New playground

  

I started ceramics craftsman studies in August 2011, Tammela, Finland.  I feel very lucky and grateful to be aible to enjoy the amazing working spaces for the next 3 years. There is so many things to try out and experiment  -I couldn't had found a better place to learn!

In the beginning

These are the first bowls and cups that I manage make with the wheel. It took a really long time before I had something worth to put in the kiln. Just centering the clay seemed impossible. It was also frustrating to see others develop faster. For the first ones I gave nickname "elephant legs" for their weight.

It took about a year for me to finally understand how to make good pieces, thin and even. It was actually when I came back to the studio after quitting my troubling job and a months holiday in Finland. My head was clear and I myself was centered enough to give orders to the clay instead the clay ruling me. Now I love to add layers to this basic knowledge -different ways to position my body and the small technical details of giving the shape for lump of clay.

I may not be a natural born potter but a stubborn one! :)

Kaamos -Winter's Sun

I got inspired by a winter scenery photo that a friend of mine took on one of the days the sun don't rise up from the horizon in Rovaniemi.

I tried to replicate the colors first with underglazes on tumblers and then with glazes (except the orange line and interior) on bowls.

The tumblers got more near to the feeling of the pic and I also like their organic shape.

Vases

I started to learn how to build a bigger vessel from two pieces.
The first one could had been done one time for it's only about 15cm tall.
I carved a lattice on it and then found out that I had made a hand grenade by accident. So to save the piece I made the carvings more tight and glazed it with pale pink chrystal(with brown underglaze at the same firing). :)








The second vase is about 25cm tall and was my first real success of putting two forms together. Still it's very wonky, but I was very happy that I managed to do it.

I carved the bottom part without thinking much about it and painted it with brown and washed the color off so that it stayed just in the lines. On the top part I experimented with polishing the underglaze with a spoon. After the first firing I gave the same treatment with clear glaze, to the bottom, that I had done with the underglaze. To keep the light shimmer of the top my teacher didn't want to put it through higher temperature. Therefore I didnt get the effect I was looking for with the glazing -I wanted the clay to get "toasted" around the stripes.

testing testing

This was a small experiment about two things: altering a cup after worked on the wheel and clear glaze on dark clay.

From this I want to continue someday to more cutting, bending and geometrical shapes -some kind of clay origami perhaps.

Maybe paperclay would be good for it?

Toothbrush holders

I needed one and my boyfriend's sister wanted one as a birthday present, so toothbrush holders became a the perfect project.

Planning started from a couple of practical points I wanted to achieve: easy to clean, letting the water pass and keep the brushes separated from each other. The new things working on the wheel with these was: altering the shape and building a higher foot by adding clay to the bottom.

The creamy one found it's place on our bathroom sink and the one with bright white glaze went as a present to accompany a soap holder I done earlier (with the same glaze). The green one stay at the" shelf of shame", since it is disgusting me. Though it was very therapeutic to hear other people liking it. So, I learned that even if I hated something I've created, some might love it. :)

Barf

These cups and bowls were a disappointment with their "throwing up" glazes.
The brown glaze was also running and got glued to the kiln.

This experiment was to use 3 different glazes: brown stripes on a white base, a brown interior and the rim dipped in blue( and vice versa).

I used yellow clay and was quite happy with the shapes, sizes and light weight which made this mess even a bigger failure.

Wish I had got the info earlier about not using the shiny brown as a base. the matte white glaze kept its place.
For the bad color combination I can only blame myself. Oh well, I'll keep the "maximum two glazes " policy until I know better. :)

My first experiments with porcelain

I'm quite happy with this rainy miniature cup. This is a shape and decoration to definitely repeat in a larger scale one day.
I worked the underglaze color as watercolor and it really gave the washed out effect I was looking for.
























But then I tried the same "watercoloring" on the surface of pinched cups that turned to be just plain ugly. Also something leaked blue glaze on the other cup in the kiln. The little test pieces, carving and underglaze wash, might become earrings. Front (glazed) and backsides shown for comparison.

Not what I thought it to be

Surface experiment for toothbrush holders, an idea that I abandoned. I was looking for a feeling of coral without actually making a coral. Carved stripes and glaze on the protruding parts.

The low bowl is slab build. Two things went wrong: it cracked and there is pink glaze where supposed to be white.

Birch

Going around birch tree -inspired theme. All of the different stages (the fish bowl naturally not part of them) of development are very dear to me and I'm still looking for the perfect combination.

Happiness

Finally something came out from the kiln exactly as I planned! I 'm very pleased with these and they could be worth for a full series.

Some of the set broke their (too thin) handles during the bisque firing and became garden pots. I'll do it again better.

Soap holders

Varpunen ja varpunen

My cat Varpunen (Sparrow) inspecting the bowl with a drawing of a sparrow.
This time I was testing an underglaze pencil which I found lying around the studio(and first of all thought it was just a regular pencil).
For the outside I mixed brown and black underglazes and the whole thing was covered with a low burn clear glaze in the end. This glaze didn't come out even as you can see on the second picture.

The search for a bottle shape gives birth to little vases

I saw amazing simple plates with brown smudged rim and cream glaze, at the studio and asked the maker, Revital, how she done it.

Now I'm in love with this decorating technique. The trick is to use black underglaze and to put the glaze straight on it (without burning the color first). This gives the element of surprise when the color is blurred and it also gives warm tone to the glaze.

Scraffito cups

bowls with chrystal glazes