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This turned out really well.  I experimented with a combination of techniques.  I altered the basic shape of the pot, carved into the clay, added dimension by layering stamped and formed pieces on top (like the leaves,) layered various glazes to get the subtle shades of green.  Sometimes you just have to please yourself

Will and I have been working together!  We have, after all, been spending an inordinate amount of time together these days–haven’t we all!  So he is doing the stained glass and I am providing the pots and we have come up with a bunch of fun creations.  We have ideas for more so lets see how creative we can get!

 

The last three are all clay. 

Did a show this spring that I look forward to every year.  My friend and pottery “buddy,” Glennda, puts on a real event twice a year in her back yard.  She invites maybe 30 artists to set up all over her property, brings in a ton of food, has a classical guitarist serenade from the patio and then invites the world to come.  And they do come!!  This year the weather was perfect, lots of shoppers and friends stopped by and we enjoyed the weekend.

Outdoor shows are great because the sunlight really shows off the rich colors and depth of color of glazes.  

I wasn’t sure I was ready to sell this guy, he turned out great— but for the right price. . . . .He has a good home now and maybe I will try to make another one.

Visited the “Asian Civilization Museum” here in Singapore and found a fun exhibition featuring the findings of a Tang Dynasty Chinese merchant vessel that sunk in the waters off the coast of Indonesia sometime in the 1300’sAD.  Thousands of ceramics that were bound for trade in the West.  I love looking and reading about historic pottery and kilns and how fired clay developed and evolved over the centuries.  This was such a snapshot in time from a particular kiln in the city of Changsha which I think  today is near Guangzhou in South China.  This is 14th century stuff.

 

Went to my friend and “pottery bud’s” house on Friday for a Raku party.  Glennda does a Raku fire once a month on the second Friday of the month and invites any one who is interested.  Its a fun night, but of course, potters are fun people–we all know that.  This week about a dozen people showed up, old standby’s and some new people who had not participated in a raku firing before.  We bring our bisqued pieces, gather late in the afternoon around her patio table to paint them with raku glazes that she supplies and enjoy a pot luck supper and get to know everyone.  Then we all head to the back yard where Ray has the kiln fired up and ready to load the first batch.

Those are my tiles sitting atop the hot kiln, drying the freshly applied glazes while the first batch “cooks.”  Once the kiln has reached over 1800 degrees F, then the kiln is quickly opened, the pieces are carefully picked out of the kiln and put into a fireproof container with newspaper in it.  The paper immediately catches fire and that’s when we snap the lid on, putting the flame out and letting the black carbon penetrate those un-glazed areas of the piece.  That is what gives it that distinctive raku look.

Glennda gives instructions to a couple of new people just how to add horsehair to a piece that is steaming hot, fresh from the kiln for a very cool look.

My raven came out really nice.  Those metallic colors really pop with the carbon black accents.  I think I will put a nice copper hanger on top and maybe some beads hanging from the bottom.

 

 

Tucson’s winter 4th Avenue Street  Fair started out a little wet this year.  Big downpour of rain as it was suppose to open up Friday morning, sending a river of water down the street overwhelming the storm drains.  But didn’t last long.  Left a few puddles but soon the sun came out and vendors were back in business.

I met up with Brendan Fuller, a potter from Redmond, Washington, down here for his first Tucson Art Fair.  He just happens to be the son of a dear friend who  graduated with me from high school back in Iowa–a few years ago!  A little bird told me he would be there and so fun to meet him.

He is also an amazing clay artist.  Does this for a living which I think is amazing all by itself–to actually make a living doing what you love doing.  He not only makes his own glazes, he invented the particular crawling glaze that is his signature.  He has apprenticed in Japan and Denmark and studied in Maryland to perfect his craft.

What I thought was a clever design element just happens to be where he holds his pots as he dips them into his glaze bucket.  So you also get an almost finger print on each pot.

see more at http://www.brendanfullerceramics.com

We are back in Tucson and settling back into life in the desert.  Enjoying working in my home studio.  Fired up kiln for first glaze fire since we got home. Using up left over clay that I first had to re-hydrate as got pretty dry in the Arizona summer.  Now changing gears and getting ready for a show and sale–Art in the Garden–coming up first weekend in December.

 

We recently took a long weekend and went to the the northwest of Malaysia to the state/island of Penang to visit the UNESCO heritage capitol city of George Town. Checked into a lovely restored colonial hotel and did the tourist thing for 3 days.  Restoration is the word of the day as this town is having a resurgence of energy and investment to restore and update this old city.  Has a Straits trading history with wealthy Chinese traders before it came under British rule, was bombed during WW2 and economically had a hard time catching up until recently. Now things are happening.  We toured an 18th century Chinese merchant mansion, lovingly called The Blue Mansion, that had an interesting restoration story. The ceramic mosaics and broken ceramic decorations on the roof and sides of the building were repaired using colorful glazed ceramic bowls imported from China.  Pieces were nipped off the bowls in appropriate color to patch the degraded work. The curved surface of the bowls adding to the 3 dimension look of the art work.

Old George Town in the middle of modern, industrial George Town of today.

We went on an excursion  yesterday to find the last surviving Dragon Kiln in Singapore.  Came across information about it while researching pottery options in Singapore and certainly caught my interest.  The Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln is on the property of an import/export company that deals in ceramic sales from all over Asia.  Is quite an interesting place just to see all the ceramics–high end, inexpensive, copies, local made and imported for sale in this big open air warehouse in the middle of an industrial park.  

But the Dragon Kiln is the pride and joy of the Tan family who have owned it since the 1940’s and want to promote the legacy and tradition of wood fired pottery so it isn’t lost to history.  Once, this was the way commercial pottery was produced going back centuries. These huge kilns (you can see Will standing inside it) snaked up a gentle hillside.  Pots were stacked inside, wood fires were lit in one end and gravity would gently bring the heat up and through the belly of the “dragon” to fire the clay. Its interesting to see the wood ash “glaze” on the inside walls from years of firings.  I have seen such kilns in China in museums and attractions but this one is actually fired a couple of times a year.  They take a tremendous amount of wood, in ancient times whole counties were deforested feeding the kilns. That is a problem now and they are careful to use scrap and recycled wood.  Now they invite local potters to contribute items to fire and make a big city wide media event/festival out of it.  Next fire is first week in December.  She invited me to contribute something but unfortunately I won’t be here long enough to enjoy the experience.

 Yulianti Tan was there the day we visited and so gracious to show us around and tell us all about what they are trying to do here.  She is a clay artist in her own right and also does Ikibani flower arrangement–using her pots!  In the days when this kiln was in full production one of their main products was the bowls for collecting sap from rubber trees.  Today they don’t use ceramic containers–plus the amount of rubber plantations is pretty small in comparison.  They also have classes here to teach throwing and hand building and a class was going on today.

The dragon kiln is pretty much outside except it is covered with a roof to protect it from tropical rains. This gives an idea how large it is.  Mrs  Tan invited me to make something and get it to her to put in the fire in December–Doug could pick it up for me–Or I could come back and get it.  Wouldn’t be the same as participating in the 30 hour fire but would still be kinda fun to have something with my initials on it go through the fire in December.

One of the ceramic products they sell in Paranakan ceramics.  This has a long regional history in the “Straits” from Malaysia and Singapore.  When the area was first a trading center hub, Chinese traders settled here and prospered.  Since women were forbidden from leaving China and coming with their husbands, the men took local women as wives and the Peranakan culture was born.  This reproduction of Peranakan porcelain decorated in colorful overglazes, with motifs symbolizing marital harmony and longevity was made in China, for wealthy families in the British Straits Settlements in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore.  You see it all over and is quite pricy.

About 5 years ago I discovered “Spin” in Shanghai quite serendipitously.  I considered it quite a find and have loved what they produce since I first laid eyes on it.  Its a porcelain design house started in Shanghai, China about 2002 that now has outlets all over.  I think there is now one in California. . .but today I found the Singapore store.

Their goal is to use ancestral quality to create timeless pieces with a twist of modernity.  They certainly do bring their classic pottery to a new level.  It is mostly porcelain and is made in Jingdezhen in China although the designers are not necessarily from there.  The Jingdezhen porcelain is also something special.  I don’t know if it is the perfect clay or the glazes they use but it has this milky white with just a hint of green color that gives it perfect color.

I bought plate on the left.  It is amazing.  The hint of a folded napkin. Some of the pieces in the store are classic and always there but then they always have new designs to see.