The Hollyhock pot is a new design this year and I believe that I have only made four so far. Two were up in Zanesville and I sold them and missed them. I like to keep an example of a new design around for inspiration and as a reference of what has been done and what could still be done. This pot was fired only once! It is rare that I get this kind of result firing once. Every now and then I get lucky and hit it on the first try.
This piece is still on the "pots for sale page." It has, however, been fired twice since I posted it on that page. I have been working to improve this tile by putting a lot of Koi in the water and adding to it generally. Right now it is reglazed again and waiting to go back in the kiln.
Here are some pots that are in the process of being reglazed. The one in the back was sold. As I was going to pack it up, I had second thoughts. I called the buyer and asked if he would mind if I kept it and reglazed it. I was sure I could really improve it. It was OK with him so it received another round of my attention.
Should you be interested in comparing the difference between being fired once and fired twice, click this link to see the pot after the first firing: click here. And then check the two pics below to see it after the second firing. For me it is a great improvement. The sky is much more subtle. The birds are more integrated into the sky. The transition from the yellow grass to the green is softened. The grass glaze is richer and has a bit of motion to it that runs. The snake at the bottom is partially hidden by the running glaze. Overall, the heat burns the colors and unifies them making them all suddenly more visually compatable. Well, that's the way I see it!
I love the birds and sky. It "feels" like a glorious day.
Some living inspiration for my next snake pots! It is a 4' Rat snake we found out in the country. Recently it got out of the cage and was about the house for 10 days before it came out looking for food and water and I spotted him. It was impossible to find it and we tore the house apart numerous times before giving up and waiting for it to show itself.
Here is another example of reglazin' and refirein'. This piece is still on the new pots page. It is pictured here after it was fired again- the fifth time.
It has since been reglazed a sixth and seventh -pictured below-
and it's latest manifestation is below. It just gets better everytime. It is really beautiful now and may go back in the fire again. The glaze is dripping off the bottom and I have stand it up on an extra high stilt to let the glazes continue to cascade and run off the pot.
The heart of my recent efforts are these Rain pots. There is a ton of time in these babies. Pictured below is the result after the first firing. They are all (5) going to be reglazed and fired again. They are nice now and the colors are all muted just as I hoped. Unfortunately the sky looks weak to me.
A detail of the blowing sumacs...
I wanted to improve the pots and thought the best way might be to use a glaze and technique that I have not used prevoiusly on these pots. I dare not take a chance with all the pots, so I reglazed one of them and the result is like so:
It turned out nice. Very nice. But it too is going back for one more encounter with the heat!
Here is the next batch of pots waiting to be glazed. This will probably be the last batch of pots for sale of this year. I do have lots of pieces still to glaze, but these are the last pots.
I am working consistently, but things are demanding more and more time. Those rain pots have been getting attention for the last two months. And I am hoping to spend the rest of today working on one of them. I am confident that they are going to be super fine. (They won't leave the studio unless they are!) Here is a recent piece that will be on the next update.
As what is becoming usual, it has been fired twice. The first time it came out actually ugly to my eyes. I mean it hurt to look at it. It greatly improved with the second firing. I am think about glazin it again...
