slippin...

All slipped up and off to the club we go....

All the pots got some porcellainous stoneware slip today drying outside and looking vaguely like cheese is the pre slip product which then got bashed to smitherines with a metal bar which i just happened to have handy..

..then whipped up like a milkshake and ready to use! the lil fellas are now at the club waiting for a bisque load...and kaynine is loaded again ready to fire up the latest batch of shinos.. I just know i'm going to run out of days this week and really wishing I could have got my lil birdie bowls through for this wkd, oh well....

new tests...

So here's one of the new test bodies for the platter clay... only one way to deal with disaster jump right back in... at the end of last week i was throwing some new bodies a 30 mesh warm body, some of my recycled and some bennetts stoneware ordinary body some are very groggy and the 30 mesh warm is my fav so far, tomorrow they will all get a wash of porcelainous slip...There are 3 platters and a bunch of kiln filler bowls in this batch...

Then i need to get this load through in order to complete my commission for the restaurant.. woohoo!

market eh...

You wouldn't believe this was summer!! freezing yesterday at market began with a drizzle and spotted throughout the day with some lovely fine rain for packing up! Fully rugged up with gloves on i don't think i took them off all day, brrrrrrrrr..

Here's a few pics of our new stall setup we have 2 entry points and it doesn't get congested anymore peeps can wander in and out without getting stuck, sometimes we had such a blockage at the front of our space... so yey!! and more hanging space to come too with some lovely bamboo panels..

The new wares got plenty of attention which was nice ... and a snap of rose carving one of her masks a nice bit of clay therapy for the afternoon, so some of those will be up next wkd at the Art at the Hart Pt Adelaide, we set up friday night for the wkd event, i will do some vids as we are all demoing across the wkd.. Ali and I will do some throwing, Ali will be printing and Rose will be doing some stamping with the wood blocks, should be good come on down if you're in town...

8 by 12.30....

hehehe 8 by 12.30.... does it still count?

doesn't quite have the same ring to it really, oh well a couple more platters and some filler bowls for the next firing and test for the clay body strength with these glazes...onward!!

giddy up!!

Had a quick dash to the studio this pm and managed a few big bowls and just the one platter as the clay was a tad firm but rather nice, it's a 30# warm sculptural body and with some white slip should still work with the glazes... I say should but you know after this week HA!!!

Another bash at it tomorrow...the ws clay is currently wrapped in wet towels along with the bennetts clay i couldn't even wedge it, it was crusty man :))

the larger bowls are in my large pot making clay heaps of grog and really soft hence i lost 3 bowls as well went a bit too wide and flopsy!! anyhoo more progress tomorrow, gotta fill a kiln again....

kiln karn...

I mean really kiln you do this to me!!!
2 out of 11 have survived 3 firings!!

not good odds in my book....

what to do...

chuck em in the bin and start again!!

 I have a couple of new clay bodies to try...going with the old bennetts stoneware and a 30 mesh clay i've been eying for some large pot making this will be a test!!

 no crying here, just saying .....really!!!! dunting!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........

of the new..

Today's heat was basically ignored as I spent most of it in my kitchen taking photos and as you can see I still don't have a soft box to light my work, I'm relying on the kitchen window and having the door open opposite to get some fill light....sometimes it works perfectly and other times having the door open just brings in a major fly invasion!!

The rest of the time I've been producing some promo material for the markets I have coming up..

Should be cracking the kilns tomorrow with the restaurant platters in... and after a very long chat with my friend Rose last night we think we have these glazes pretty well sussed... I wont repeat the language....just insert a few 'Tracey isms' and you'll get the picture...HA!!

new web...

Howdy all, well my Open Studio Sale was a big set up and take down job but always worth it.. I had a steady stream of peeps strolling through and Cindy you'll be happy to hear that only a few got away!!

And lots more markets coming up it's Stirling next weekend, Rose and I have been madly working away on the restaurant commission and I'm firing again tomorrow and wouldn't ya know it I think the last firing was a bit underdone so i've reloaded all but one of the platters fingers crossed for tomorrow!! Then Art at the Hart the next weekend should be nice as the weather is warming up our first 32 deg day today a bit of a shock i must admit but we'll get used to it..

I've also been working on a new web page and still need to sort out a domain name should get that happening this week.. let me know what ya think of it.. I can add to it easily which is great and finally.. I've only been aiming to do this for 2 years!!

Hopefully this week more of a consistent return to blogging too..
...chat this week, have a good one peeps :))

open studio this saturday...

Howdy all, if your nearby come and drop in to my open studio on Saturday the 20th November 10am - 4pm.... Lots of new work, Sculptural and Functional Wares.

 A quick preview can be seen on Friday night that's while i'm setting up!! See you Saturday...

green...

 A very cool unload today...this is a glaze I'm borrowing off my buddy Rose for some platters
 and my second test of the glaze batch and am happy now to commit to glazing tomorrow... It's an incredibly smooth glaze and does some nice ghosting across the surface of the pots..

And finally the last of the large tiles through this firing was 10C deg lower than the last one intentionally, I'd had some rather ugly warts appearing on my clear glazed pots and thought I'd test bringing it lower the good news is no warts but I think I like the Raku body fired a bit higher.. tell me what you think of it..

Well a big wkd again firing tomorrow with the last restaurant pieces in the bisque and getting glazing too on the big platters..

just in...

and a happy birthday to me....yep i bought myself a birthday present or 2...

and looky a blogging buddy bonus a lovely ash bowl mmmmm... couldn't have chosen a better one if i tried, cheers brandon and the porcelain one you chose for me is getting a workout right now.. it's first cup of tea :))

 happy b'day to me,  happy b'day to me.... now back to work

kaynine unloaded...

hey, I unloaded a very cool kiln today and at first i went urgg! but after spending some time with these piece there's some real gems...some lovely shino in parts and the rest is good.. I think the reduction was too short but that took a while to figure out so next firing should be much better.

The local clay results are great and all are usable... I do have one question on porosity when i glazed the pieces they didn't absorb the glaze like the other bodies, i sat them outside for a while and they didn't completely dry out, I brought them in to dry overnight.. any thoughts on this?? I bisque to 1000 deg C

anyhoo enjoy the vid..

and a lovely surprise  today a package from Hannah a gorgeous set of dishes in a lovely honey glaze :)) cheers H my Billy Joel Day prize....sweeeeet