Here is the mystery pot just after getting five coats of glaze. I used the sprayer in a hooded, vented area (wouldn't want to get black lung or anything else nasty) at the FIA. It was quite satisfying watching it get darker and darker and (or so I hope) softer looking with the velvet underglaze. I don't know when it will get fired, but I am rather anxious to find out if it will make the journey to 1900-odd degrees and back without cracking. (Hmm. Sounds like a Jules Verne novel.) The long term plan is to mosaic the inside of the...mouth (?) with glass, light green and turquoise.
And here is my house. I did say in an earlier blog entry that I wanted to learn how to work with slabs and here is what I came up with. Each of the three levels is a separate box that, I hope, will survive both the bisque firing and the glaze firing without cracking or distorting to the point of no longer fitting together snugly. This structure has no purpose but I am rather satisfied with it nonetheless.
5 comments:
The house is great! It feels very Suessian. What colors are you thinking?
About mosaic-ing the inside of the...urn? pot? aorta?...I saw someone doing this really cool thing where she would place glass on her piece right before firing it and the glass would melt in the kiln and make pretty glass-y designs on the piece. It seems like something you might be into. I bet any of the instructors could show/tell you more about it and how to do it safely.
Melting glass in a kiln is called glass fusing and that fact is the sum total of my knowledge of that art. I know Guy, the kiln maestro at the FIA, would do all that he could to facilitate just about any ridiculous project as long as it was motivated by artistic desire but I have no idea how that is done. And how would it get all around the inside of the opening? I have some fabulous jade and turquoise glass that I can cut and shape (THAT I can do) and I plan to use that and then grout with black grout so that (I hope) it looks like the glass is embedded in the form rather than slapped on top of it as an afterthought.
It's interesting that you used the word Suessian to describe the house because that is exactly the term I used to describe what I wanted when I first outlined my plan to my instructor. I said I wanted to create an architecturally impossible house that look well-used and well-loved which also looks as if it has a bit of life of its own, independent of the occupants. I said I wanted it to almost alive but in no way creepy or spooky. (I did NOT want it to be a haunted house, which is the usual thing I see when people draw or paint old, decayed houses.) I haven't decided the colors yet. I want each room to look lit from within, so probably pastels (very light, almost chalky colorsa) and the outside I was thinking pearl gray or almost a stone gray, so the color doesn't distract from the shape or contours. I have very little confidence in my choices of color and have to rely on the works of others for pretty direct inspiration. I really notice this with the mosaics as they tend to be more muted that I really want. I am trying to overcompensate with the nautilus mosaic and I can't even describe how anxious I get looking at those really bright oranges.
Mej--I just saw the M in your name and assumed your post was from Margaret because she posts so often. I know you know Guy--ignore that patronizing comment about him at the FIA. I saw my stomach gourd in the kiln today--Guy allowed me to peek inside when it was down to 1100F (drying my hair instantly)--and was very pleased to see that it hadn't exploded, cracked or split. I am going to feel like a bit of a fool schlepping that thing to my car, buckling it onto the seat next to me and driving home with it. Maybe I'll just leave it in the car and have a commute buddy.
Hey! I only commented once - which put you out.
So here I am again. It isn't that I'm not watching.
xM
That's cool Jami- steph
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