Done! This was a nice change. A sort of stress reliever teapot. Haha. Easy peesy. I didn't have to worry about cracking and such. It is fun and whimsical. the glaze could have been "happier". ha but i missed the sort of ash glaze thats all drippy on top so i wanted to use it. i might do a mini teapot for this weeks teapot. "how small can i go"?
And there you have it!....the evolution of (dance,dance~haha ;) to carlos) of this teapot. The assembling of every part took almost 4 hrs! Haha my neck and back hurt from the whole process. Anyways, its worth it because I love it! This isn't the finnished look. I just threw some little rings to put on the bottom for a foot ring. This will help stabilize the pot. I tried shaving some off the bottom to flatten it for a base, but it still makes me nervous, so I made the foot rings. They are hardening up right now, then ill attach them. I added about 20 coild and scored the crap outta this thing so if it cracks I'm gonna freakout. Haha no, but I will be sad. Its "tucked in" right now (under plastic) to slow the drying process and it is laying on its side to relieve and stress. It is also on foam with extra foam under the areas that need it to reduce more stress. Lol this teapot is high maintenance.
This brings "thown and altered" pottery to a whole new level for me. This is sooo much fun for me! I love making something on the wheel and then altering those pieces into something totally different. Clay is amazing. It never stops amazing me. Because right now, it doesn't look like anything, but it will! Also, this particular project reminds me of how compounding this medium is. I say this because you have to learn one thing to do something else. You use knowledge from previous projects to create a whole new project. Its amazing and exponential the amout of things that can me created. Again, I feel so lucky and privileged to have found my passion! And yay! For a day off to get to do my passion and feed my soul! Wooohooooo!
idea for this weeks teapot! it started as doodles. i dont know where this idea came from, but i like it :). now i just have to see if it's possible!
Tada! Haha I love this one. Victoria has a special place in my heart! Soo many firsts: handle, feet, slip trailing, ect. The baby blue color is so sweet and simple it contrasts the complexity of the form. I feel it balances everything out. I was going to order this beautiful pinkish/peachy/purple color, but I decided to save money and used the last of this color. I'm so happy I did! The blue is sort of masculine which also contrasts the femininity of the form. I wish I had thinned it down a little bit just to flow easier over the slip trailing but oh well. Also, the spout is super twisty! Its ok, and somehow works, but for future long spouted pots ill prolly handbuilt the spout. Anyways, I like it. So there are three finnished teapots and two drying right now. Tomorrow I hope to start the 6th teapot. Take care everyone, and happy president's day tomorrow! Haha
Ok...so aside from the horrible backdrop (my robe! Ha) I love this teapot. I used this green glaze really thinned down and my new blue and some white. The blue does amazing things on top of the green! I wish the green was a little darker, but I'm very pleased with the outcome :). I thought that when I started this I would only benefit from learning the construction and how to deal with the cracking, but the glazing has been great for me. I hate glazing,normally, but with these teapots I've been taking my time and really enjoying it. I've also learned about this great glaze combo! That I can use on other things! I love little discoveries like this!
Ok...I've been listening to too much simon and garfunkle! Bhaha NOT! That's not possible. Haha I got a terrible migraine this week...3days long! But I still produced this beauty. Although, it also looks like an artichoke. Haha the glazing can hopefully turn it around to a definative rose teapot! Haha I was going to smooth the petals out and spendhours smoothing, but my very awesome boyfriend suggested I leave the texture. I'm glad I did now. The handle is my favorite part! Its a combo of handbuilt slab and adding a coil on the end and then pulling that coil into the handle part. I love how organic it turned out. I glazed the other two teapots today and they are in the kiln now! I'm super excited to see their outcome. It was a very very very long week, but today makes it all worth while. It is beautiful out, I'm dying my hair, kiln is going with exciting potential, got to sleep in, finnished this weeks teapot on time, going to see my grandparents and possibly pick up a new wheel.....ahhhhhhh! Life is good!
I did it! I got over my pitty party and made the darn pot! Haha and I love it. Its a nice contrast to the elegance of the last one :). I love the oversized lid! I also think its cool that its square :) this is a new handle for me and I like it! The squiggly part at the end is fun and reminds me of candy. I echoed this on the lid. i wish the spout were a little bigger. but its ok. the spiral feet might be too much and a little cutesie but oh well its a teapot! haha its supossed to be!
So today is Thursday and I haven't started this weeks teapot. I know its only the 4th week and I should still be excited but, instead, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Working 40+ hrs a week and filling other orders from my etsy store are keeping me busy. Not to mention giving lessons and keeping up tith laundry and also wanting to spend time with my boyfriend and dog! There just doesn't seem like enough time to do it all. (Sigh) BUT, when I started this, I knew idx feel this way and I said to myself,"sarah, do you wanna just do one teapot a month?" But I knew that would be too easy and not the challenge that I was seeking. So, even tho I work today at 1230-930 and the laudry is overflowing (I cand do laudry when I fire the kiln-my house's wiring can't take it, so I'm told), the dishes need done, I have a headache, I have a special order muffin pan to make for an order, need to shower! Haha, and my dog is whining for attention; I will go sit at my wheel and throw the body of this weeks teapot! There, I talked myself into it! Haha I'm thinking tall and square~ish. Ok. Done.
The kiln gods heard my prayers! haha everything came out great. now i just have to find or decide on the perfect glazes. hmmmmm i kniw what im going to be thinking about at work tonight
When I first started this very first teapot, I thought of it as an Arabian style teapot. This project taught me the power of glazing. Glazing controls the mood of the pot. I think this teapot still works. Its amazing that it started out so strongly "one way" and ended equally strong "another way". Ha or maybe is the perfect teapot for an Arabian carnival! Haha either way, I love myh new glazes I tried out on this piece. The blue is strong, but soft and the white is sooo creamy. I love the blue and cream together. I am a little dissapointed with the outcome of the black walnut glaze I diligently rubbed into the carvings. You can kind of see it, but my intention was to have it stronger. Maybe it was a blessing because the strong blackish brown lines could have been too strong. Oh well. The teapot started cracking before I even bisqued it right by the spout and handle and I tried to fix it but you can see the hairline cracks if you look close. I am so lucky the "white" turned out cream because now it looks a little antique~ish and the little cracks don't bother me too much asthetically. Functionally, it wouldn't be as strong as it could. But the cracks are just hairline and I see this piece as a display teapot, not everyday! Haha. Overall, for the first one of many, I am more than pleased with this teapot! (The rest of the kiln load came out just as beautiful)
I just loaded the kiln to bisque fire a bunch of stuff! The plan is to take it slllloooowwww. Ha the teapot with the feet and slip trailing is the piece ill be praying for all day. I can just picture slip cracking off and me unloading the kiln to find pieces of what I once loved. Bhaha but I should have only positive thoughts. I think if I take it to temperature slow, we'll be good. :)
The first two pics are of matte black glaze rubbed into the grooves that I previously carved. The third pic is of the glaze I chose with wax resist over it. And the last pic is of all the glazes and this is how it went into the kiln today!. I don't think I ever mentioned the matching cup either! Haha anyways I chose a light blue, white, and walnut black for the glazes. The blue and white are new so I'm very excited to see their turnout :). Ill post pics tomorrow when I unload the kiln!
Ok. Slip trailing is amazing! It totally makes this teapot. It adds a certail antique~ness haha to the form. I love it :]. Luckaly I saved an old hair dye bottle and that's what I filled with slip! I used my old water from some plates I had just thrown and dumped most of the water in my reclaim bucket and vola! Slip was left on the bottom! I then pushed the slip through some old lace I had to get rid of any chunks and I had a wonderful paste called slip! It was perfect. I prolly just lucked out but I thought it'd be more difficult. Anyways I just didn't know where to stop! Its such a fun technique, but a very slippery slope because too much looks horrible. Haha so hopefully I didn't slide down that slope. I love this teapot I just hope everything goes well from here on out :)
