I've been away from the blog for awhile.  Here are some of the things that I have been working on lately. Raku has been the latest thing that has come my way.  Yes the Raku kiln is wood fired. These are made with a technique that the Japanese call kurinuki.  Kurinuki is starting with a solid piece of clay and carving out the inside to make a pot.  Hope you enjoy the latest.

Make Good Pots

~Craig

Taking a breath

With just two firing a year (this year just one) there is always a period where I take a deep breath and look at what came out of the kiln. A time, where the latest pots will show me a road to go down. I examine them again and again, reading their stories.  The interaction between and fire and the clay. The surface that results from the flame dropping ash and heat as it travels over the pots, leaving it's mark of nature, has always fascinated me.
Here are a few more to look at.


Make Good Pots ~Craig

Fall Anagama Firing

I try to fire the New London Anagama twice a year. This year because of a trip to Korea and Japan the kiln only got fired once. We fired in September this year, the firing had it's share of problems. I try not to make the same mistakes twice... these problems were all in the new mistake category. Nice to know that there is always something new to learn.  Any way here are a few photo's of some of the pots that came out of the fall 2012 firing.

I recently went to Korea for a tea bowl festival. Here is a picture of Mr. Bong firing his kiln.
Make good pots.
~Craig

Sitting at a wheel in Korea

 

Somewhere in the heart of Korea. Potters are quietly making great pots.

Onngi Brew Pot

I've been working with a Korean Chef to make some Onngi pots to brew Makkoli, a rice wine in.
Fun to make some big ones again.
~Cheers,
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Yunomi from the fall firing

Here are some yumomi from the fall firing. They all have the same carbon trap glaze on them. The glaze really likes the flame and records it well. The pots tell nice tales of the fire and ash.
Make good pots,
~Craig

Slow Pots

 January go's on in it's peculiar pace that is uniquely January. Nothing happens in Minnesota this time of year and that happens very slowly.
Slow pots are fitting, no hundred mug series, just a teapot or two.  This one was made on the Lunar New Year.. so why not call it the "Water Dragon Teapot".  A simple Celadon, or Tenmoku, will do for the glaze.
Wood firing is not called by any name that resembles January. Slow pots are for now as we wait for the return of spring, when the potters return to their kiln.
Cheers,

Make Good Pots,
~Craig

Tea!

It's not wood fired, it's a cone 10 Celadon.  Somehow it seems right to think about warm tea, in a cold January.
Cheers,
Make Good Pots,
~Craig 

New Teapot

Winter finally arrived with some snow and colder temps. Somehow that got me working on a new teapot design.
Make Good Pots.
~Craig 

VOCO

Vessel oriented ceramic objects, or pots depending on how up or down market you want to sound.  Still working out the kinks with the new camera.  So here are some of the latest attempts at photographing some of  pots from the fall burn.
Cheers,
~Make good pots
~Craig

There is a puddle of green glass in this bowl. This is from the bowl being filled with ash during the firing and then melting at the end of the firing. 

These two plates were from a stack of plates. The shino and ash had some good drama as they played with each other. 

This is a teabowl from the back of the kiln. It's made of a mid fire red clay and brushed with a slip. It has a nice warm feeling.

Taylor Made me do it

Here's some lidded jar's  I've heard that some call them Ginger Jars... I usually fill them with rice.
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Reality

Pictures of pots are always nice to post.  Especially if you've had a great firing. The reality of wood firing is a  lot of cutting, splitting and stacking wood. The chainsaw, wood splitter  and wheel barrow have been in my hands this week. It has been a race with winter. Winter has held off longer than usual, but it is not timid and will make an entrance any day now.
The saw mill had some good wood for me this year and was able to get all the wood I need for next years firing.  There are two kinds of wood, the slab wood, and edgings.
The edgings are the skinny pieces that we use for sidestoking at the end of the firing.
Well must go before winter sets in.
Make Good Pots,
~Craig

Copper Red Salt

Here is a small bowl that came out of the back chamber. It's made with Continental Clay's
B- Clay and salted at cone 10.  The copper red is better than I could get in gas firing.  Who knew?
Cheers,
Make Good Pots
~Craig

Two Tsubo and a Chawan made from a mid fire red clay.

Here are a couple of Tsubo's and a Chawan that were made out of a mid-fire red clay. They were fired to about cone 6-8.
They were lined with a cone 6 shino. The chawan has the shino on the inside

A couple three small bottles.

Here are a few small bottles out of the back of the fall firing. I got a new camera and still am getting comfortable with it.  Mike delivered nine more bundles of wood so it is another day of cutting and stacking. 

Some Yunomi

Here are a couple of Yunomi from the firing. These got some drama from the flyash.

I put some salt cups in and I think that this yunomi was sitting next to one. 

Well it's warmed up some so splitting wood is the order of the day.
Cheers,
Make Good Pots.

Pictures from the exhibition

Here are a couple of pics from the latest exhibition. We had the first snow storm of the winter for the reception, but lots of folks showed up and a good time was had by all.