a new base.  I also incised lines around the new lip and the bottom of the pot.




Here is the finished pot.  It's glazed with a glossy black glaze on the inside, and a really pretty commercial glaze called textured honey on the outside.  


And here is is with a companion piece.  I like the overall shape of the larger piece much better, so I'll be trying the smaller piece again.