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Raku from Phoenix Workshop

March 5, 2018RakuDavid

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A Primitive Type of Firing →

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otterpottery

74 Johnson Avenue
Markerville, Alberta -
Phone 403-638-5177
#potteryclasses in #Sundre are starting up the wee #potteryclasses in #Sundre are starting up the week of November 5th. To enroll go to http://www.otterpottery.com/pottery-classes/ . This teapot is out of the last wood firing. We reached 2228 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the wood used burnt very hot but gave little of the desired ash deposits. Next time I could blow wood ashes into the fire to amp up the runs. Still a lovely pot. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #woodfiredpottery #lessons #arts #woodfired #teapot
Try something new again! Over the years I silk scr Try something new again! Over the years I silk screened the T-shirts for the rafting business. Why not try something new with the old screens? Now this image is on my T-shirts as well as my mugs. You can have one made to order! Join us for #potteryclasses in #Sundre starting the week of March 25st. Visit http://www.potteryclasses.page for details. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #art #Silkscreening #wheelthrowing #ceramics #potteryglazes #slabwork
My first try at making a dozen mugs to specificati My first try at making a dozen mugs to specification. I hope the customer likes them. I could barely get my hand in them!
A nice combination of glazes. To me it suggests th A nice combination of glazes. To me it suggests the Northern Lights in a starry sky. Not too much and not too little to suggest the lights dancing around the rim. SOMETHING NEW! Join us for the new revamped #Sundre #potteryclasses starting the week of May 27th. I have changed one class to making pottery using molds with one class on the wheel. We have space available for every evening 7 to 10 pm if you would like to come and have some fun creating. Mid-Day classes will be available starting in July. Visit http://www.potteryclasses.page for details. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #art #wheelthrowing #ceramics #potteryglazes #slipcasting
The November #potteryclasses in #Sundre are bookin The November #potteryclasses in #Sundre are booking up. For information and to enroll go to http://www.otterpottery.com/pottery-classes/ . Another horse hair pot. Another beautiful reminder. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #horsehairpottery #lessons #art #horse #remembrance
It is important to experiment and try something ne It is important to experiment and try something new. Here are two slab-built mugs using the Nerikomi technique. I added a bit of brown clay into my regular clay and mixed them up together. Not too much or you lose the color separation. Using a very fine wire I took the equivalent of a small, very thin layer of skin off the mound of mixed clay. I put several thin clay pieces on the surface of a freshly made mug and used a brayer roller to get them to attach. Very delicate work! Next time, I’ll use brightly colored clays. Join the two colors together in an organized way and make a repeating pattern! Join us for #potteryclasses in #Sundre starting the week of January 21st. Visit http://www.potteryclasses.page for details. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #art #Nerikomi #slabbuilding It is important to experiment and try something new. Here are two slab-built mugs using the Nerikomi technique. I added a bit of brown clay into my regular clay and mixed them up together. Not too much or you lose the color separation. Using a very fine wire I took the equivalent of a small, very thin layer of skin off the mound of mixed clay. I put several thin clay pieces on the surface of a freshly made mug and used a brayer roller to get them to attach. Very delicate work! Next time, I’ll use brightly colored clays. Join the two colors together in an organized way and make a repeating pattern! Join us for #potteryclasses in #Sundre starting the week of January 21st. Visit http://www.potteryclasses.page for details. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #art #Nerikomi #slabbuilding
A French Butter Dish. Keep your butter nice and cr A French Butter Dish. Keep your butter nice and creamy all the time while sitting on the table. The butter goes in the bell-shaped top. Put enough water in the base to submerge the rim of the top to make an air tight seal. Makes a great Christmas Gift. I will be at the #Bergen #christmasmarket, 10 kms south of #Sundre on November 24th. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #arts #butterdish
The long flowing lines left by the harrows follow The long flowing lines left by the harrows follow the contours of the landscape. This sculptural, black raku piece shows the shadows of machinery dragged across fields. But, the synchronizing of the lines as they flow up and down, twisting around the hills make me think of the lingering shadows left behind by a murmuration. Join us for #potteryclasses in #Sundre. Visit http://www.potteryclasses.page for details. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #arts #Christmas #raku #newyears #farming #sculpture #murmuration
A slab built pitcher. I love how it is leaning int A slab built pitcher. I love how it is leaning into the wind and the glaze is running back like rain on the car window. Another project at the #Sundre #potteryclasses. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #handbuiltpottey #lessons #arts
Klohe is here at the #potteryclasses in Sundre. Sh Klohe is here at the #potteryclasses in Sundre. She has had a busy week and will be well rested for next weeks classes.
The #Sundre #potteryclasses will be starting the w The #Sundre #potteryclasses will be starting the week of September 10th. Everyone is welcome. Limited seats available - book now! Sundre #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #sundreclayart #ceramica #raku #lessons #art #rakufired
Wall art has always been of interest to me. There Wall art has always been of interest to me. There are so many different shapes and sizes and depths that can be used, I`m sure painters are jealous. Different pottery making and firing techniques can be used to compliment the work as well as suggest and reinforce ideas. This naked raku style of firing the work, enhances and suggests the rings of growth of a tree in the passing of time. #Sundre #potterycourses #Olds #Bowden #Didsbury #Innisfail #Pottery #Sculpture
When people start to learn pottery, you start simp When people start to learn pottery, you start simple then progress to more difficult. Pinch pots come first, then slab building, coil assembling and then on the wheel. Working on a wheel uses a lot of the techniques you started with. The #potteryclasses I offer here in Sundre, start with pinch pots. It is a good place to start to see when you squeeze clay, how you do it affects the direction it moves. While people are struggling with making a vase I work along with them to show how to not end up with a bowl. I connected two demonstration pinch vases quickly and created this ogre’s head. People discover that pinching clay in a controlled way is not at a kindergarten level – but maybe a grade 5!! I have pottery classes here in Sundre starting July 1st. There will also be some classes aimed as a day camp for kids. Book Early! #Sundre #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #potteryclasses #sculpture
Sooner or later everyone, everything needs an urn. Sooner or later everyone, everything needs an urn. This raku pot was fired inside a tight-fitting copper scratch dish pad. The pad unrolled very tightly giving a very regular pattern on a copper background. You can try anything when it comes to pottery – if it fails, try again a little different. #potteryclasses here in #Sundre do not teach raku techniques. Space is available in the 1 day, 3 day and 6 week pottery #classes. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #raku #lessons #art #copper #glaze
Some more pots made from the riverside earthen war Some more pots made from the riverside earthen ware clay. The foreign particles in it were mainly grass/weeds and the odd pebble probably placed there when the river was high. It is a very nice clay to throw. I threw these three pieces and then tried different glazes on them - these fit very good. Even the tricky crawling glaze. On another piece the glaze was a bad fit and it cracked the pot. Unfortunately, the #potteryclasses here in #Sundre do not use this type of clay. Space is available in the pottery classes. #Olds #Didsbury #Carstairs #Innisfail #Bowden #Reddeer #Calgary #pottery #handmade #earthenware #terracotta #lessons #art #redclay
With sculpture I try different glazes, textures an With sculpture I try different glazes, textures and shapes. There are many types of glazes that you can`t put on a pot and then call it food safe. These pieces are so interesting to touch. The white glaze is a crawling glaze. You brush it on the pot and in the kiln, the heat makes the glaze melt. This is when the white glaze travels due to surface tension to accumulate at different spots. There is no control on this. It is very exciting to open the kiln and see what new surface has formed each time. Isn`t that great??
I have always lived in Canada, and at one time in I have always lived in Canada, and at one time in Northern Ontario. Reminders of the paintings of the Group of Seven are everywhere in the landscape. The pictures with the theme of Northern Lake Superior attract and haunt me. Everyone knows of a secluded place where our senses come alive. We love listening to the wind passing through the branches and needles of these trees. The sounds around us. The activation of so many senses at once is overwhelming – you never forget it. I’m not a member of the famous group but I can make my version of solitary trees. Creating scenes in ceramics with glazes, makes the landscape sparkle and come to life. You can build up clay to make the trees step forward and the waters and hills recede. The day advances, shadows move over the clay, highlighting and hiding features. The water is always glistening. The reality of being there hits me again.
Every artist goes through different stages of work Every artist goes through different stages of work they produce throughout their lives. With many different firing techniques there is a lot to learn until you find the work that speaks to you and for you. At each stage I thought this is going to be my signature type of work. And then, some ideas start to incubate, and you find some restrictions to the pottery making you are immersed in. Immersed is a good word to describe what it is like to suddenly feel driven to explore new boundaries of clay. This weeks theme is clay work for your walls.
This piece was formed by using very little clay ex This piece was formed by using very little clay extruded through a plastic web bag. A new shape was formed as the clay dried and curled the edges. This piece was covered with steel wool, salts, poppy seeds and copper carbonate. It was then wrapped in aluminium foil and barrel fired where the fumes were contained in the foil and stained the clay. So many people say it looks like a fish skin. For me, it is a favourite piece due to the variations of the surface.
There are so many things you can do with ceramics. There are so many things you can do with ceramics. Most people think making pottery and end there. You can make Teapots and ashtrays, or you can use it on leading surfaces of the space shuttle to withstand the high heat of friction as it goes through the earth’s atmosphere. Hopefully I don't disappoint. But for now, I have settled on adding sculpture to the tableware that is made. It is always created with an idea in mind which can change along the way. I hope you find the meaning on you own or move on to getting your own message that you can use daily.
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