Vase Sets

One of a potter's greatest challenges is making a piece to replace a beloved favorite piece. When I got a phone message from Real Mother Goose that a customer had broken their favorite 10.5" tall dancing vase and wanted a replacement, I was glad the gallery person could give me more detail than that. "About 2" diameter top, base is 4" x 5" oval and it's the greenish-blue rather than the blue-blue." In the end we decided I better make several from which the customer could chose the one he thought was closest to his broken piece. (Wish it had been wisked away rather than being a sad reminder of the accident and to which the new piece will be compared.)

Normally when I'm making these pieces a ruler never comes into the picture; I just cut them out and put them together as whim would have it. Today I got it out the ruler and made allowances for 10-12% shrinkage and then a little more on one (a little less on a couple) to try and get the right height. Trouble is, I've never done my own shrinkage test on this clay so will have to go with the manufacturer's shrinkage percentage on this... Hope customer is not a stickler.

Here is the set of today's vases, all slightly different poses, opening sizes and heights. The clay was wetter than I like to work with it so there were more than a few finger marks to rib out. All together they make a nice still life with just enough off-kilter in them to make it interesting.