Throwing - it's like riding a bike (or is it?)

Some days I just struggle with throwing. I don't know why - if I have to be in the right frame of mind, concentration at the right level, pure luck, practice, right weather conditions or some other black magic.

It's apparently not like riding a bike - although I do cycle every day but don't throw every day. If I cycled like I throw some days I'd be broken and bruised.

Anyway here are the pitiful offerings I have to show for a throwing session at the weekend. Porcelain again, which I'd been OK at previously.

Some shoddy attempt at throwing porcelain - ha!

If I'm honest I don't think I prepared the clay well enough - possibly it had started to dry out a bit or affected by sub-zero temperatures as it felt uneven as I was throwing it, and lumps seemed to appear in the walls of the bowls.

Well its all practice, and reclaimable clay. Gotta take the rough with the smooth.

Coral-inspired bowl - all out in one piece (almost)

I held my breath as I opened the kiln half-expecting to see a pile of ceramics sticks on each kiln shelf, but amazingly, each one of these three pieces has survived.

The most delicate was the small random piece, one 'tentacle' broke off immediately on my picking it up out of the kiln - this is probably because none of the tentacles are connected and each one individually is very fragile. This was confirmed by checking the broken piece to find out that the inside of the tentacle was actually hollow - so the slip hadn't really permeated into the string when it was cast.

Coral-inspired tentacle piece - bisque fired

Coral-inspired tentacle piece - bisque fired

The shallow bowl also survives and felt pretty sturdy (but light) when lifted so there's probably an element of hollowness to it as well.

Coral-inspired flat dish bisque-fired

And the large bowl also came out in one piece. Result!

Coral-inspired medium bowl bisque-fired

Next step is to glaze them gently for the final firing. Here's a closer view of the texture on the outside of the pieces.

Coral-inspired medium bowl bisque-fired (side view)

Further experiments with coral-inspired bowls

I've just loaded the kiln with these bowls - some more attempts in a variety of sizes and shapes based on the method originally devised to create the bowls. Also some test tiles went in so that I can try out mixing up a wider range of volcanic glazes using silicon carbide.

Top-loading kiln with coral bowl and earthenware test tiles

Even though the end result is beautiful, the pieces are fragile and often break during the making process so I have been experimenting with different methods to strengthen the pieces enough to be able to handle them (gently) without them breaking.

Today three pieces went in - one large bowl, a large disk and a smaller 'random piece. These were cast over some new plaster moulds I made by filling various found plastic containers.

The kiln programme for the bisque firing was:

1. Up to 600ºC at 150ºC per hour
2. Full power up to 1120ºC
3. No soak
4. Cool down

Here are the three greenware pieces:

Small coral inspired random piece - greenware

Large coral inspired flat bowl - greenware

Large coral inspired rounded bowl - greenware

With last bowl I made I experimented with glazing and firing the greenware in one go - including adding a double layer of glaze for strength. This time I have layered the 'fingers' of the bowl more densely and allowed more slip (petra smooth) to soak into the string without squeezing so much out again.

The results will be evident when these come out of the kiln later. Previous attempts have shown that some of the pieces were so fragile they didn't even survive the bisque firing.

The firing also contained a number of petra smooth test tiles.

First attempt at throwing with porcelain - disaster or first tiny step?

I had a go at throwing with porcelain today - and what a shock I got! I thought I'd got fairly competent at throwing, earthenware, heavily grogged crank - I stuck to what I knew. But oh my goodness what an eye-opener it was to have a go with porcelain.

Of course I had a quick read-up of some tips before I started - don't overwork it - be careful of 'flopping' use minimal water etc. Of course my first attempt was a disaster - I was treating it as if it were white earthenware - the first 'bowl' flopped into a sort of shallow dish and the next three bowls wibbled and wobbled shamelessly. By attempt number five I was starting to adjust my technique - throw as quickly and as simply as possible - minimal water - using slip or slops of clay to keep the pot from sticking to my hands - throwing a basic cylinder then turning that into a bowl with the minimum of work. Still not a great result but I feel like I have progressed.

Can anyone else remember their first attempt at throwing with porcelain or does anyone have any tips for a newbie?

First attempts at throwing with porcelain - ouch!

I'm a bit embarrassed to post this photo - I can throw honestly! Note the flopped 'pot' at the back. None of them are great and I didn't seem to improve much after the second pot. Early days - back to the wheel at the weekend!

My shop on Etsy is now open!

I've finally opened my shop on Etsy. I've listed a few of my 'bread-and-butter' items that are in stock or can be made to order. I'll be adding more items as I photograph them. You can visit my shop from the thumbnails at the top right of this blog post (if you are viewing the web version) or at:

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CCouldridgeCeramics

Please let me know if you have any feedback or comments!

Some new glass colours to experiment with

I love using glass in my ceramic pieces. I love it for its translucent fluid qualities, the way it crackles and crazes in the kiln. It can add a focal point of interest to an otherwise subtle piece and of course the colours are clear and true.

A friend has asked me to make egg cups for her and her two daughters - the colour requests were quite specific! So that was an excuse to put in an order for some more glass...

Coloured sheet glass from the Create Glass Guild - aqua, pale purple and orange

I've used the aqua before in the floral piece earlier on in my blog. Some exciting colours to start playing with - watch this space!

I get all my glass from the Creative Glass Guild - excellent service and delivery is really speedy.

A very happy accident!

Sometimes something amazing happens when you experiment and when the unexpected turns out well, it makes the failed attempts worthwhile.

It's all about learning that failure is part of success...

I created this slip-cast piece as an experiment to try out a new glaze I'd made up which was emerald green. What came out of the kiln first time round was particularly underwhelming, and made its way into my (ever growing) box of rejects.

Then a week or so ago when I was preparing a stoneware glaze firing I realised I had some space in the kiln. I decided to try to breathe life into a couple of 'dead' pieces - nothing to lose there. So I reglazed this and one other bowl with a white over the green. I could never have predicted the result...

Stoneware slip-cast bowl twice glazed white and emerald green

Stoneware slip-cast bowl twice glazed white and emerald green - detail

It looks best when viewed directly from above...

Stoneware slip-cast bowl twice glazed white and emerald green

As I can easily reproduce this effect now, this is going into my soon-to-be opened Etsy shop.