Repurposing gives new life to old ceramics!

Thanks to my son Temba for this piece of inspiration...

... and a few more jugs for the holidays!

Definitely the most fun this year has been jug-making. Here are a few more for the end of the year:

Stacking to make vases ... is it bamboo or what?

Building tall vases by stacking two or more cylinders on top of each other is fun - and risky, as several attempts have cracked during firing. Here are some that survived:

And here is one in the making:

Coffee set

So here's another coffee set based on the matt black cylinders, with bright lime and cyclamen insides - and a sugar bowl inspired by the late great Braamfontein restaurant Narina Trogon:

"When I grow up - I want to be shiny"

Some recent ceramics and their earlier, earthier days:

After glazing - my favourite from the 2014 jug series

Same jug before firing

My biggest bowl in various stages:

The finished bowl

After bisc firing, before glazing

Unfired, during wax resist - washing away the chocolate slip between the waxed portions

Earlier efforts - a study that didn't quite make it all the way

Other people's pottery that I like

Here's a link to some lovely stuff: http://www.pinterest.com/ykceline/ceramic/ Thanks to Kim Sacks for the tipoff.

Long-lost products of hillside garden claying

... so two years later, I found three unfired mugs wrapped in plastic in my garage. Dry and extremely brittle of course! Amazingly two survived the trip to the kiln and firing:

Here's a link to their genesis

Abundant jugs - fresh out of the kiln - with some quirks...

Wow, I am grateful for the way these jugs came out....colours, quirks and all! As Kim always says "say a prayer to the kiln goddess!"

This one went to live with May in November

Jugs to pour abundance

There is something about a jug that is so full of generosity, just waiting to be poured out. This month I'm exploring with what quirks that abundance can flow.

wondering how this handle will survive firing?

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Stacking cylinders, and the power of mistakes

Celebrating Kim's return to health and the studio. Here's a piece from last year. Isn't it fun to see what happens when you stack several simple cylinders to form a tall vessel?

This one benefited from a couple of things you could call mistakes.

Firstly the cylinders weren't quite regular, so I had to turn the middle one upside down to get them to match. That led to the bamboo-type effect above.

Secondly I kind of dropped the vessel into the glaze, while struggling to immerse something so long (about 45 cm prior to second firing) into the liquid. And that created some of the drips and blobs that give it a bit more character.