Monday, February 28, 2011

A Wee Kiln For A Wee Price

Here's a small kiln I picked up at the scrap iron dump. I repaired a couple of wires and IT WORKS! I fired my mini jug for OTC challenge in it. It was made about 1940. Has a pyrometer and a nifty red pilot light.

It might have been an enamel kiln or jewelry casting burnout oven. It's tiny but it's good for glaze tests and small stuff. Has a cool rotary switch with porcelain knob. The pyrometer works with the new thermocouple I had on hand. It was made at a time when you could actually take things apart and repair them.

 I paid$ 1.50 for it.




A Little Skull Juggery

Mini Jug.

This month's OTC Challenge was to make the best "mini" jug you can.

(The OTC Group is a group of face jug potters that sell on ebay.)

The jug was handmade from stoneware clay then raku fired. He stands about 1 3/4" tall , 2" front to back and about 1 1/4" side to side. He is initialed and dated on the bottom. I reckon he'd hold about a thimble full of liquor (plenty to get my wife tipsy).












Sunday, February 20, 2011

Jug Of Souls

Some people claim that the purpose of the early Face Jugs in this country were to scare the kids so they would stay out of Pappy's Moonshine. I don't necessarily believe that but I do believe that the contents of those jugs snared the spirits of many people through the ages.
52 hopeless souls (one for every Saturday night of the year) encircle this jug, forever bemoaning their fate.

 Made from thrown stoneware, sculpted by hand, glazed with my Cobalt blue ash glaze, and high fired in my homemade kiln, to 2300f.


The faces were pushed out from the inside then carved and sculpted.








Saturday, February 19, 2011

THE BLIND ORACLE

It seems to me that we get most of our news from "Blind Oracles" these days. Some guy is paid big money to stand in front of a camera and tell us what someone else tells him. He hasn't a clue if the info he passes on is true but he is paid to be convincing in his delivery so the public will believe he's telling the truth.









Friday, February 4, 2011

Enough Already

More snow today on top of snow from earlier this week on top of ice from before that.
Luckily the studio is only a few feet from the house and the wood heater keeps the house toasty.



Snowplace like home








Thursday, February 3, 2011

Fresh Bread

I baked a couple of loaves of Honey Wheat bread today. The temperature outside never reached 20F. The aroma of fresh bread made the house a lot more cheerful.



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

JUG OF SOULS

Why sculpt  just one or two faces on a face jug when you can have 45?
Faces were pushed out from the inside then modeled.
I think I will rub it with cobalt and sponge off the high points and glaze with a clear glaze.
Hopefully, the faces will appear to be floating up from some dark, deep place.