A new adventure : Suffolk Ceramics
Hello all, Following a wonderful 5 years in France my wife and I have moved to Suffolk in the UK.
ceramics
And finally……
Hi all, sorry to have been so long in posting again. I have been very busy making / selling pots,
2021 New beginnings?
New glazes, new challenges, looking forward to 2021
Slip and Shop…
I’ve been able to throw a couple of larger pieces in the last couple of weeks and thought I would
2020 Vision
Into the new year and I am moving onto a new challenge. This will be of particular interest to my
Third time’s a charm?
Well I got to my third glaze firing with the older tested glazes and three new ones brought to me
Brittany pottery throwdown
My daughter Evie came to visit for three days this weekend, and brought a couple of friends along. As part of the stay we all agreed they should have a go at making some pots, Evie has done a bit of ceramics before but for her friends Amy and Becks this was their first experience of “playing with clay”. We started with an idea to build some small slab mugs for espresso coffee but this evolved slightly. Evie stuck to the brief but Becks decided to go for a taller latte version and Amy pushed all the boundaries and made a jug. All went well with the slab work so they had a go on the wheel. With help on centreing, and guidance on basic techniques they all produced a bowl to go alongside the mugs and jug and Beck’s tea-light holder. Everyone agreed it had been a successful Brittany – pottery throwdown, and they have all given instructions for
Two steps forward…….
This post has been delayed because to be frank I didn’t want to post it, but in order to demonstrate that my expedition into ceramics is not all sweetness and light, it had to be done. I now have my first pots out of the kiln for about a week following glazing. As you can see they are a motley crew, and whilst I am pleased overall with the throwing, trimming etc; it is clear I have a lot to learn about decoration, oxides and glazes. I also tried my luck with a couple of encaustic tiles which I can also improve upon with more attention to detail. The glazes are all basic supplier and “bought off the shelf” and I thought my tests, see previous blog post, would be a fair guide as to the results I might expect. However, clearly there are a number of variables I have not taken into account of which, I suspect, thickness of
Glaze tests and Porcelain pots
Glaze tests Those first trial pots and test tiles fired a couple of weeks ago have now had some glazes applied, along with some Cobalt and Copper oxide stripes. I need to pay attention to those glazes on the left which appear to have a tendency to run, else I will end up with glazed kiln shelves! Porcelain pots For those of you who have ever used the wheel to throw a pot you will be aware that porcelain is a very special challenge. Porcelain has very special qualities when fired that make it desirable, it’s pure white lustre and translucence. However, to throw porcelain requires skills in; patience, delicacy and mud wrestling! I started slowly over the past month and my first pots have been created by using a white stoneware body, but this week I moved onto porcelain. I must say that I was surprised that having not thrown porcelain for over a year I was pleased with