yunomi workshop day 4: kiln results & some trimming...

While we've had lots to do over the past two days, and in many ways it's gone by so fast, there's another part that has run in slow motion, and that's the timeline from when we finished loading the kiln Monday night to when we could finally open it earlier today. Even while bustling through wheel work and studio tours, always in the back of the mind is 'how long till we can open the kiln!?!?!?'.

Well Christmas in July has arrived, and we had some very, VERY nice results. Even better, Matt was able to see a distinct difference in the results he has had in past firings and those we had, using a different firing program and going to a slightly higher temperature.

Here are some results:

Matt's slab-built yunomi with added texture.
These were rubbed down with oxide washes before
glazes were applied. One will stay with me!

Matt's 'vase frames' - a fun design and beautiful in function!
Some had oxide wash, some underglaze brushwork
under the glaze.


our 'super secret slip tests': lizella slip dipped on bisqued test tiles,
and then dipped in each of Matt's glazes and a couple of the house glazes
We were very pleased to see the glaze stayed on, and the textural and tone
results also give us more to play with going forward


more slab plates (I can't wait to see future tests with his wheel work!),
he put texture lines in the wet pots, and the glazes made
some nice accents in those lines.


platter tests: these were lined with the lizella slip. Matt then
painted a line of wax resist up the middle before painting a
different glaze on each side. Again, the tone, color and texture that the
lizella slip brings will be the starting point for many more tests!


plate tests: Matt picked up a couple of new commercial
glaze colors to test, and these are some of the combos.
the bottom two are his commercial glazes accenting
one of my house glazes. The quick & dirty photos don't
show it well, but some of those combos, along with
slow cooling, produced some nice crystallization.


more plate tests, putting various combos of the commercial
glazes together. Again the photos don't do justice to the
way the glazes and combos are working with the texture
Matt put in the plates.


the bottom plate is one Matt fired in his studio, and
the top plate is the same clay body, with the same base glaze,
but fired to a higher temp and down fired. He was very
pleased to see the difference!



We did do some trimming on the yunomi we threw on Tuesday,
but the wet box did its job too well, and Matt left some to finish tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our last day, and we'll be pulling it all together, discussing materials and methods for mixing glazes, oxide washes and conducting line blend tests. We'll talk about equipment and take another look at our glaze results, and finish trimming the yunomi. We also have a bit of lizella clay that we'll be throwing for guinomi, or sake cups. Add to that a last shopping spree at Highwater, some local studio visits and of course ... lunch at Roots! I think I will succeed in my goal of sending them home well fed, in both body and mind!

yunomi workshop day 2: bowl chi

After the marathon glaze testing day yesterday, today we were ready to take it easy and settle in on the wheel. Well, Matt may have had reservations as he's been working mostly in slabs, but he approached it with open mind and heart!

We made a gentle approach, working off the mound, and there were delightful sounds of progress throughout the morning. We grabbed our Roots lunch on the go and headed over to Odyssey Studios to see Kyu Yamamoto's slide presentation, and the afternoon was back on the wheel. We made a batch of lizella slip to play with on the little loafer's clay we're throwing, and it's warm and toothy texture and color on the lighter clay are very nice - on Thursday we'll be throwing the test batch of lizella clay (perhaps with some porcelain slip, just for giggles!).

Matt & Lisa are taking in galleries this afternoon. Tonight the kiln fires and tomorrow is our big field trip day while the kiln cools, visiting studios and potters and some nice western North Carolina scenery on the way.

Some images from day 2:


Matt, making progress...

...with me looking over his shoulder ...


Lisa in the garden, day 2...

some of today's work

yunomi workshop day 1: 'I glazed the alphabet!'

This week I'm working one-on-one with my very own workshop victim...er, student. Matt and I actually met while we were both taking a workshop with Akira Satake, and in addition to being avid clay enthusiasts, he and his lovely wife Lisa have Inkstone Gallery in Winterville, NC (where I am fortunate to have work represented).

Matt and I co-designed the week's workshop, which will focus on working on the wheel and making variations of yunomi, or everyday tea bowls. In addition, we're doing some experiments with the clays and glazes that he uses in the community studio where he does his work. That was the plan for today, and we've had a blast cooking up combinations of his commercial glazes and playing with techniques from underglazes to wax resist. We even have a super-secret slip test in the works...stay tuned for more on that! And on top of it all, Matt helped me remove a very stubborn tick from Lissa's ear and taught me another great use for tangerine oil (ticks hate it!).

Here are some images from day one's work:


Matt, ready to go with recently made glazes

Matt brought bisqued pieces to use in our glaze tests ... 26 to be exact, and all carefully logged and documented, A-Z

for tomorrow's throwing fun, some homemade lizella clay

Matt's wife Lisa decided to take advantage of the Crazy Green 'garden' and got in a nice summer read

glazing in progress

more glazing in progress...

wouldn't be complete without test tiles!

one happily tick-free dog