New clays for the pots

So I've started expanding the options for the pots - I guess I can't really call them kusamono pots anymore, because I'm now making them much larger than a standard kusamono, so simply 'pots' will have to do until I come up with a better name.

I love the iron/manganese wash that I've been using up till now, it works wonderfully with the ancient designs and I'll continue to produce pots using this clay and finish.  However, I wanted a couple of different options to give everyone a bit of variety. 

Having just emptied the kiln of the latest batch, I can now show you what some examples look like.  🙂

Here are three in the Black & Gold style.  The same materials and method used for my standard Black & Gold carvings range, but now in pot-form. 

The new high-fire terracotta.  I felt that the bare clay didn't show the designs quite well enough on its own, so I've added a finishing wax to highlight the areas of raised detail.  I very much like the effect, as it looks as if it's been scorched or burnt somehow.

This is me learning that the high-fire terracotta isn't actually that high-fire.  The three above were from a previous firing, but these two were accidentally fired up to my old gloss temperature, rather than adjusted down to suit the new clay.  Bit of a difference that 50C can make!  I don't dislike them, but I would prefer the richness that comes from the traditional terracotta red.  They've been given the same wax treatment as above.

This is the over-fired terracotta with the iron/manganese wash finish.  I'm expecting stronger red tones when I put the next batch through (and keep the temperature to what they should be).  Even so, I think these are showing a lot of potential and I'm happy with the results.

These should be hitting the eBay store shortly.  😊