Raku Lidded Vessel

I have been working on multiple pieces in the studio and thought I would post an update on a particular piece of work.  I made a wheel thrown vessel with a lid, out of stoneware clay, and fired it in a Raku kiln with Raku glazes I made up at IPFW.

I fired the piece a couple of weeks ago, but finally got around to photographing it.  Hope you enjoy the work.

Raku Cup

In my Ceramics for Non-Majors Class, I fired the Raku Kiln three times last Saturday with student work and one piece of my own.  Pictured below is a Stoneware, wheel thrown cup that I glazed with a copper sand and white crackle Raku glazes.  The process of pulling out work when it is extremely hot, never gets boring and always has some sense of magic in the end results.  The class was really excited about the results and some not so nice results, but the experience was still amazing!  The really dark black areas were created by not applying any glaze to the clay body and using the reduction process in the combustion barrel to create the effect.

20th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition

I found out recently that I had a piece accepted into the 20th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition.  I mailed out the piece a couple of days ago and it arrived yesterday.  The Juror for the exhibition is Leopold Foulum, from Montreal, Canada.  There was a total of 764 pieces of art submitted for jurying and a total of 123 works were chosen for the exhibition.

The exhibit will take place from April 11- June 26, 2014, at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, San Angelo, Texas.  For more information you can check out the website link posted here:  www.samfa.org 

Posted below is a picture of the piece accepted for the exhibit.  The title for the piece is, "Technological Dependence".

New Work-2013 (Technological Dependence)

Here is an image of a new piece I finished up recently.  The piece is titled, "Technological Dependence".  I hand built the mechanical form using terra cotta slabs, along with press molded additions.  The phone is slip cast porcelain, which I Raku fired, with a Raku glaze I made.

Raku Test Tiles/Cell Phones-Update

Well I have been working on refining the placement of my phones in the kiln I'm using, as stated in an earlier post.  As that work continues... I'm still working on my cup, vessel,  and a plate I threw earlier.  So, as those pieces are going through the drying stages, I'm getting ready to hopefully put them in a bisque firing this weekend.  Here are some images of those tests I did.  I didn't sieve the glaze I made up, so I'm assuming the glaze could look smoother without the larger particles in the glaze.  I've also made up a white raku crackle glaze, but I'll have to take a picture of those phones and post them in my next post.  Enjoy.

                                                              This glaze test was applied with a single thin coat over a black slip.
The more "copper colored area",  is a result of a thicker application.

This glaze test was applied with two
 "normal coats" of the glaze over a black slip. 

Here I applied two normal coats over black slip,
notice the larger glaze particles within the glaze.

Here is another test, this phone also has two
coats of glaze.  Notice that each of these phones
pictured have been placed in different areas of the kiln
and how it affects the glaze (heat differences).

This phone also has two coats,
as stated in the other tests.  With these tests
I tried to keep the application process the same.
The tests are also about location(placement) in the kiln.

This phone has the glaze applied the same as the others.

Here are the glaze tests all together,
as well as some phones that are without any glaze.

Raku-Firing Underway

I have been working on some glaze testing for my cell phones using raku glazes and will post some images soon.  Here are some images of the kiln I'm using at IPFW and the reduction chamber I'm using as well.  I'm starting to figure out the kiln and how the areas in the kiln, in relation to temperature, affect the glazes I'm creating.  I really love the process and how you the control is really out of your hands in reference to the reduction process.  I'll post some images soon of what the test glazes look like on the cell phones and test tiles.

Cell Phone-Test Glaze Picture

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not posting anything since May.  I have still been making work and working on finishing up the five sculptures in progress.  The last bisque is going into the kiln today.  Below is a piece showing a glaze test on a form I am creating in porcelain.  It will become a wall piece with the other forms I have slip cast.  There will be about 70 cell phones for the piece and I can't wait for it to be done!  I'm trying to get all the pieces done and photographed by the end of the month so there will be more photos of the works in progress.  Yesterday I made three hundred pounds of clay so I can start on some new work.  I have sketches for the ideas that I did over the summer and will be starting the new pieces after the five other sculptures are done.

Fun with Raku-2013

Sometimes while creating you step away from the norm and create for the pure enjoyment of creating.  This year in my mold making class we fired to cone 10, cone 6, and did Raku, for the surface treatments of the students work.  I had a piece that I had thrown on the wheel back in grad school and I never knew what to do with the surface, so it just sat on my shelf of bisque ware.

Well I finally decided to "just do it", and decided to Raku the pot.  The image below shows the finished piece.