Filed under: ceramic art, horses, My Artwork, Raku, wall plaques | Tags: horse, horse art, horses, raku, wall plaques
Raku Horse plaque
The raku firing yesterday morning went quite smoothly. I was in charge as a kiln master for the first time - it felt different, having that responsibility. There were just three of us; all of our pieces came out of the kiln in one piece and I think they turned out quite well.
I fired four things, three of which were re-fired pieces. Luckily they all looked better this time, so I was happy. The horse plaque is much better, except that the mane and tail are now a bit too dark. I may try to correct that with paint of some sort – I do not intend to fire it a third time! Each raku firing places more stress on the ceramic and I don’t want to take that chance.
Filed under: ceramic art, horses, My Artwork, Raku, wall plaques | Tags: horses, raku, wall plaques
Here’s my raku’d horse plaque as it looks after I have re-glazed it. Tomorrow it’ll go back in the raku kiln – I will post another photo after that firing. One never knows how these things will turn out!
Filed under: ceramic art, horses, My Artwork, wall plaques | Tags: horses, pegasus, raku, wall plaques, winged horse
plaque after 2nd raku firing
Here’s my winged horse plaque after its second raku firing. It was quite drab after the first firing so I painted it some more with various underglazes and glazes before putting it back into the kiln. As you can see, unfortunately it broke in two during the process – but otherwise it turned out much better this time!
Next I’m going to do something to try to salvage it – perhaps I will incorporate it into a mixed media artwork. I will keep you posted..
Filed under: Figure drawings, My Artwork | Tags: figure drawing, nude figure, sculpture
Joe, Reclining – April 2012
I’ve been enjoying taking a figure drawing class for the last month. It’s so much fun doing that again – it’s been years! Even better, next month I’ll begin a figure sculpture class. I’m really looking forward to that!
Filed under: ceramic art, hand-built pots, My Artwork, Teapots | Tags: handbuilt teapots, teapots
My second teapot - handbuilt, of course!
Here’s my second teapot in its green state (i.e., it was dry but not yet fired). It’s now been bisque-fired; the next step is to glaze, then high-fire it. The first teapot (shown in an earlier post) has been partially glazed is going to be fired soon. (Why only partially glazed? – that’s a long story, and probably a boring one for most people.)
Filed under: Art Tag, Collaged pieces, Mixed Media Paintings, My Artwork | Tags: art tag, mixed media artwork
Movement II
Here’s my second piece for our current Art Tag series, which is on the theme of Movement. The artwork I received from another artist last month is abstract, which inspired me to work that way as well. Since I nearly always make representative art, it’s a good challenge, and one I enjoy! But of course I had to mix it up a little; this work is made with ceramic, fabric, acrylic paint, handmade rice paper and wicker (the woven basket which holds it all).
Filed under: ceramic art, dancers, My Artwork, Raku, wall plaques | Tags: dancers, raku, wall plaques
Starry Night Dancer I
Several people have said that they really like a raku piece from last week’s firing which I had thought a failure, the plaque of a dancing woman with a drippy black & iridescent sky shown above. I was even told that a woman who came into the ceramics studio when I wasn’t there last weekend wanted to buy it! So I’m going to put it into the display window of that studio as one of my pieces for the month of April - why not?
Filed under: ceramic art, horses, My Artwork, wall plaques | Tags: ceramic plaques, horses, raku, wall plaques
raku'd once - a work in progress!
Well, the horse plaque didn’t come out as I hoped it would; there’s not enough contrast - everything is too dark as well as too close in hue. However I like the basic design, so I will re-glaze it and try again the next time there’s a raku firing.
C’est la vie - one lives and learns – never a dull moment (and other clichés).
Filed under: ceramic art, horses, My Artwork, Raku, wall plaques | Tags: horse art, horses, raku, wall plaques
Due to a lucky break in the pattern of rainstorms we’ve been having, we’re going to raku fire this morning. Yay!
Here’s a snapshot of one of my pieces to be fired, shown at a very early stage. (It’s a pencil sketch on a bisqued slab, which I later glazed, of course.) I will post another photo of it after firing.
Filed under: ceramic art, hand-built pots, My Artwork, pottery, Teapots | Tags: handbuilt pots, handbuilt teapots, pottery, teapots
Here’s one of my recent projects: a handbuilt teapot, which is a work in progress. In this photo it’s not even dry yet.. more to follow.
I’ve always wanted to make a teapot!
