Whippet knife rest, Fish Man and Chameleon paper weight

Hello, everyone. The last time I updated, I told you that I got a cold, and we were going to a ceramics material shop in the weekend. Well, my cold got worse, and we had to cancel the trip to the shop. I had to stay indoor to stay warm (it was a cold day although we are in July!). So, I sat on a hot water bottle, and made a small whippet knife rest and a rabbit chopstick rest.

Whippet knife rest - before firing

It took me a long time to make this piece, so I can't imagine my making a set of six. But if we find the way to make a mould from it, we might try 3D mould, which is an unknown territory to us. I might use it as a paint brush rest, if we can't make a mould from it.

We made a mould from the rabbit. I would love to show you, but the mould is still wet. (we have had cool rainy days). So, once it has become dry, I will make samples. Then I will share photos with you. It should be ultra sweet!
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Chameleon paper weight SOLD

On Sunday, when I woke up, my head ache was all gone, What's better, I found lovely Sandra purchased another chameleon from my Etsy shop. How nice to start the day! Thank you very much, Sandra! I made him as a paper weight to hold papers for customers' details at my little show last autumn. People noticed him when they wrote down their details, and they seemed to love him. I have kept him in my cupboard after that. I am so pleased that he will soon join Griffin and Graham in US. I like him a lot. He has got a cute smile on the lip!

I have got lots of my pieces in my cupboard. Strange to say, I get so attached to them, I need some time with them (alone!) before I put them for sale. It is sentimental, but I guess the time is so important to me.

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We also put several of our items on ebay. Longer than two months have past since we listed our ceramics last time. The wall mask and a natural ash glazed Guinomi (Japanese Sake cup) were sold. Since I have never shown the mask anywhere else, I will share him here.

He is Fish man. SOLD 

He is one of my imaginary being. His story goes like this; 'Fish man is a half man and a half fish. He lives alone in wild deep ocean. He doesn't like humans or ships. He adores mermaids, but they never come closer to him. He likes swimming in the woods of silky seaweed. He could talk with turtles. They exchange stories once a while. Turtles know a lot of things happening in the ocean. He has a secret treasure hidden at the bottom of the ocean. Nobody knows except for him what it is and where it is.'   

Saggar fired pots in Japanese way

We had another sunny day. After work, I showered our parrots. The wetter they got, the wilder they became. They love shower, unlike our dogs.


I have never shown any of my works fired in saggars before. I had kept them as if they were my secret treasures until this week, but something happened inside me, and I decided to put two works for sale on eBay. I think it was my 'let them go' moment. I felt unless I let my past (works) go, I wouldn't be able to create new things. 

I made a couple of saggars from crank clay, and used them to fire small items in a traditional Japanese way. I made three Sakazuki, which are used to drink sake in formal occasions, whereas Guinomi are used in casual occasions.


1 This is a very attractive piece. Except for a part of the outside all parts are matt. Pale olive green is a natural glaze that comes from leaves. The black parts were from stalks. Stalks got burned on the surface, so I had to grind them afterwards. Japanese sake connoisseurs wouldn't mind these firing marks as most wood fired pottery has marks. The atmosphere of the saggar became partly reduced; it turned grey clay body into a beautiful orange colour. Although it is matt, it is watertight. I wish I could make something similar to this again, but it is up to a chance. It is for sale on eBay.  

Partly reduced

Pale green part is natural ash glaze

2 This pot was fired in fully reduced atmosphere in the saggar. Hence, my pine ash glaze turned to green. It is natural celadon glaze. 

Making pine ash was a real pain. I burnt pine branches, washed the ash so many times, sieved it, and ground it by hand. It took me some months to make it. But when I saw the result, I felt it was worth the effort. I can see steel blue, dark brown, pale brown and green on it. Although it is intended for sake, it could look good to serve a small amount of fine hors-d'œuvre. Listied  also on eBay.

Full reduction

Natural celadon glaze from pine ash

3 This one also has same pine ash glaze, but the sagger remained oxidation atmosphere. As you can see, the atmosphere in the saggars makes such big difference to the pots. Each time when I was about to open a sagger, I became very excited with expectation. When the result was good, I did a little jig. I would love to do sagger firing again. It was such a fun!
 

Pine ash, oxidation

Yesterday, I suddenly remembered I made another successful firing with a saggar. Ta-da! My little Moomin! My childhood favourite TV hero. If you like to see more photos of him, you can see them on Etsy.  

Moomin fired in a saggar

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During a walk, Pearl and I met Holly and John. We had a good time together. Here is Holly, Pearl's new friend.

Holly, Pearl's new friend.