Finished Pots

Here are some finished mugs, some of which were in the previous posting. There are three with a Tenmoku glaze that breaks to brown on the edges of the facets and flutes. Two of these were thrown with Laguna Dark Brown Stoneware and have a poured slip decoration under a clear glaze. One was faceted with the spiral wire I use to cut pots of the wheel head, leaving lines within each facet. This mugs was glazed with a transparent copper green glaze to highlight this detail. Lastly, there is a copper read tea pot that turned out especially nice. Still need to put a cane handle on it...Enjoy!

Mugs

Monday I threw about 20 mugs experimenting with some new mug forms. Tonight I fluted some of the mugs and pulled handles for all. I have not been real happy with my handles as of late, so I have been working on these some to make a handle more fitting of the form. These are just a few of the mugs I made, I am happy with the handles on these! I like the handles to be wide and comfortable in the hand. 3 fingers are best, 2 fingers work. The ridge in the middle is made with my thumb while pulling he handle and makes a perfect thumb rest for either a right or left hander.


For me, what completes the pot are the small details. For instance, using a coiled wire to cut the pieces off of the wheel head, leaving a wonderful wire pattern on the bottoms of the cups. Whether firing regular gas reduction or salt firing, this small detail makes all the difference in the finished product.

Cameras, Lighting, & Backgrounds!

Along with a new blog I have been working on getting set up shoot better pictures of my pots.

Background:
I just received a "Varitone" background today in the mail, which fades from jet black to pure white in foreground, a perfect neutral background for pottery! I did quite a bit of shopping around to find the best price on this quite expensive background paper* and found the best price at Tallyns.com

* it is not actually paper, but a heavy gauge plastic with a gray scale printed on it. Others made it seem like a thin Mylar type material, but I found that it is much thicker and seems to be very durable. Definitely worth the money spent!

Lighting:
I have just about finished building a overhead softbox using John Glick's excellent blog on photographing pots - "Fresh Plums". He has designed a softbox using 1/2" foam core, silicone, lighting components, and ordinary hardware. I built my box using black foam core, with mitered corners to eliminate any light leaks and used spray advesive to glue reflective aluminum foil on the inside of the box. I found a great lighting fixture at Home Depot which is intened for use on the bottom of a ceiling fan, which already had three light sockets evenly spaced. All in all, I spent about $50-80 on materials for this box (including floresecent lightblubs), compared to purchasing one for $800 at a photographic supply company.

Pictures of the box to come, as well as some example shots taken with my new equipment!