Good kiln results

Last time I glazed these particular tiles, I was very unhappy with the plain, muddy results.  Well, I made some more tiles to try with different glazes.  I not only wanted to have more interesting colors, I wanted to simplify the process.  So, I chose three glazes:  temmoku, celadon, and California red, then blew a little Oribe on them with my mouth sprayer.  The results were much, much better.  What do you think?

 I also had some success with another test:  I put some rutile wash over temmoku.  I was attempting to get a gold pattern over the temmoku.  All of the pieces turned out well, but ran a lot.  So I could only save two.  You can see those below.  

Pretty cool, huh?

It's coming right along...

Did some more work on the painting this week.  I should have all of the major elements in by the end of next week, then I go for corrections and refinements.  

See how that background sinks down into the center of the picture?  As I continue to work with the main focus, the flowers, it will continue to do so.

What do you think of it so far? 

Progress is made

I've had some time to work on the three roses painting.  I decided to create a distant background in the center to draw the eye in.  Believe it or not, this will look like gravel on the ground when the painting is finished.  

 I've worked on it a bit more here, adding more gravel and continuing to slowly define forms and background.

 And yesterday I only had about an hour to work, so I tackled the upper left rose and the surrounding area.  Each layer adds more depth to the composition, doncha think?

 

Getting stranger by the minute

Yesterday was fun.  I just played with the form, adding fish and patterns.  I'm going to leave more of it with color, because, obviously, it's busy enough.  

The colors will fire richer and darker.  I only put on one coat of the black, so, if it works right, you'll only see faint images of the black patterns.  

Below is a view of another side, and then the last is the whole thing covered in three coats of clear glaze.  This is a new brand of glaze for me, so I'm interested to see how it will affect the colors after it's fired.

Taking it to the studio tomorrow, and hope I'll be in time for this next firing.  If not, it may be over a week before we'll see the finished product.

Now don't freak out.

Last time I told you about this form of Ted's I'm going to "embellish".  

Sometimes I like to actually plan things ahead of time before I plunge right in.  So I ended up thinking of a grade school project I really enjoyed.  

Remember when you colored a piece of paper with all different, random colors, then covered it in black, and scratched a picture through it?  I loved that project.  

So here I'm going to do it, only a bit more controlled.  My first step is to cover the piece in underglaze (three coats of each color).  That's what I did yesterday.  Today I'll paint a black pattern over it, letting the color come through in an interesting pattern.

I'm going to call this "Rainbow Roll" when I'm finished.  And I think you'll see why when I'm done.  

Occasionally you should step outside your comfort zone.  It can lead you in new and interesting directions. I'll send another picture tomorrow.  

Ted, Three Roses and Taxes

One of my fellow ceramic artists, Ted, does this great thing every year where he explores a technique, or shape.  He makes many, many, variations on the same theme.  I'm talking like a hundred here.  Two years ago he explored the female form and created many wonderful vases.  This year he's pushing the boundaries again, in a more random shape pattern.  And I wanna tell you these bisqued forms are everywhere.  Each one is different. 

Sue said she wanted to paint one, and I did too.  This is the one Ted gave me to "embellish".  That's the fancy name for paint it.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  


Below is the first pass on my painting of the three roses. I tried five times to get this to import correctly and I give up.  So tilt your head sideways.  And Taxes?  Guess what I get to do today.  Yuk!

 

New Client, new job

I have a new client who wants a watercolor of the roses in her garden.  So my task is to use these photos to create a pleasing and artistic grouping. The resulting watercolor should not only satisfy the client's wishes, but be able to stand on it's own as an interesting piece to the casual observer.

When working within these parameters I've learned it's vital to ask as many questions as you can of the client.  And this may sound elementary and somewhat obvious, but WRITE IT DOWN.  You will not remember everything that is said.  I've learned that one the hard way!  The conversation not only includes size and spatial orientation of the objects, type and size of the piece itself, but background, shadow treatment, inclusion of other objects, etc.

You also need to be able to give a realistic completion date to the client during your discussion, as well as price.  

I'll keep you posted as the work progresses.