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Jul 26th, '12, 23:12
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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by Poohblah » Jul 26th, '12, 23:12

Adam, I really like your chawan. Since I am unversed in chanoyu or Japanese aesthetics, I would not be able to say at first glance whether yours was produced by a professional or amateur. Though I think your bowl does appear to be leaning a little bit to one side ;)

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by JBaymore » Jul 26th, '12, 23:44

Adam,

I am sure that you REALLY enjoyed making matcha in a bowl that you made yourself. Congratulations.

You WILL learn how to use glazes...... it just takes the same kind of investment in time and work that all of the other individual aspects of the pottery process take.

Clay is long. Life is short. :wink:

Once you understand a bit more of what is actually happening to those glaze materials when subjecto the heat energy, you will be more able to predict the kinds of results you get out of such combinations. I know at the moment it does not seem possible, but what you described (and got) is predictable.

But as was accurately mentioned...... test, test, test. Use "less than satisfactory" (ahem) pieces as glorified glaze test pieces....... so that your glaze application and understanding of glazing effects develops commensurate with your forming skills. Otehrwise the forming tends to get "ahead" of the glazing.

Then RUTHLESSLY critique the fired pieces after the glaze firing with a hammer. Learning to self-critique and edit your own work is an important part of the whole learning process.

Take that chawan and make a written list of the aspects that are working well both aesthetically as well as functionally. Then list the things that could be improved. Then take that list with you into the studio and make another one that keeps the successful aspects and adresses the less sucessful ones.

Keep going!

best,

.......................john

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by AdamMY » Jul 27th, '12, 00:40

JBaymore wrote:Adam,

I am sure that you REALLY enjoyed making matcha in a bowl that you made yourself. Congratulations.

You WILL learn how to use glazes...... it just takes the same kind of investment in time and work that all of the other individual aspects of the pottery process take.

Clay is long. Life is short. :wink:

Once you understand a bit more of what is actually happening to those glaze materials when subjecto the heat energy, you will be more able to predict the kinds of results you get out of such combinations. I know at the moment it does not seem possible, but what you described (and got) is predictable.

But as was accurately mentioned...... test, test, test. Use "less than satisfactory" (ahem) pieces as glorified glaze test pieces....... so that your glaze application and understanding of glazing effects develops commensurate with your forming skills. Otehrwise the forming tends to get "ahead" of the glazing.

Then RUTHLESSLY critique the fired pieces after the glaze firing with a hammer. Learning to self-critique and edit your own work is an important part of the whole learning process.

Take that chawan and make a written list of the aspects that are working well both aesthetically as well as functionally. Then list the things that could be improved. Then take that list with you into the studio and make another one that keeps the successful aspects and adresses the less sucessful ones.

Keep going!

best,

.......................john
This fall a class on making sets, which focus's on wheel throwing is being offered, that seems to fit my schedule nicely ( as I currently know it). One thing I will do if I do take that class is try and use the Studio time a lot more, and definitely do a lot of testing with glazes. My problem was between stuff disappearing after being bisque fired -- 2 interesting yunomi met this fate, and me loosing a batch of 3 small guinomi I spent time carving during class one day, but because I had to travel for a week, they dried out far to much in the damp room to be recovered, I did not have nearly as many pieces emerge out at the end as I thought I would. But I still have 3 more pieces that are in the process of being fired.

But I actually quite like what I learned about the Oribe over the white, I am considering in the set class making a set of small flat and wide cups/ bowls, then applying that glaze combo to them.

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Aug 2nd, '12, 10:18
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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by paul haigh » Aug 2nd, '12, 10:18

I'm enjoying watching this thread. Make sure to update with pics when you can.

If you really want to explore glaze tests, then you can make simple "tiles" and run a mess at once- then you aren't limited by how much stuff you can make, and you can get to using glaze patterns that you like sooner. Easy way to do this, take a small handful of clay and squish it in your fist. Slam the bottom of it on the table and let go. Now you have a test piece with some texture! For a single glaze, dip most of it, then dip only half so that you have a thicker glaze application near the top, and thinner at the bottom.

I'm about to open my kiln, and some new glazes that I tested last firing will look different because this was a hotter/better firing. Test test test. Oh, and test. I hope that it's not a kiln load of crap :)

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by AdamMY » Aug 2nd, '12, 12:38

Image
Celadon Teaboat by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

This piece turned out better than I expected while I am still struggling with glazes, by keeping it simple with just two dips into Celadon, this piece is great.

Image
Celadon teaboat detail by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

This is another piece whose form I made the very first day of class, and because he was encouraging us to add some texture or design I took a plastic fork and did arches around the piece over lapping like this.

Image
Celadon Teabowl Bottom by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by AdamMY » Aug 3rd, '12, 14:12

Likely the last batch for awhile. These were wheel thrown. while not great, their weights are not bad for their size, though the little one is a bit heavy, the bigger almost feels too light.

Image
Thrown Bowls (2) by Adam Yusko, on Flickr


Image
Thrown Bowl Large by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

Sadly the large bowl appears to have had something fall into it during the firing, possible a piece of one of the supports.


Image
Thrown Bowl Small by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

Image
Thrown Bowls (1) by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

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Aug 6th, '12, 14:05
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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by paul haigh » Aug 6th, '12, 14:05

When something falls in ( we refer to as "kiln schmutz"), you can grind it out with a dremel tool with a diamond bit (I use the same bits that I use for fixing a damaged chainsaw chain), then some fine wet/dry sandpaper. If it's not to your liking, then throw it back in for a second fire- this will often blend in any imperfection after grinding.

...or just make another one. That's the way to go when learning- just keep throwing! Remember, the cylinder is the basis of about anything you might throw, from a plate, to a bowl, to a vase. Practice cylinders and your skill will follow

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by gargoylekitty » Aug 6th, '12, 19:02

Lovely pieces! I've been wanting to take a class, but time is always an issue. So, it's really cool to see your work as you're just starting out.

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by andrzej bero » Aug 6th, '12, 20:42

paul haigh wrote:Remember, the cylinder is the basis of about anything you might throw, from a plate, to a bowl, to a vase. Practice cylinders and your skill will follow
+1

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by GreenwoodStudio » Nov 2nd, '12, 18:37

Hey Adam I hope you don't mind that I post these here, but I thought you might be anxious to see how your cups turned out, nice me thinks :D
Image
Image
and the other.....
Image
Image

Nov 2nd, '12, 19:56
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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by ethan » Nov 2nd, '12, 19:56

I like them. Good work.

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by AdamMY » Nov 2nd, '12, 21:09

GreenwoodStudio wrote:Hey Adam I hope you don't mind that I post these here, but I thought you might be anxious to see how your cups turned out, nice me thinks :D
Image
Image
and the other.....
Image
Image
They look great! Thank you for firing them.

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by MIKE_B » Nov 2nd, '12, 21:51

Sweet little cups!

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by Chip » Nov 2nd, '12, 21:55

... like Shino "Rocks" ... (kin to the Hagi Rocks).

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Re: Amateur Hour ( Non Artisan Member Made pots and cups)

by AdamMY » Nov 3rd, '12, 00:16

Chip wrote:... like Shino "Rocks" ... (kin to the Hagi Rocks).
Chip I forgot to mention the size of these... They are definitely Guinomi, as they are each about 2 inches tall. The first one with the rather irregular shape was completely carved by hand, then glazed and fired by Shawn.

The second one started with a ball of clay, I punched an indentation to the size I wanted in the center, then carved away the outside. It was then glazed and Fired by Shawn.

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