Not that I had done much pottery previously, but after a 2 year break I just started up with pottery again. It's been great to work with clay again and I'm having a lot of fun building things. Here are my first 2 new completed pots.
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- Thread starter W3rk
- Start date
Kullas
Shohin
Looks good keep up the good work.
Mike Westervelt
Shohin
Interesting glazes, great to have more pot makers on here.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Very nice work. I love the white glaze. Really love the irregular pot. Are they for sale? If they are, how large are they and how much are they?
Colorado
Masterpiece
Nice looking pots!
zero
Yamadori
Nice seeing these! I love a good white w earth tone
Thank you penumbra (and everyone else!) I appreciate the positive feedback - and also welcome other input/criticism. These first couple of pots are pretty small - only about 2 1/2 inches across at the top - more accent pots really. But I'll be making more while I have the studio time - and trying more/new forms as well.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
I am hoping to return to pottery in a few weeks after almost a year off due to a complete shoulder replacement.
Check out Pitoon's work. He is more in your neck of the woods.
Check out Pitoon's work. He is more in your neck of the woods.
Dang, that's rough, hope your shoulder is doing well and good luck with getting back in to pottery.
Yeah Pitoon is doing some amazingly nice work, far more refined than me.
Gabler
Masterpiece
As @penumbra said, those look good enough to sell. They have a clean, professional look to them, balanced nicely with the “wabi sabi” imperfections.
I use the term “wabi sabi” in quotation marks because I’m not 100% sure that’s the correct use of the term, but I see it used that way frequently, and it conveys the point I’m trying to make.
I use the term “wabi sabi” in quotation marks because I’m not 100% sure that’s the correct use of the term, but I see it used that way frequently, and it conveys the point I’m trying to make.
Gabler
Masterpiece
Not only that. I also just noticed you’re local. I live in Delaware now, but I spend a lot of time in Montgomery County visiting my soon-to-be in-laws (and occasionally some college friends).
Sometimes I take I-95 South and cross the Susquehanna between Perryville and Havre de Grace. Sometimes it’s easier to take the Bay Bridge from Kent Island toward Annapolis. It all depends on traffic. I’ll either end up on 695 or 495. Neither is fun to drive.
Sometimes I take I-95 South and cross the Susquehanna between Perryville and Havre de Grace. Sometimes it’s easier to take the Bay Bridge from Kent Island toward Annapolis. It all depends on traffic. I’ll either end up on 695 or 495. Neither is fun to drive.
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Gabler
Masterpiece
I don’t mean to derail your thread. I just figure that if you’re sharing your pottery, you might be interested in networking with nearby bonsai people, and I figured it probably wouldn’t hurt to share with the group.
Hey Gabler no worries, and thanks, I appreciate your feedback - and the "wabi-sabi" comment. And I agree, there are plenty of people on here - local or not - that I can learn from. And there are even a couple of local professionals, too.
Next up - I got this back a week or so ago - and I'm eagerly waiting on a number of pots to come back from glaze firing.
This was not what I was expecting based on the test tile (the second glaze didn't drip/run so much) but I'll still take it as there's some incredible stuff going on in the glaze.
this side had even more drip
Kullas
Shohin
Looks good I think an azalea would look right at home in it
MMJNICE
Mame
First off those pots look amazing. My mother is the real expert I just go downstairs to play the Potter thing when i don't have anything to pot clip or wire...purchased two blocks of clay and one is a number 112 brown Speckled clay and the other is 266 dark brown... both fired at cone 5 to 6... made a couple of pots last night and just waiting to dry for the first fire. So do you have any suggestions for what clay is best for colder climates that regularly see frequent freezing temperatures. Ohhhh yes..I wanted to ask you your thoughts on not putting Glaze on the inside of bonsai pot's. Most bonsai pot's aren't Glazed on the inside surfaces. I intend to do the same on my own work. Even though I understand by using those cheap red clay pot's you get anywhere how nice it is to see that moisture line letting me know if I need to water my babies it would explode when the temperature dips below freezing from water expansion. I learned that there are really really good reasons why bonsai folks do what they do and perfer one thing over the other from me being hard headed, cheep or just plain naive an ignorant.. so what say you?
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Ok, there's a bit to unpack here. First, thanks for your positive feedback - and that's great that you have an opportunity to work with clay yourself.
The cheap red clay pots that you are referring to are Terra Cotta - and are "Earthenware" - they are more porous and less strong.
Vs. good pottery/good bonsai pottery is usually "Stoneware" - higher firing and different clay bodies create a stronger, more dense/less porous body (going from greenware/unfired clay to fired clay to fully fired you can see around 10% shrinkage).
Firing clay completely alters the clay body physically/chemically - this is referred to as vitrification. A good pot should be vitrified.
I can't answer you regarding one clay body vs. another - I just don't know that much yet - but I would expect vendors to make some of that information available for their products.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Standard #112 is a very nice light brown speckled clay body that has a shrinkage of 12.5% at cone 6. It also has an absorption rate of 2.5%. I Personally like to use a clay for bonsai pots that is 1 - 2% absorption or less though I realize there are plenty of potters who have different opinions on this.
Standard 266 is a beautiful dark brown clay that has an absorption rate of 1% and shrinkage of 12.5% but at cone 5. Many potters will not fire this beyond cone 5, and that is also the manufacturers recommendation. Many have had bloating issues with this clay body at cone 6. I have not had this problem but I tend to fire very slowly. Standard 710 is the same clay but has grog added and I think it is superior.
If you compare these clays you see they both have the same shrinkage rate but the absorption rate is different. So vitrification, while being vital, is only part of the equation and the clay body itself more pertinent.
