Fluted Bowls & Plates

Some of the fun in interesting projects I am doing in Ceramics are my Fluted Bowls & Plates. They are hand-built by slab rolling and shaping over a plaster mold. They are pinched and torn to make the ragged edges. Some of the bowls are completed with Cone 5 Clay and some with Cone 10 clay. I am just learning to us a Cone 10 clay called DSO which I like very much as it is a softer clay and mold more easily.

This Plate is a brown-blue color and is Turkish Amber/Black Mix with Castle Blue Cone 5 High Fire Glaze. = = = = =

This Plate as also Turkish Amber and Castle Blue Cone 5 High Fire Glaze but it had no black in the mix.

This Series of Plates are Crystal fired Glazed. They are a Brown base (on the outside) and Turquoise Crystal in the inside. Most interesting is that the lighter glazed pieces are the same glaze as the more Turquoise ones.

Many factors play into the why they turned out different. The glaze itself... may have had some different qualities at the different times the pieces were glazed. The amount of glaze put on each piece. The amount of heat that reached the glaze within the kiln. One of the most fun things about glazing is the the surprise effect - the potter is always prepared for the unexpected and then takes joy in whatever their piece may bring. Potters are just happy that their piece make it through the whole process of becoming a piece of pottery.

The Plate is the first one I made in this series, it was completed in late 2009. I used Turkish Amber with Castle Blue on the Edges. It fits really nicely with a Wired-Vase that I bought from Dale Pappas, a professional potter here in Reno.

The next Plate is Copper Sand and Luster Duster Raku Glazed. It was a fun firing that day as my piece was classed as the "Best In Show". It is always fun to get recognition for your work. The colors: reds, blues, golds came out so vibrant and clear.

The final piece displayed is also Copper Sand and Luster Duster Raku Glazed. The difference is the prior plate was place right-side up in the smoking can and this one was place face-down. Here again, many factors play a part: depth of glaze, mix of colors in the glazes, the heat in the kiln and just the plain ole' "Pottery God".