These three cylinders are my second submission, currently exhibited for August, at Galerie Côté Créations (98 Richmond road), as part of our Ottawa Guild of Potters’ monthly showcase.

Am still working on the concept British potter Chris Keenan was trying to get through to us last year (at a workshop in Bambrugge, Netherlands): think about the shapes and glazing  with a view to displaying the pieces together, making the grouping provide added-value to the pieces.

The base glaze on all three cyclinders was the same ochre-based glaze I used for the Lidded Moon Jars; over this I squirted an off-white near the base, to varying heights; then came the titanium based grainy gold. Here I had to carefully estimate how high to place this third glaze, to avoid the risk of having the glaze run off the piece.

What I really like about these pieces is an unexpected gift to me from the kiln. Based on the positive experience on refiring my Lidded Moon Jars, I thought I might try and enhance these pieces by doing the same here. See where on all three cylinders I squirted a fine line of droplets of white? On the second firing, where the dark tenmoku ran past the fine line of white, the droplets  flowed with it, dropping to the bottom edge of the run, highlighting the rim with traces of white…

Porcelaneous stoneware; fired to Cone 6, in oxidation.

These vases are among the last pieces I made in 2016 while still in Brussels. The decoration is very different from what I have been doing in the past: I smeared moist cobalt oxide onto the porcelain, making final adjustments as needed, by adding a little here and there, and sanding marks off where they weren’t wanted. Each vase has either two, or three designs. These tall vases were made by fusing two thrown cylinders together. A clear, transparent glaze poured on the inside; the same glaze lightly sprayed on the outside, using the spray gun.

Audrey Blackman porcelain; fired to cone 6. in oxidation.