More Repotting - the Rock Ficus

I've been observing a majority of the plants with true leaves are getting ready for a fall push - the days are getting shorter and the temperatures, while still on the warm side, are definitely starting to drop off.  With that should come more leaves and sugar production until "winter" starts and leaves drop.  I've been wanting to pair this plant and this pot together for some time now, but the to do list kept growing.  I managed to get way ahead on this three day weekend so it was time to repot the Ficus petiolaris.

I trimmed off a bunch of the hair roots, and used a mostly dry stall mix with some cinder and only a little cactus mix.  I did add a bunch of Osmocote so the plant has plenty of nutrients to draw from for the fall push.

I really like how this pairing turned out!!!

Christmas in July!!! Glazing Fire Run Done!!!

The last three loads of our pottery came out of the glaze firing yesterday!  Here are Noe's pots -

And here are my pots (and other things like totoros and fishing lures) -

I'll post some of these individually - on the whole, this is probably the best batch I've gotten back from the ceramics shop to date!!!  And just in time for the upcoming CSSH Show ;)

More Pottery Processing Through -

I stopped off at the ceramics shop yesterday to buy more Rod's Bod clay, to see what has come out of bisque and what was ready to take home. All of Noe's work survived and most of what I last turned in for bisque firing has come out and is ready to glaze (except two larger pots - when Noe and I go back this weekend, perhaps they'll be out as well).

 

 I'm not glazing these three so they went right on to the high firing rack. There wasn't much on their so perhaps we can get our other pieces in this load by the weekend.

 

 These are the pieces that came out of the glaze firing.

 

The Woo Blue pieces looked more like they were glazed with tenmoku (black and brown) - but it works really well with the dark brown that the Rod's Bod takes on in the firing. The big Jamaica clay pot glazed with carbon trap shino came out cool as well! Now to find suitable plants....

 

Glazing the First Batch (of 2017)

When we turned in the second and third batch, our first batch pieces were bisqued and ready for glazing. I glazed with Buttery Yellow and Celadon - it'll be interesting to see how it works with the Jamaica clay. Noe used Woo Blue.

Second and Third Clay Batches of the Year

Second batch Third batch

Getting Back on the Horse

I had to vent off some frustration yesterday so after repotting a few plants (another post), I decided to shape a few containers - the first in 2017. First up is a bonsai pot - a little on the thick side, but proportional. Next is a medium sized bowl. I think I'll be making several of this container as they are the right volume for the kind of plants I have right now and their current size. My wedding ring is in the picture for size comparison purposes. And lastly, I repaired a small bowl we got with a clump of waterplants. Three pieces broke off, but using some of the new foamless, clear Gorilla Glue, it's back to 100%. I used some of the Jamaica clay that I had leftover from my last wheel class. The lesser amount of grog made this clay easier for me to form on the wheel (probably more a psychological thing), but it made it challenging to hand form. The medium bowl actually has a decent split in the middle that just spontaneously formed. I repaired it, but I'm curious as to how it will hold up in the kiln. I'm going to make a few more pots tonight and take the load over to the ceramics shop on Saturday.

Some Overdue Trimming

These are supposed to be matching bowls to go with the big salad bowl I made for La's Christmas present - the first one I made was easy. Getting the second one to match was tough - I got it close, but it dried to be smaller than the first. What I did get out of these was a much better feel for trimming to the interior of the piece. These did turn out lighter than the ones I've sent through the glazing firing before. I will not get these through the bisque and glaze process before the year goes out - so it'll be next year before La gets the matching set. I should get the big bowl back from glazing this coming Saturday (whew - just in time for Christmas!!!!)

My First Jamaica Clay Body Pieces

All trimmed up and ready for bisque firing. I have enjoyed working with Jamaica clay - it feels smoother than the Rod's Bod and Soldate 60 that I have been using. Thinking about the next steps, I believe I want to use minimal glaze on these pieces, to highlight the clay body. I know I'll have to glaze the interior of the two bowls for food safety, but in all cases, I will minimize what goes on the exterior. And these are the latest batch of pinched pots. I'll take Noe and Marlon in to the ceramics studio today so we can glaze these pieces (they each have one in this batch with the balance being my pots).