Le Droit en Agen, France

Haha, tricked ya.  I did have another blog post in me after all.





Actually I was giving this guy away as a gift and so I didn’t want to let it go without documenting it.  I was very pleased with this.  The dots are subtle with the glaze and not overpowering and the whole thing comes together nicely.  This probably wouldn’t be big enough to feed a family of six but if I make it a whole lot bigger it won’t fit in the cabinet.  Problems, problems…




Check out the original post at my blog...
http://cuchulainn32.livejournal.com/

Finally, as always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

 

These two are bound for Maryland and I hope they make it there safe.  They turned out well and I hope the people that get to use them love them to pieces… er, probably best if you don't break the pottery.





Seriously, I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday.  I’m likely not to post a lot until after the new year so sláinte to 2010!

This is a special post for a friend to show off some gifts she commissioned me to make for her family.  But if you’re not this person you can still enjoy the pretty pictures right, especially since these pieces all turned out so well…



The first is the tea pot and cups.  I know I’ve posted about this tea pot before but the cups are new to you all.  Not sure why I haven’t posted about the cups before because they’re awesome.  I absolutely love that flair on the rim.  On a taller piece it is really pleasing…

On to the bowl…  Here’s another gift.  She told me she wanted a bowl that was larger than normal but not quite a serving bowl.  On that would work well in a dorm for a whole meal made in the microwave.



Well, the result is this guy (or gal) who is all that and more.  Because it is tall it should work well for a variety of functions.  Can’t you just imagine a big hulking pile of mac ‘n cheese in there?  Mmm...


Check out the original post at my blog...
http://cuchulainn32.livejournal.com/

Finally, as always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

I made a pair of these as gifts and they turned out to be a hit. So I made more!



They are designed to hold your yarn so it doesn’t roll away. This one is destined for Ann Arbor but I will probably have more after the holidays. They are a lot of fun to make but you have to catch it just right. Too hard and they are too brittle to cut and too soft and they’ll flop over.

I couldn’t resist this action shot with Andrea’s yarn from the alpaca farm we visited on our honeymoon. Below is Crème Brule, one of the alpacas who grew the wool.



She was real friendly. Enjoy!



Check out the original post at my blog...
http://cuchulainn32.livejournal.com/

Finally, as always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

I pondered the usefulness of a comparative analysis of my teapot form. The main benefits won out as it gives me an opportunity to display the progression in this ancient form while giving you, mom my dedicated readership, a chance to participate in my hobby vicariously. So, enjoy…



My first teapot was a disaster. The spout is overly large and doesn’t angle enough to make the teapot functional. You can only fill enough water in the basin to the bottom of the rim of the spout, leaving a lot of unused space. But on the up side it has a certain similarity to an old train locomotive.



My second was a lot better but was still a small piece. I had settled on this bulged, rounded form. The lid is functional but not altogether pleasing. It just looks like a hump of clay thrown on top. I can do better. Still, she’s too small for real use and as I mentioned before the spout dribbles as you pour.

My recent examples are much more in line with what I had wanted. The third teapot in this series is along the same line as the previous one. It is squat and bulged, but is about twice the size. Once, I realized what I liked I went for it!



The spout is also a huge improvement. I filled it with water and it pours nicely. The secret apparently is to turn the spout down so that as you tip the teapot to pour the base of the spout is the lowest point.



The lid is an exciting improvement as well. It fits over the lip of the body. I left the underside unglazed so that it had a little roughness to hold it in place. I also added a little flourish on the lid, just for fun.



The final two are a new style. Once I was happy with the last bulbous shape I thought I’d move on. They are inspired by silver serving sets with a rounded base with a taller central column. The spouts must be a lot taller for these, but that also means they have more time to goose neck!



I’m extremely happy with the blue one in the back. It pours well and holds about 24 fl oz. The lid fits neatly into the new lip I tried. The green piece on the right was a disaster though. I thought that overhanging lid would be fun and different but I hate it, and bonus the glaze is ugly too. It’s even worse on the inside, which I won’t show you… but two out of three isn’t bad?!



Check out the original post at my blog...
http://cuchulainn32.livejournal.com/

Finally, as always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

I mentioned in the last post that we were painting greyhounds onto pottery. Well the thing turned out well so I thought that I’d share the work…



Once I’ve thrown the piece and fired it to a little over 1,000°F we applied a layer of underglaze for coverage. Then, Andrea painted the figures in the cordon with another underglaze.



After outlining and adding some texture to the cordon we made sure it dried fully. Then it was my turn to completely cover the piece in a glaze that will turn clear after a stoneware firing. It was a little scary and took a little faith to cover Andrea's fabulous work.



But, I was pleased with the result. Though in the future it might be better to apply more coats to the figures. Still, they have a nice antiqued look and I won’t complain.



This picture makes the brown look mottled but it's very smooth in reality. I had some harsh light on the piece... As you can imagine there will likely be more ceramic greyhounds in the future but none could replace our Fiona!

Check our the original post at my blog...
http://cuchulainn32.livejournal.com/

Finally, as always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com