Glazing some pots!

This week has not been terribly productive, but I did go up to Southwestern on Wednesday to take some photographs of my pots (I will post some pics this weekend), and to catch up with my professor, Patrick Veerkamp.  Patrick is nice enough to let me photograph stuff using the ceramic studio's set up, which is very handy.  I love taking my sort of artsy Etsy photos, but it's also good to have some more professional looking photos around. It was great to catch up with Patrick, as I had missed him during Art of the Pot. One of the things we discussed was his retirement, and the subsequent open position at Southwestern. it was really interesting talking with him, as it had never really occurred to me that at a university as small as SU, that whoever fills his place is going to have to be able to teach more than just ceramics.  Patrick actually teaches design and drawing in addition to ceramics, and the next teacher will have to be as broadly educated as him in order to fill the position. I will file that away for the future!

Today I got back into the studio for the first time since last weekend.  It is still not very functional

yet, but all I needed to do today was wash some cups and get started on glazing them.  I'm mostly concerned with getting some vases done for a friends wedding mid-June, but I also have a number of teabowls I am excited about seeing finished up, plus two fountains! I'm really excited about getting the fountains up and running, especially since I didn't get a very good photo of the first one I made before I sold it.

Fun tip: the way that Ryan waxes most of his pots is with a small sponge he leaves in the wax.  This method is super easy and gives you really nice clean lines.  We both wax the rims in addition to the bottoms, since we clear glaze most of the insides, and waxing the top ensures a nice clean line on the outer glaze.  So you just place the pot on the wheel, and spin it with one hand, while applying the wax with sponge.  The key is to squeeze a little bit of the wax out of the sponge before starting so it doesn't drip!  To completely fill in the foot, I usually do apply extra wax with a paintbrush.