Waiting in its various forms

 I have been hand-building and decorating more and more....

(bottoms of cups)

 partly this is because i continue to have some problems with my left hand, which might be carpal tunnel related.  But, the other reason is that I find it quite interesting. 

cups that are firming up before attaching the bases

In the past I made pots primarily by throwing on the wheel.  I find that handbuilding is quite a different experience: 
1. less wedging
2. different type of scraps
3. different shapes are possible
4. different rhythm to the work

 In particular, there is a different type of time-line involved.  In handbuilding, or more specifically, using slab construction, I find that there is a lot of waiting time between each step. 
I throw and roll out slabs, then wait for them to stiffen up before being able to cut shapes from them.
Some shapes are partially constructed, and then have to firm up more before continuing to work on them.  Even when the pot has been assembled, there is still quite a lot of fine-tuning to be done: lots of wiping down of rough edges, or scraping away with a rasp or a trimming tool, or smoothing with a smooth piece of wood or a rubber rib. 

 I also notice that it is quite a lot of fun to press designs into the slabs as I construct the pots.
 It's a form of mishima, I suppose, to paint the impressions with slip and then to wipe away the extra with a damp sponge,

 I've been using a dark grey slip up until this point. 

 On the vases,  I intend to add a colored glaze on the inside of the pot.  The mugs, I painted the insides with underglaze. 
I also am thinking of adding decals to some of them later, although I find it tricky to do long term planning like that.  It is easier for me to do as much to the pot at one time as possible to make it close to being finished.  It seems that there is too long of a gap between starting and finishing a pot to remember what I had planned.

 I am still doing a lot of underglaze decoration.  It too can be a waiting game.  I tend to apply three coats of underglaze to prevent it from looking streaky or translucent when glazed.  Each coat has to set up between applications.  So that means that I am working on several pots at the same time-- maybe 5 or 6.

 And, on another note, I am still waiting on firing all this stuff, since the electrician I found that is willing to come out here to hook up the plug won't be able to come until the second week of september.  : (
Yeah, that's quite a wait. 

 There will be hundreds of pieces by then.......

Mug Shapes

I like to do mugs these days, I suppose because you can always give them away to people, or use them.  They do seem to get used enough that eventually they break or you get tired of them and you need another one. 
The mug shapes above are ones that I've made in the last week or two, in my little backyard shed here in Asquith. 
The ones below were made in Savannah in May or June,
I am currently leaning toward the more open top, and squaring it off, but retaining the same type of  handles, and the little foot ring that flares out too.
I've returned to using Plainsman clay,-- some M370 that is about 12 years aged, and some P300, which is what I think I'll stick with.  

Glazed Mugs,

These are the way some of the mugs finished out from the last glaze firing,

 

 On the whole, the clear gloss covered the underglaze parts a lot better without getting rough.

 On the inside of them, I used a commercial glaze from Coyote, in a few different colors,

 These two below, I omitted putting on the wash of dark grey, and the blue is a lot paler than before,

 In the photo below are two mugs that show similar decoration, but show how the clear glaze has become a lot better, and also shows how the wash affects the final outcome.  On the earlier mug on the left, the glay lines on either side of the turquoise are incised and filled in with the wash, and on the later mug, they are trailed on with a brown underglaze,

 I like the inside of the mugs being a different color,

On this one, the white flower parts were masked with newspaper when I painted on the blue underglaze.  The black lines were added with an underglaze pencil on bisque, and the dots added with underglaze.  The commercial colored glazes have a tendancy to run where they meet with the clear glaze.