New Spring Pots

Very nice pots Robert, and the glazes are all very nicely done.
I'm sort of expecting a drop off in sales of the 'stretched' pots next season from over exposure. It's going to be tricky this winter trying to decide just what to make for next spring?

I guess I'll be seeing you in a couple days in Asheville? I hope the weather is a bit nicer than here.

Dale

Kitoi
Thanks for looking I appreciate your comments

Dale
I am not sure I can say our weather here will be much nicer it is supposed to rain a good bit this weekend but it will still be warmer than northern Ohio. Thanks for the compliment on my glazes this next oval could have come out a bit better but it is hard to glaze really big pots especially when you are almost out of your glazes. I may try spraying it on next time but it has some OK variety. Have a safe trip.
Robert

This one is a 23" oval and is a bit more green in person than the photograph shows.

Here is another oval

Here is a semi cascade square with a little carving and another little shohin pot.

Here is a layerd glaze that the temperature was a bit much and it ran. Thank goodness for kiln wash

Here are a few tangents from the bonsai pots. I enjoy working in other modes and one of them is Raku. I got to work with a small group of potters this past weekend to do Raku and Sager firing demos for our "Art on Main Street" festival and these are a few of my sagar fumed pots. The high gloss makes them very hard to photograph.

Thanks for looking.

Robert,

As always, a very nice selection of pots and glazes. You are getting some very interesting results from your electric kiln.

The white glaze on 5510 is very nice. I like the application and the subtle movement of this glaze. This would be a great glaze for darker colored clay bodies.

The satin green glaze is a keeper. It has great movement and depth. I like the way it pools in the low areas and accents the high spots on your textured pots. This type of application adds an additional layer of eye candy to your pots. I thing this would be a great glaze on lighter colored stoneware or porcelain.

One thing that I noticed as I was looking at your pots was that several of them appear visually unstable. In particular #5512. To my eye, the unstable feel comes for the placement and type of foot you used.

The 23" oval is great. It has good lines and great proportions. It is so hard to get a pot of this size through the entire process without some warping or sagging. It has been my experience that applying glazes to pots of this size is best done by spraying.

The layered glaze application on pot 5523 does not appeal to me at all. It does not compliment the form of this pot or the color of the clay body very well.

The Raku pieces are outstanding. The forms are good and the horse hair effect is very appealing.

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing some more wood fired pieces soon.

Regards,
Paul

Paul,
Thanks for all the great feedback.

I hope to mix a little more glaze before I do the next few big pots but either way I will probably end up spraying anyway.

I agree about the layered glaze not working with the form. I had hope to have had the edges break on the facet marks and maybe with the extra heat, or just that combination it almost covers it up.

I will look closely at the feet, I did not get the sence of instability but often when you are too close or used to something you do not see it as other do. Thanks

I am glad you like the Raku, and I am starting a batch of wood fired pots now. I hope to fire twice this winter so I will have many new bonsai and other pots.

Good to here from you
Robert

Robert Wallace wrote:

This one is a 23" oval and is a bit more green in person than the photograph shows.

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I like the form of this oval Robert. The foot rims and the top rim balance nicely. I have a question: do the feet on this pot stretch all the way around or do they stop at the middle of the sides?

Robert Wallace wrote:I will look closely at the feet, I did not get the sense of instability but often when you are too close or used to something you do not see it as other do.

One thing to keep in mind, I have not seen any of these pots in person. The instability that my eye perceived in a few of your pots may just be the angle at which the photos were taken.

Nonetheless, you are absolutely correct. As an artist, sometimes you need to step back from your work to get a better perspective on where you are going.

Constructive feedback is another way to keep things in perspective. I like to get together several times a year with the gentleman that taught me to throw on the wheel. I always take along a sampling of my newer pots for him to critique. The feedback from these visits is always helpful.

Robert Wallace wrote: I am starting a batch of wood fired pots now. I hope to fire twice this winter so I will have many new bonsai and other pots.

Firing a kiln with wood is a process that I would like to experience for myself someday.

Best of luck with the show this weekend.

May the kiln gods smile on your endeavors.

Cheers,
Paul

Robert,
That 23" oval is very nice and I like the glaze just as it appears in the photo. A great pot for it's size.

Real nice raku....I gotta get into that!

Also, I now own one of your pots. I bought this pot in the gift shop Saturday...... for about 1/2 of what I thought it was worth. You are giving them away Robert!!

Rob, There are 4 feet on the large pot. There is about a 4" space between the front and back feet.

Paul, Thanks I always appreciate your insite

Dale, It is an honor when another potter buys your work. That is only the second one like that I have made on a bonsai pot but I hope to make more. Pricing is always a difficult task, I feel like I should sell my electric fired pots cheeper than my woodfired ones due to labor cost but maybe I need to charge more all the way around. I hope you had a good trip to NC, I was barely at the Expo this year as I had out of town company but your work looked great as always.
Thanks.
Robert

Here is another large oval 24" across. I am much happier about the glaze on this one, sprayed this time
Here are both sides and a different angle

Here is a slab built rectangle about 17" across

A few more pots, fun with the mud and little faceting.

Very Nice large oval and rectangle! Pretty darn straight looking. Tough enough with 17" let alone 24" huh?
Electric fired?

A question about the rectangle. The pic is not big enough to quite tell but, are you block sanding?

I like that green on that faceted pot!
Dale

Keep up the good work
Steve

Robert,

The large oval looks great. Nice lines, good proportions, and a fine job on the glaze application. I've noticed that you are showing more glossy glazes then you have shown in the past.

The rectangle has a very appealing finish. It works well with the form of this part. The only thing that bothers me a bit about this container is the feet. They seem set back a bit to far.

The two round pots are sweet. Good use of texture on the first pot. The texture along with the finish you used gives this pot a lot of character.

I like the glaze you chose for the faceted pot. It ties the piece together very well.

Cheers,
Paul

Dale,
Thanks for the compliments, it is definitly not an easy task getting these big pots through without warping. I am not sure what you mean about block sanding This clay body is a very high grog content but it gives it a rougher surface. I also fired the cone 6 clay body to almost cone 8 and I think it brought more grog to the surface on the unglazed rectangle. These are all out of my electric kiln, my wood firing was almost all christmas stuff, cups, vases, bottles, bowls etc.

Steve,
Good to see you on the here on the IBC, and thanks for the words of encouragement.

Paul,
I appreciate your critique as always, your thoughts and observations are most helpful. I am happy with the glaze combination on the faceted pot much more than the last one attached is another of this type. I think the blue glaze went a bit glossier than normal with the higher temp, but I am not bothered by it.



Thanks for the comments

Robert Wallace wrote:Dale,
Thanks for the compliments, it is definitly not an easy task getting these big pots through without warping. I am not sure what you mean about block sanding This clay body is a very high grog content but it gives it a rougher surface. I also fired the cone 6 clay body to almost cone 8 and I think it brought more grog to the surface on the unglazed rectangle. These are all out of my electric kiln,

I meant block sanding for edges/squareness. I guess not though?
Nice and clean lines. I wish I could do a 24" pot in my electric kiln. Anything that size I must use the gas, but, lately I've only been using the electric for bisqueing.
Have you ever checked your absorbtion on your cone 6 clay fired to cone 8? or shrinkage?

Dale

Hi Robert,

beautiful pots have you got taken out of your kiln.

The proportions are well done to you, the green oval pot I like very much.

regards
Peter

Robert,
It's great to see your work here again!

Your raku pieces are quite awesome.

Thanks for sharing,
Rob

Robert

Some great piece's made. Always enjoy looking at you work and the horse hair raku is fantastic!

Regards

Andy

Dale,
I have not made many slab built pots and have not used a sandblock all thougth it does not sound like a bad idea. Does it look different than non sanded places? I also have not done any test on absorbsion and shrinkage for my cone 6 clay fired cone 8. I am actually shooting for cone 7 but with the slow heat up and cool down I think I pushed an extra cone. I am guessing it is far less economical to bisque with the gas kiln as opposed to the electric. I will be in your neck of the woods later this week. We are returning to the frozen North for the holidays

Peter,
Thanks for the complements

Rob,
I appreciate your feedback as always, I am sorry I could not get your pot this holiday but maybe this spring we can work out a swap

Andy,
Thanks for looking, I am getting a small batch of the horse Hair Raku going now. Its hard to have 3 different pottery interest-- Bonsai pots, Raku/sagar pots, and wood fired funtional pottery and little to no time for any of them... not to mention that whole bonsai thing
Well I hope eveyone has a great holiday season, here are a few new pots out of my last batch.

[quote="Robert Wallace"
Rob,
I appreciate your feedback as always, I am sorry I could not get your pot this holiday but maybe this spring we can work out a swap

Sounds great to me. I would love to get hold of one of your wood fired pots