Day 31

Burnishing

This is the first time I actually tried to do some burnishing.

It was fun at the beginning but it takes a lot of time, practice and patience.

Burnishing is basically rubbing the surface of the clay piece until it becomes glossy.

The burnishing tools you use need to be smooth, hard and easy to hold.

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Most potters use the back of the spoon or polished stones for this technique.

Burnishing simply aligns the tiny clay particles so they will reflect the light.

This technique is highly influenced by the state of drying.

The best stage to burnish is usually at the later stage of letaherhard.

Many potters burnish the piece few times to achieve the ultimate finish.

More about burnishing .

Simon Leach video about burnishing.

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 30

Luminary

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Mixed two types of clay, pink and a little bit of white.

UPDATE: Fired 

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Day 29

Little ugly plant pot

You can see that I didn't put much effort in this one.

It's a small, ugly cactus pot but I hope for some pretty cactus in it 

so it will make a balance :)

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Honestly,

 I really don't remember what clay this is because I didn't updated blog

exactly the same day

and I forgot it in the meanwhile.

I think it is the brown clay but we will see after the firing. :)

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 28

Vase or lidded jar ?

This vase/lidded jar is from majolica clay.

 Lid is from the brown clay.

I punched several holes in the middle of the lid so

it can serve also as a vase.I placed some dried flowers in the middle

so you can see how it looks like.

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Unfired.

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 27

Lidded jar

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The base is from the pink clay 

and the lid is from the brown.

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UPDATE: fired

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Day 26

Hanging candle holder

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This turned out a little funny. 

It has a big hole for the candle from the backside 

and on the top you can see a hole for attaching a twine or something else

so it can hang.

Day 25

 Pinched flower vase

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UPDATE: Fired vase, unglazed

I will glaze it with the beeswax

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Day 24

Pierced candle holder

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Majolica clay
Unfired

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 23

Lidded jar, vase or something else?

 Basic shape of the pot is from majolica clay and the

 lid for the pot is from the brown clay.

I think it will be nice after the firing when the contrast 

between the colors will come to expression.

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I like very much the idea of a multifunctional objects. 

Especially when the design of  the objects is done well and smart, 

in other words it has to be somehow useful. 

I intended this to be a pot with the lid like yesterday, but here is the catch.

I punched the holes in the lid so it can be a vase as well.

On the last photo you can see dried pot and

the contrast between majolica and brown clay.

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 22

Lidded jar 

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UPDATE: Fired

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Day 21

Pinched vase

I wanted to make a small vase with few holes for flowers. 

Base of the vase is white and the decorations are also from the white clay but

I mixed it with a different colors of the slip.

I punched a few holes beside the decoration 

and I really don't know why I've done that 

because the decoration itself has enough holes for the flowers.

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But it doesn't matter, 

at the end all the holes will be filled with some kind

of the flowers, leaves, twigs or such so it will look nice.

UPDATE:Fired

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Day 20

Hanging birdhouse

I was so enthusiastic about making a birdhouse!

I wanted to make it for a long time but each time when I was going to do it

 the flow took me in some other direction.

I must say that I didn't do any measurements or planning and I didn't  

took into consideration some things like drainage and ventilation.

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This is my first so I forgive myself for

 being careless about those things and I let it be the way it is.

Next time I will make a little research about all the things that I need 
to think about when doing a birdhouse.

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Dried birdhouse

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 19

Cream jug

This is a small pinched jug.

I mixed some pink with white clay.

 Wonder what shade of the color will turn out after the firing.

I am hoping for some fine pastel tone.

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I was focusing on the shape so I wanted to keep it simple 

 with the texture

 and I think that I mainly succeeded.  

UPDATE:fired

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Day 18

Cactus pot

I started by decorating it with engobe. 

Same as yesterday, I will do some mishima.

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It's not finished yet.

UPDATE: Fired pot

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Same as yesterday, no mishima because 

it was difficult for me to sand the surface cause this clay is with chamotte and it started to break on the spots where I carved it. 

Day 17

Carved cactus pot

I carved the surface in a leather hard stage.

I got smarter from the other day when 

I carved it when it dried completely.

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I will probably do a mishima* here.

Basically, it's the inlay technique.

You can find more about mishima here.

*Mishima is a technique of inlaying slip, underglaze,

 or even clay into a contrasting clay body, the main clay body of the pottery piece. Creating a mishima piece basically involves six steps: creating the pot, incising the design, filling the design, removing excess material, drying the piece, and firing. "

UPDATE: Fired pot

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As you can see, I gave up from mishima.

 I like it this way :)

Day 16

Vase

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I updated this with the second
 picture where you can see dried vase.

UPDATE: Fired vase

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Day 15

Carved pot

I mixed together brown and pink clay and started with some simple shape.

I liked it that way so I left it to dry.

When it almost completely dried

 I decided to do some carving. 

Lucky me. 

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It turned out just fine but I could save some time and effort 

by doing it in a leather hard stage.

It would be soooo much easier. 

UPDATE: Fired pot

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Day 14

Hanging pink cactus pot

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UPDATE: Fired pot

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Day 13

Hanging luminary

This will be a pinch pot luminary.

I've gone too far with decorating surface on this one. Again.
I punched two big holes from the side so it can hang also.
I'm not much satisfied with this one.
Too much of everything.

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UPDATE: Fired luminary

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Day 12

Brown cactus pot

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Heavy texture that reminds me of corals.


UPDATE: Fired pot

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Day 11

Hanging bell 

This is my first ceramic bell!

 I think it turned out just fine for the first time.

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UPDATE: Fired bell

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Day 10

Cactus pot

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I used white clay and green engobe on this one.

UPDATED: Fired pot

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Day 9

Crack pot

This time I mixed two different types of clay, majolica and brown.

This particular brown clay has 25 % of chamotte and the grain size is 0-0,2 mm.

Again, I overlaid the inside of the pot.
 This time with white clay.

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I persisted in creating cracks while at the same time

 I had difficulty with forming the shape and I am not satisfied with this one.

It cracked a litte bit too much.

At one moment it almost fell apart complerely but I saved it!

This happens when you have problems with control

 and when you are not able to stop at the right moment.

UPDATE: Fired pot

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The edge of the pot was to thick so it cracked at some points during 

drying. I then tore it completely so it can be equal.

Day 8

Crack pot

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I started with shaping the majolica clay. It took me a while till I got 

all the cracks and structure that I intended to achieve.

 I overlaid the inside of the pot with brown clay. 

Wonder what it will look like after the firing.

UPDATE: fired pot

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Day 7

Hanging plant pot or candle holder?

Basic shape from the white clay.

I created simple surface texture and I highlighted it with engobes.

This will be a hanging pinch pot 

therefore I punched holes from the side.

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 It can be a pot for some lovely cactus 

or maybe a holder for a candle.

UPDATE: After the firing

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