Way out of my "normal" 

Molded scallop shell platter - about 11" by 9 1/4".  

The impulsive urge to make this piece came when I walked into the studio, fully intending to have a few frustrating hours of attempting to throw10" cylinders, and spied the dusty plaster mold Linna made sitting in a corner of the studio.  I've never had that urge before, and don't know if I will have it again.  But, while the shell is uncharacteristic of my usual style (I would likely not consider buying it if I saw it in a shop) it makes me happy.  I especially love the glaze combo, which ended up with that iridescent, mother-of-pearl looking glow, which I really like.  

I used Coyote glazes on this piece - Archie's Base and Eggplant - both favorites of mine - 

and I think they flowed together beautifully.

Here's a detail of the scallop shell platter - there is a lot going on in this cone6/oxidation gaze combo.

So continuing with the nautical theme, I made a couple of press plates using a starfish stamp that Linna carved and suggested as companion pieces for the scallop shell platter - again - much more Linna - but I really like these happy little starfish.  These are made with Cream Matt and then two new celadon glazes.

And last but not least, the finished cockroach - the antennae fell off, but I baked him anyway.  Abby told me that it doesn't look at all like a bug, and from an anatomically correct perspective, she is right - but I guess I don't really care.  I love the warmth of this brown stoneware and also the way the manganese in the clay shows through the glazes as dark speckles in the finished piece.  This is Creme Matt with Green Tea on the wing shells.

Post-rain clouds

It's been another incredibly wet spring - 

I guess we are getting all of the rain that the southwest is not getting.  

These are pictures of some post-rain cloud formations that I really liked, both for the painterly-like shapes as well as the (unusual) sunny, blue sky!

Green, Blues and Finicky Kilns

 Greens, Blues and Finicky Kilns

My pottery teacher - Linna Lippke of Clay on Woodbury - has an old used electric kiln, to which she has added 10 years or more of studio classes.  This little kin has produced a remarkable number of clay treasures for the creative students who are lucky enough to come to classes at Clay on Woodbury!  Linna has probably replaced every part of the kiln at least once, and it's generally pretty reliable, but it's old, and so as most old things do, it breaks every now and again.  Because there is only 1 person in Cleveland who does kiln repair, Linna has to queue up and wait her turn for the repair guy to show up.  This time it took nearly a month - her studio and her house were overflowing with the back up of greenware ready for the bisque and a kiln full of
glazed pieces ready for the high fire. 

When she first fired the pieces below, they probably got up to a bisque temperature, but didn't make it all the way to cone 6.  Hoping against hope, she re-fired it, and when the kiln didn't get to temperature for the second time, she called the kiln guy.  Pessimist me figured that the load - including some of my goodies - would be a complete loss.  (As a wannabe potter, I am still trying to learn to suck it up and stop pouting when things don't go as planned in the kiln - not always successful).  However, to my surprise, when Linna was finally able to run a successful high fire, I actually liked all of the pieces that were in there.  Some had kiln oddities, but remember, they were under-fired twice and then finally high fired, so weirdness would be expected.  

This is a medium large serving bowl - probably my favorite piece in this bunch.  It has Cream Matt (Standard) under Green Tea (Mayco) - a favorite combination at our studio.  I like the way these glazes flow together because the skin often looks almost as though the piece went through a reduction process rather than oxidation.  This one did not quite have that skin, but I must not have had good coverage and so that along with some "kiln kisses" by contaminants, there are some odd but interesting patterns on the pot:

You can just make out the "kiln kisses" in this picture - something turquoise and something black:

Lidded vessel - again Cream Matt, Green Tea and something called Firebrick - this is probably my least favorite glaze result of the bunch, but some parts of the green are amazing - 

and it's still a cute pot:

Altered mug - this is a favorite - love the reduction-like skin on this one:

I love Brie cheese and I love love love this Brie Baker
I paired it with a cheese spreader made by a friend @kirkstewart

Such a pretty cascade glaze flow on the outside.  I need to try this glaze combo on the inside of a  serving bowl - It's Archie's Base (Coyote) under Capri Blue (Mayco).

 Berry bowl - it's a sweet bowl (Capri Blue with Green Tea on the rim, which disappeared but caused some interesting drips on the Capri Blue, which normally doesn't move or drip):

Meant to make a lightening bug, but my daughter said it's a cockroach!  Yuck!  Hopefully when it gets glazed and fired, it will be an oxymoron: a beautiful cockroach.

 Sgraffito Maddness

 Mirror frame = 11" diameter - the mirror is small - about  3 1/2" diameter

Cheese dome with platter and serving plate:

Serving platter, wide/low bowl and cup:

Serving platter - put glaze on the wet clay instead of slip (by mistake) but it turned out OK : )

Here's a Moroccan tagine - keeping this one:

Here's a small bowl - not sure I like how the underglaze ran under the clear on this one:

Garlic roaster:

Garlic keeper:

Serving platter:

In the works:  

Serving platter 

Cheese Dome:

Platter for cheese dome:

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. 

Olive trays

I've been dreaming of olive trays for some reason - I wanted a long, narrow pot, but didn't know how to go about making one.  So, I found a clay project demonstration by Gail Kendall of a tray that had just the shape I wanted.  It's a fairly simple slab constructed pot, and we have been having fun making them in the studio.  Three of us have tried this project and I'm enjoying the variations on a theme.  For the step-by-step detail, watch Gail Kendall's video:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/427560558345819577/   - here is my process and results:

Next, she flipped the piece over so it sat on the coil foot.

.

And here are two that Linna made - she altered the ends, which loosened them up and gave them a more organic, poddish sort of look.  She textured the rim, carved them and painted some happy olives:

Really fun project!  Thanks Gail!