Monthly Archives: August 2017

Three cylinders – Lava

These three cylinders are my second submission, currently exhibited for August, at Galerie Côté Créations (98 Richmond road), as part of our Ottawa Guild of Potters’ monthly showcase.

Am still working on the concept British potter Chris Keenan was trying to get through to us last year (at a workshop in Bambrugge, Netherlands): think about the shapes and glazing  with a view to displaying the pieces together, making the grouping provide added-value to the pieces.

The base glaze on all three cyclinders was the same ochre-based glaze I used for the Lidded Moon Jars; over this I squirted an off-white near the base, to varying heights; then came the titanium based grainy gold. Here I had to carefully estimate how high to place this third glaze, to avoid the risk of having the glaze run off the piece.

What I really like about these pieces is an unexpected gift to me from the kiln. Based on the positive experience on refiring my Lidded Moon Jars, I thought I might try and enhance these pieces by doing the same here. See where on all three cylinders I squirted a fine line of droplets of white? On the second firing, where the dark tenmoku ran past the fine line of white, the droplets  flowed with it, dropping to the bottom edge of the run, highlighting the rim with traces of white…

Porcelaneous stoneware; fired to Cone 6, in oxidation.

Lidded pots

Am pleased to have these two lidded pots exhibited at Galerie Côté Créations for the month of August, as part of our Ottawa Guild of Potters’ monthly showcase.

I’ve always admired the British potter Adam Buick’s moon jars, based on the traditional Korean spherical moon jars.  I have added a lid, to make a true sphere that I can use as a canvas for my multiple layers of trailed glaze. I used two glazes as the first covering, one using ochre to get the nutmeg, the other with oxides of iron and cobalt to produce the deep black. Then a wide squirt of a titanium oxide-rich glaze which works well over both these glazes, even where the previous two overlap; the titanium dioxide tends to have a slightly chrystalline effect, providing a nicely contrasting, grainy, light golden band of colour.

I took a big risk with these, and refired them, as in the initial firing the glaze did not fully cover the edge of the rims. The pieces held up nicely to this additional stress. Even better,  the second firing gave the nutmeg a higher gloss and a deeper, richer colour.

Porcelaneous stoneware, fired to Cone 6; in oxidation.