My First Batch

Maineward

I grew up in Houlton.
Nice pots. Maybe I'll make it a point to stop next time I go home.

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A marvellous discovery indeed-that the human voice can quicken trees to life!

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Maineward

Is there anywhere a little closer to the beaten path where these pots are going to be available? Machiasport isn't exactly right off 95...

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A marvellous discovery indeed-that the human voice can quicken trees to life!

bonsaial1

Very nice pots!

The two toned one with the iron oxide on the bottom will darken up in a very reduceing atmosphere.

Turn off the oxygen and the pot will come alive!

Al

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acousticco

Muddslinger,

Fantastic!
The yellow oval in post #7 is exceptional.
What are it's dimensions?

Very cool

-Cody

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Geodude

Nice going, Kevin. These are absolutely gorgeous. I like the way the oval ones look, and if you've mastered the technique, can't wait to see more of them

I just took my first pottery class on Monday. I made a small pinch pot for the first time.... it was not easy trying to control the clay. You obviously have a lot of talent/experience.

Thanks for sharing.

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Paul

"Life will be sweet like a rhapsody
When I paint my materpiece"

Jay

Kevin, WOW... You can see the accomplished potter in your pots! I would say you will be making first class pots soon except I think that soon is now.

Some thoughts, not really suggestions. When I have shown my pots to Bonsaists one of the suggestions they have made was to try and keep the walls straight up and down. Makes for easier removal of the tree from the pot at repotting time.

With Mame pots bright colors are wonderful, but as the pots become bigger there is a desire to keep the colors more subdued, I'm sure someone will come in here and tell you about the bright colored pot for this or that fruiting tree, but generally speaking when the pots start getting past the 8-10 inch size you find them in less bright colors....OK this is getting commercial.

Question for you, I notice in the iron oxide wash pot that the color of the oxide is light/bright red in color. Is this an oxidation issue as Al suggests or a function of the claybody and fire temp? I ask the question because my oxide pots are much deeper in color when iron oxide is used... I do like the color that you have achieved.

I posted a thread on Humility, well seeing your pots has given me another dose.... That is a good thing!! I will be making efforts to raise my work to the level you have raised the bar too.

Keep up the good work...
Jay

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muddslinger

Hi All, Thanks for your compliments & feedback. I'll post replies and some more pots as soon as I figure out why the camera is refusing to focus on my pots. Here's another one for now: #3 a drum, porcelain with bands of the alleged "black matte" and iron oxide, 5-3/4in wide by 2-1/2in high....

Attached Images

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muddslinger

grampz, Thank you. I will be offering these and more pots for sale on my site as soon as time permits. Unfortunately, being new to bonsai, I don't have any trees that are ready for them yet <sigh>. So I'll have plenty to spare.

Maineward, They'll be available on my website (or you can call me) and I'll probably put a few at Mainely Pottery in Belfast to see how they do. Not exactly off 95, but it's right on Rt. 1 and a lot less out of the way than Machiasport. I have a potter friend in Houlton, Dave Gricus.

Al, Thank you too. One of these days I'll have a wood and/or gas-burning kiln so I can do reduction. I might try it in a friend's kiln, but all the potters I know with gas kilns are several hours away. While it
is (I hear) possible to do reduction in an electric kiln, it can be very messy, destructive and possibly dangerous as it involves the introduction of combustibles through the peep holes (Ya’ never know……I’ve done stoopider things).

Geodude, Thank you as well. I don't know if I've mastered the oval, but I think my next attempt will be better as I learned a lot from the 6 or so that didn't survive and more from the 2 that did.
That's great that you're taking a pottery class. Pinch pots aren’t as easy as they look, eh? It’s a great way to learn what clay can and can’t do though. Making pots and bonsai is an extremely fun concept to me. Now if I just had some trees that I could put in a few of my pots.

Jay, A final Thank you!
I did consider the repotting factor and made some with more vertical walls (see #3, post #17), I’ll post more as I take pics. I just love the rounded shape with an inward lip, though, and I have seen those shapes elsewhere. I think I’d be willing to deal with the increased difficulty of repotting, I’ll let you know when I try it.

I have read that about the brighter colors for smaller pots, muted colors for larger. I must confess that this was a bit of a rushed firing. I hadn’t tested many of the glazes I used and had little idea how they would come out. I got some of the recipes on the web cuz they sounded neat. I was also using two stoneware bodies that I’d never used before. I usually fire little test pots or pieces of broken pots in with my regular firings when I try new glazes & clays, but I was too anxious and had an order for a few mugs, so I decided to go for it. I did almost a whole kiln load of these experimental pots with only one shelf of my regular wares. It was very risky and I was extremely lucky as I didn’t have a casualty or second in the whole load!


Yes! All of these things can affect they way it turns out. Notice, it is different on the porcelain (#3) than on the buff colored stoneware (#1). Also, I added a little of my underglaze base mix which has frit, clay, zinc and such to give it a little flux and opacity.

I replied to your post on “Humility”. You’ll get there, if I can do it, anyone can. I thnk your skill level is above average for the time you’ve been potting.
Best and thanks again to everyone,
Kevin

muddslinger

Here's OMC's pick close up. #4, a round one, porcelain, "kiwi" glaze, 3in wide, by 1-1/4in tall.

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