Day 79

                                                                        Luminary 

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White clay

Brown engobe

Fired

Day 77

Hanging planter/luminary

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White clay

Unfired

Day 60

Spacey cupola shaped luminary

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White clay, 25 % chamotte

Salmon color clay, 25 % chamotte

Unfired

Day 55

Luminary

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White clay

Unfired

Update: fired (brown engobe)

Day 52

Luminary

This pinched luminary is an attempt of developing

the idea that I was working on last year .

 I imagined some oval shaped luminary that consists of two parts and looks like

a little sculpture. The idea came spontaneously while I was working

on something completely different and not really interesting so  

in that moment that was really creative inspiration for me.

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Unfired

The idea itself was good but in the end it failed in a practical sense. 

There wasn't enough oxygen for candle to burn. 

The crucial thing I didn't think of.

And I made three of these "idea luminary" before I realized that. :)

They look nice but that's all.

This one is different ,

 I pierced  it a lot and made it bigger and rounded. 

UPDATE: fired (black oxide)

Day 42

Plant pot

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Mixed clay from the leftovers

Unfired

Day 39

Plant pot with black pepper

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Burnished surface

Unfired

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 34

Meanwhile pot

This one cracked on the back side.

 It doesn't bother me but I hope it won't completely crack in firing.

I am slowly preparing myself for spring planting so I am obsessively

working on pots for cacti, succulents and herbs.
That is the plan for planting. For now.
But I can already see myself  going from the local market with 
a bunch of bags full of unplanned plants.

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 I am looking forward to more relaxed, fresh and sunny spring days!

This year forecast says it is going to be a very sunny spring

so the only thing left to do is to wait. :)

UPDATE: Fired

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Day 33

Plant pot

White clay with a little bit of pink.

I tried burnishing again. 

I started at the bottom with the back of a metal spoon.

Lower on the pot you can see how a metal spoon left a black marks on a clay.

So, I continued with the back of a ceramic spoon and it didn't leave any marks.

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I guess these marks are from the graphite in metal

 so it will burn away after the firing.

I burnished this just once.

UPDATE: Fired 

Day 32

Pinched vase

This vase is from a mixed clay, pink and white.

It is really nice and sweet, 

but it doesn't look so good on photos.

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I will take more photos after the firing so
I am hoping it will be better.
Pink and white clay
Unfired

UPDATE: Fired

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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 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 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 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 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 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.