#No kiln

[imalsorettish]

Ive been processing materials all week trying to make clay. Heres how it went, ill add to this as the days go by. this is just a recap

Gathered clay from my folks backyard. The soil there has always been shit to grow things in because its so high in clay. And the clay sits directly at the surface as well, its not just a foot down or anything. the whole fucking thing is clay. Ive tried to do this once when i was much younger, less even paced, and far more impulsive. It wasnt successful for a number of reasons.

- Got the material wet before i could even attempt to refine it down to just clay, which then meant id have to pick thru sludge with my hands to remove rocks and other debris.

- I decided to let the bucket sit to dry out, and then i never picked it up again.

- Straight up didnt know what i was doing. Well, i knew the essentials. It was obvious we had clay. I knew it had to be wet. It occurs to me now that i might have had an easy time recogbizing what was there and what to do because my grest grandparents were potters. My Mémé (Great grandma, ik it says meme. whats truly hilarious is she married a guy called pepe.) was a BITTER and mean woman. She and my grandmother would let me play with clay while i visited them, but i dont have good memories of this. I didnt investigate the craft due to the discouragement i got from them both. i found it intensely frustrating and it really clashed w my adhd.

- Clay takes a LOT of patience to work with. Even more to source it yourself and fiddle with the consistencies and ratios so u can manipulate into an actual piece, and EVEN THEN its not guaranteed that it will work well at ALL. Pieces often crack, dry incorrectly, shrink up, and even explode esp in the kiln. I do not nor have ever had a pottery wheel or a kiln. My only goal to satisfy doing this, then, was just to make clay and do nothing with it at all. Just to try it, see what my capabilities were, etc. There was absolutely no plan.

Since then, I found myself thinking about clay periodically. Every few months or so id return back only to the idea, and then brush it off. But ive never quite shaken it. I was 19 then. I turn 24 this march. Its been 5 years. So im trying it again, because i want to, and because i found pottery that finally interested me and i think would be fun and challenging to make.

[diabolicjoy]

some handmade ceramic plates 🍊🌷my ig

[changan-moon]

square 紫砂壶zishahu/yixing clay teapot by 董群飞dong qunfei

[shattered-earth]

I accidentally made a bowl you can't set down looollllll....

I love it but my mind boggles at how it even exists

[radiantmists]

he xuan spending years trying to break out of the kiln: -_-

the massive xie lian statue in the corner:

🙂

[customcreatures]

Recently started making little Kiln Spirits to watch over other ceramic pieces during the firing process <3

[moldspace]

tarasque

[hellocloudyart]

Guys I just opened the kiln and there are so many pretty things in there that I dont know what to show you first 😭🧡🍁🐈‍⬛🍄🌙🐦 heres a tiny sneak peek with this fall colored leafy cat 🧡🍂🌻

Coming to the shop September 30th!!

[wild-e-eep]

The Otter Ferry lime kiln from above and below.

[nutnoce]

Wall altars my husband and I made out of plaster and recycled cardboard!

[claypigeonpottery]

kiln ✨magic✨

[jbbartram-illu]

Before:

(This is a shot from right as the kiln was reaching temperature / I promise the gap - which is a thing that happens at the hotter temps - isn't as dramatic as it looks...that's just the brightness!)

...and AFTER!!!

THE GLAZE FIRE WAS A SUCCESS!!!!!!!

Like, even better than I expected! I'm always ready for a disaster after every firing, which makes the taste of success even sweeter & for this, my first ever glaze fire in my new kiln? It's the most delicious success I've ever had!

These are just a few highlights from the batch, which had 96 little glaze test bowls/creatures & allowed me to test a the two new glaze sample sets I got for xmas (Spectrum's floating glazes & their line of shinos).

Next up, bisque firing my first batch of actual-sculptures/vessels (some of which are seen below) & forging ahead with kiln ownership! EEK!!!

[jupejumble]

WOOHOO YIPPEE YIPPE SHE IS ALL SMOOTHED OUT, HE IS NOW ON THE SHELF WAITING TO BE FIRED!!!

[sleepnoises]

Commission of a Weather Angel to sit by the window and watch the rain. It ended up looking very weathered, fittingly!

[littlejumpydogheart]

dream

a cake + cake stand

[farmlesbians]

i want to be transformed into clay so that somebody can slap me onto a pottery wheel and spin me around super fast to mold me into whatever they want me to be .