700 ml. sealable ceramic bottle

I finally have a sealable bottle! Ha! This project has taken so many hours of brainstorming and effort. It feels really good to finally have a working prototype. It opens and closes nicely. I have given it to both men and women of several different ages and it seems to perform nicely! It holds 700 ml. and adds to the line of very functional kitchen wares for food storage.

Here is a raw clay piece from the mold before I made the last bit of modification. Turned out the width of the lower neck piece was too wide to accommodate the lid in the closed position. So I may rework the mold a bit. But until then it just needs a small addition to the neck (perfect place for a bit of texture!

I finished the shelving in the tower. It is now stained a dark brown. I need to touch up the walls here and there to get it ready for stocking! We open Easter weekend.

I also got out a set of plates yesterday and the results were stunning! Again, this project took soooo many hours but the results were worth it. I will be doing these with the rim in several different colors, blue, green, the turquoise pictured, and maybe grey.

Close-up. 

I love the speckling from the iron oxide! Large plate weighs in at 695 grams which is comparable to a Macy's plate I purchased many years ago. I still need to make a small modification to the little plate.

Spring, springity spring

5 year olds birthdays, new baby goats, working in the studio, I've barely been able to read my book these late evenings let alone try to update this blog. This morning has been a time to reflect on all of this as the sun gently makes its way over the horizon of the lake. The Alder trees still do not have any leaves on them, a stark reminder of winter. But the ground is green and the grass looks like it wants to be mowed. The plum tree out of the kitchen window is in full bloom and the moon was aglow last night. Today truly is the first day of spring!
I have some pictures to share as I have tried my best to document the activities of the clay studio this past week! First of all I have been re-working the plate hump molds. They worked well enough but I have had this nagging feeling that I was not truly happy with them. Sometimes it takes a while before I can truly say if I like something or not.
The plate molds are made of plaster and a fix to the wheel with a triangle bat system. Originally they came with plate molds as well but I grew tired of the standard shape so I threw a clay mold and poured my own.
I was using a floral pattern on the rims that I picked up from a wooden table top but felt it was to ornate so I sanded it off and carved my own motif (see last post for pics of the old design). Yes, I wore a dust mask.

small plate mold with carved design

Bowl mold

Finished large 9" plate

After the old design was scraped off I carved in a new one. It's more of a doodle and reminds me of papyrus or dragonfly wings. I love the organic shape! I will post more information on throwing plates upside down. I shot a video but I need to do it again....meh. 

The studio was also busy with residents and guests. Here is a bisque unloading followed by an impromptu evaluation. Some of these hand built plates will be going into the wood fire kiln which I believe will be happening soon. I'll get some shots of the anagama in action and share them with you.

Joyce and Mari

Lots of textural choices

I feel like I only grabbed a snippet of what was really going on this week. Spring really is here. I will leave you with this video of the new doelings. They are both dolls. Hope you all get to play in the clay this week!