One of my more recent pieces, this is "The Ivory Lady" She was hand carved from a 25 pound block of clay, and will be my entry in the Topsfield Fair's ceramics competition this year.

Oh thank god you turned her around for me! I only scrolled far enough to see the first picture and I thought that's all there was and I was at a loss for words.

Good luck! I wouldn't know where to begin. I always kinda envy crafty people. I'm pretty much a clutz when it comes to that kind of thing.

Thanks for humoring me, CG.

This is one of my most popular pieces, I sell a ton of them in every color. It's made by flat clay being laid over a taco bowl pan, to get the 'fluted' look, then a word stencil is used for 'wishes'



This is another version of the fluted bowl. It has holes punched in the bottom to make a ceramic colander. They are generally used for berries, grapes & other small fruits.

Wow. So this is more than just a fun hobby, you're actually making money. I really like the idea of keeping fruit in those. It makes for a pretty presentation.

(09-05-2014, 06:35 AM)Duchess Wrote:


Thanks for humoring me, CG.

No Problem, I don't mind at all. Thank you for the compliment

This pic is a little on the blurry side, but these guys are slip casted. Made by pouring a liquid form of clay called 'slip' into a plaster of paris mold. The pouring/molding part is fairly easy, the real work goes into cleaning up the piece after it's dry, trying to take out the lines the mold leaves, with out damaging the details.

Are those old world Santas? Are your boys interested in this?

(09-05-2014, 06:40 AM)Duchess Wrote:

Wow. So this is more than just a fun hobby, you're actually making money. I really like the idea of keeping fruit in those. It makes for a pretty presentation.

It did start out as a hobby, but I was having so much fun making stuff, I ran out of places to put it. Now, I vend at Craft Fairs and Farmers Markets. I also give lessons, and do 'paint your own' birthday parties.

Do you fire them in a kiln? I will try and make it to the fair this year. I went to the Hopkington fair last week.

(09-05-2014, 06:50 AM)Duchess Wrote:

Are those old world Santas? Are your boys interested in this?

Yes, I just glazed them yesterday, I'll try and get a decent picture of them all shiny and shit.

My boys will play with it every now and again, but they're not really interested in it as a hobby. My 14 yo makes wire wrapped beaded bookmarks, that he sells at the fairs with me. He likes going to them, most of them have music & food (his 2 favorite items in life).

(09-05-2014, 09:28 AM)Maggot Wrote: Do you fire them in a kiln? I will try and make it to the fair this year. I went to the Hopkington fair last week.

Yes, I have 2 kilns in my basement, as well as a pottery wheel and a shit load of other crap.

Most pieces get fired twice-the 1^st is called a bisque firing. This basically turns the clay into a porous glass like material. The temp is around 1900 degrees for this process.

The second firing is the glaze firing. Although you don't always have to put glaze on a piece (once they are bisqued you can color them with just about any type of medium) Most glaze is actually different chemicals and crystals that are mixed with different grades of rust to achieve a certain color or effect. The glaze fuzes to the piece, and doesn't chip as easily as acrylics would. The temp for this process is usually around 1700 degrees.

(09-05-2014, 06:35 AM)Duchess Wrote: [size=medium][i]

Oh thank god you turned her around for me! I only scrolled far enough to see the first picture and I thought that's all there was and I was at a loss for words.

I liked it even from the side. It's not a Lladro, but I think she meant it to be more abstract than realism. It kind of has an antique look to it.

(09-05-2014, 09:51 AM)cannongal Wrote:

(09-05-2014, 06:50 AM)Duchess Wrote:

Are those old world Santas? Are your boys interested in this?

Yes, I just glazed them yesterday, I'll try and get a decent picture of them all shiny and shit.

My boys will play with it every now and again, but they're not really interested in it as a hobby. My 14 yo makes wire wrapped beaded bookmarks, that he sells at the fairs with me. He likes going to them, most of them have music & food (his 2 favorite items in life).

(09-05-2014, 09:28 AM)Maggot Wrote: Do you fire them in a kiln? I will try and make it to the fair this year. I went to the Hopkington fair last week.

Yes, I have 2 kilns in my basement, as well as a pottery wheel and a shit load of other crap.

Most pieces get fired twice-the 1^st is called a bisque firing. This basically turns the clay into a porous glass like material. The temp is around 1900 degrees for this process.

The second firing is the glaze firing. Although you don't always have to put glaze on a piece (once they are bisqued you can color them with just about any type of medium) Most glaze is actually different chemicals and crystals that are mixed with different grades of rust to achieve a certain color or effect. The glaze fuzes to the piece, and doesn't chip as easily as acrylics would. The temp for this process is usually around 1700 degrees.

I took a pottery class in college I could never get the wheel to go slow enough with my big clunky lead feet. I always ended up with more clay on me than on the wheel.

Do you use those triangle things in the kiln that bend over when the temp is right? I don't know what they're called. They look like a skinny pyramid. I used them firing glazes back in the day. I miss doing it in a weird way now that you brought up this topic. I remember the smell.......Your a cool one cannongal.

Pyrometric firing cones

(09-05-2014, 11:52 AM)sally Wrote: I liked it even from the side. It's not a Lladro, but I think she meant it to be more abstract than realism. It kind of has an antique look to it.

I looked up Lladro, I couldn't come close to being that good. The Ivory lady is my first ever attempt at sculpting a person. I can do objects fairly well, but people will take some practice. One of the reasons she's large is because I was trying to get some idea of dimension.

(09-05-2014, 12:50 PM)Clang McFly Wrote: I took a pottery class in college I could never get the wheel to go slow enough with my big clunky lead feet. I always ended up with more clay on me than on the wheel.

I still get covered in sludge, and I've been throwing for years, that's part of the fun sometimes. It's too bad your college didn't have memory pedals-that way you wouldn't have to keep your foot on it all the time.

(09-05-2014, 08:49 PM)Maggot Wrote: Do you use those triangle things in the kiln that bend over when the temp is right? I don't know what they're called. They look like a skinny pyramid. I used them firing glazes back in the day. I miss doing it in a weird way now that you brought up this topic. I remember the smell.......Your a cool one cannongal.

(09-05-2014, 11:36 PM)SIXFOOTERsez Wrote: Pyrometric firing cones

What he said^. Hey Maggot, I came across an old post the other day where you were looking for tile. It was from last year, so I'm sure you don't need it anymore, but if you should have the need again in the future, there's a place in Newington (across from the Fox Run Mall) called Habitat for Humanity Restore. They have Pallets of tile all the time, for between $10 & $20 bucks a case.

Won 2cd place at Roch Fair.

It's a "yarn Bowl" you put a ball of yarn in it & thread the yarn through the hole in the side. Keeps the yarn ball from rolling all over.

That's a great idea! Did you go to the Deerfield fair? I kinda don't like it anymore way to crowded.

(09-29-2014, 08:32 AM)Maggot Wrote: That's a great idea! Did you go to the Deerfield fair? I kinda don't like it anymore way to crowded.

The idea wasn't mine, it's been around for a while. I won mostly on the glaze technique rather than the bowl itself.

I don't go to any fairs anymore (even if I have pieces in them)-fairs have gotten too damn expensive. $12.00 for a ¹⁄₂ fried onion-ya, all set with that.

I take really shitty pictures, but here is a series of candle covers I've made recently.

Box:



Box lit:



Rectangle:



Rectangle Lit:



Pyramid:



Pyramid Lit:

Those are pretty cool.

Wow Cgal, you really are talented, great looking stuff!