Have I created work only another potter could love?
Here are my two Sitka sculptures completed -- Another case of expectations and the finished pieces colliding instead matching up...
I wanted these to have a darker finish so I did a heavier layer of black underneath the top layers. This created even more bubbles, pitting and leathery look of the multi-layers. Some of it looks positively lava-like.
When finishing the greenware I left surform marks and a few deeper gouges for glaze to pool into when applied, and stay lodged when everything is sanded. As I sanded away between bisque and high fire I tried to do it strategically: leaving enough top layer glaze to accentuate the twist, but also get down to the base layers for the patterns to show. Even with all the "control" I could muster, during the firing the kiln just said, "Hey, let's bubble and burn." Honestly, I don't know how I got what I did on two pieces in a row... (Changes in the glaze formulas?)
I alternate between thinking these are swell and wishing I'd used even more restraint.
Here's to More is Better, and hope that someone out there agrees with me.
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