Shawn McGuire (GREENWOODSTUDIO)

[IPT]

That's not bad. I was worried there would be an interruption of the production of your beautiful pieces.

[GreenwoodStudio]

Some of you suggested that I try some white/light/simple glazed ware. So here's an example of the result. I should have pictures of more tea appropriate forms and sizes soon, but this is one I was able to photograph today. I like the way this white glaze breaks on the edges, it's slightly translucent nature shows off the surface texture of the iron-bearing clay beneath pretty nicely.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/70516130/su ... re-w-white

[IPT]

Wow Shawn! That's awesome!!!!!!

[Herb_Master]

Looks great, I love the shape, just a little too large for drinking Oolong.
The same design and shape but 60-80ml would be perfect

Same design (but obviously modified shape) would at 100-120ml make a fantastic Pitcher/Fair Cup, the white background would make it easy to judge the colour of the brew

[Herb_Master]

I like this Etsy picture even more

http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.229139138.jpg

Oops it was too big for Teachat, I had to borrow it and put it on Flickr, I hope you don't mind




I can just see a handle in the foreground, and a lip in the far background, for a stunning Pitcher

[Chip]

Really nice white "chawan!" Looking at this one, soooo ... if you are interested, it is time to swoop!

OK, who got the realllly cool jar???

[GreenwoodStudio]

@ Chip

Thought I'd post a few more white ones that came out of the kiln today. I had a LOT of cracking because I tried to put such a tall foot on these, couldn't get good compression while throwing, a lesson learned I suppose. I do enjoy the white glaze, so thanks for suggesting it folks

http://www.etsy.com/listing/70679023/fl ... toneware-w

http://www.etsy.com/listing/70675924/te ... -iron-rich

[tingjunkie]

Love the second cup! The foot looks like an engine gear.

[Chip]

Very nice simple white, with some panache!

[Stentor]

Those are nice. Very elegant!

[brandon]

Love the second cup! The foot looks like an engine gear.

I don't care for the fancy footwork, but the glaze on the second cup has me pretty excited. Reminds me of Kohiki or Korean Hagi.



This glaze rules.

[Stentor]

Oh and what I think works really well with this kind of carving that you did is to accentuate the carved lines with colored glaze to contrast with the white glaze.
I can totally see a larger version of that last cup, with carved lines along the outside of the body as well as the foot (except the brim of the cup which needs to be smooth and soft to the lips) with loosely applied lavender colored accents in the lines. And some faintly applied hints of color on the body so it's more harmonious as a whole. This might work better with porcelain though?! Or does that make it too boring?
But I think I'm rambling... LOL Sorry about that

Anyway, I like what I've seen from you lately! It's probably not going to be too long until I'll find something that fits me.

You seem to be very intent on becoming even better as a potter and as an artist and you appear to be working really hard to achieve your goals. I like that a lot!
Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

[GreenwoodStudio]

Love the second cup! The foot looks like an engine gear.

Wanna-be Hagi-Steampunk??

Thanks Stentor, your not rambling. I appreciate the thoughts

Well anyhoo, I got some more attempts at Houjins fired, no glaze, and the claybody actually looks pretty good all by itself. I totally get what you guys are talking about now in regards to bare clay having influence on the taste of the water. Even after a bunch of rinses in the one I've been using, there is a slight, yet distinct mineral taste or perhaps it's iron?? I'm not sure I know how to describe it. I like it though.

OMG, this little 30 ml. came out so cute pours pretty good too!

This attempt at an added on slab spout was not very successful. Where the spout attaches to the body of pot is too low on comparison to the edge of the spout, so unless you pour very quickly the tea would want to run down the body of the pot instead of off the edge of the spout. A great lesson learned. The Houjins I made with thrown spouts actually perform much better.

So, having some fired pieces to learn from was a great help in developing the next generation of Houjin for the woodfire next month. These will most likely also be completely unglazed, except for natural ash accumulation, and are made with a new claybody I just mixed up. Actually it's a blend of two claybodies I've used successfully in the past for woodfire. One is a very refractory stoneware body that you can beat the hell out of in the kiln, and the other is an iron-bearing stoneware which has nice color response, also I added a bit of molochite (porcelain grog) which should give some interest to the bare surface as well as making the clay a bit more forgiving when adding appendages and such.

Here's an example of the new stylized version of my Houjins, with all the amendments for proper function (that I'm conscious of today) I think I'm going to name this series "Raptors"


Do you see the bird head, or have I been breathing in too many kiln fumes again?

[Chip]

Raptor, cool!

That is a very innovative, original, and unique houjin! Hope to give one a test "flight" soon!

[Geekgirl]

Incredible. I love the design of this, very functional, and very original.