Raku Vase Project

{Detail of Face, 2010}

{Back Detail, 2010}

{Front, 2010}

{Side, 2010}

{Back Detail, 2010}

{Inside, 2010}

This is the finished version of THIS. It is a Raku fired nonfunctional vase. Due to being fired with unstable glazes it is not food safe and cannot hold water, but I really love the look of Raku glazes. Raku firing creates fairly unpredictable results so its really fun to see what it looks like when it has been fired. I used a white crackle glaze for the face and interior and a metallic glaze for the hair. I plan on taking another ceramics class in the future so that I can continue to explore sculpture and glazing techniques.

Wheel Thrown Pottery Projects

{Wheel Thrown Bowls and Vase, 2010}

{Modified Wheel Thrown Pot, 2010}

{Detail of Thrown Bowl, 2010}

These are four of the five wheel thrown pottery projects I made in my ceramics class this summer. The fifth hasn't been fired in the kiln yet, so I still don't know what that one looks like with its glaze. I showed a totally different ceramics project that was still a work in progress in THIS post and I will be posting the finished piece tomorrow. I figured these bowls and vases deserved their own post. I felt that throwing on the wheel was a much different process than hand building. All of the projects in this post were fired in a gas kiln and are glazed to be food safe.

A Journey into Ceramics

{Raku Clay, 2010}

{Raku Clay, 2010}

{Raku Clay, 2010}

I am currently taking a ceramics class at the Des Moines Art Center with Nancy Briggs. It has been nearly 10 years since I last touched clay and I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to remember anything! After a few classes, some things are starting to come back and I am enjoying myself. I thought I would post a few pictures of my first project before it is fired. (As much as you try, you never know what might happen between firings! That much I DO remember.) While I wait to bring this piece to the next stage, I am working on a cat mask. I would also like to try throwing on the wheel before the class finishes. Whenever I take a class that is a bit outside my discipline and comfort zone, I always find that it helps my drawing and opens up my view of the world just a little bit more.