In the spotlight, the beauty and the flaws get revealed and the final works of my hand gets the final judgment.
Making a teapot is said to be the mother of all challenges. I admit it’s tough, but it’s also the most rewarding challenge of them all. When you make a teapot, you’re focusing on functionality and technical skills. It’s all about function and purpose first.
I’ve made a video how those treasure boxes with ice crackle glaze start their journey from a lump of clay into a final functional form.
This snowflake glazed (or ice crackle glazed) platter did not come out from the kiln in one piece. And honestly, I am happy it did not withstand the firing, it gave me another opportunity.
Some say that potters are most unhappy people because they fail to get the expected results so often. I say potters are happiest people because every making and firing is full of surprises to be glad of.
Sometimes, instead of a jar I throw a vase as a warmup, and sometimes I make vases also deliberately, throw they are not my everyday forms to make.
The look resembles a tree trunk or a dried earth, which it actually is.
The effect is achieved with drying the outside of the body rapidly with a help of sodium silicate and a torch. Made from the Spanish black stoneware clay and the texture is filled with white engobe to bring out the contrast between white and black.
