Cracking Up!

Well...
Went to bed last night very happy with my newly redesigned bird feeders, only to wake to this:

These are thrown in one piece.
I have been covering them loosely, but took the plastic of last night because it was pretty humid here and they seemed to be pretty even in terms of moisture/dryness.

I dry them on this plastic grid (its a panel meant to cover an in-ceiling fluorescent light fixture) to get a little air flow all around the piece.

You can see that the one next to it has cracked all around just under the rim.
A third one has not cracked at all (knock wood).

Wondering if this is primarily a drying issue, or a compression issue. If its a drying issue, I'm wondering how better to dry these, and will I have the same challenge when I glaze them or fire them (I typically single fire to cone 10).

If its an issue with my throwing, I'm wondering if there is something I should be doing such as making the "plate" part thicker, compressing differently etc.
I typically run a wire under the piece after throwing but leave it on the bat till its leather hard.

Thanks Clay Gurus, for any thoughts!

Latest Firing

Ok!
Lots of stuff in this load. I wanted to make a bunch of lint feeders so I have a good supply. Lower left are the shakers I made. They were featured in this month's PMI - I really like them and loved making them!

I did some glaze testing on them, and got some good and some ugly results.
The firing was to cone 11, fairly heavy reduction.

First one I tried, which I thought would be a nice white glaze for my palette was a simple Shino from Lasse Ostman.
Also from Mr Ostman's site was a Green Matte Crackle.
Lastly was Hamada Rust from John Brit's website.

Not a one turned out as expected. I also experimented with applying a white slip over my dark clay body to brighten some of the glazes. That works well!

The Good:

While Lasse Ostman's Green Matte Crackle didn't turn out at all as I had hoped, I am really liking this glaze! Its pale minty green, flashed with pinky-gray, silky and just begs to be touched. It needs to go on a white clay body (this is Laguna 1/2 stoneware/1/2 porcelain ) and may do something different in oxidation, but I don't do much ox firing. Its definitely a keeper!






The Bad:

I have never done a Shino glaze before, and don't know much about them, but I like them when I see them.
However, my attempt at Lasse Ostman's simple 3/3/3 Shino has some obvious issues.
It should have been a speckled white that breaks nicely. Instead its a greenish semi-matte without much character. Just not anything I can see using. As suggested, I applied it to my dark clay body.
Its greener than showing here BTW...








The Ugly:

John Britt makes glazes sing. I was so taken with the Hamada Rust on John's page and in his book that I wanted to try it. His examples are a deep smooth black breaking to rust. Simple, rich and classic.
I tried this on both white and dark clay bodies, with similar ugly results.
Yuck!

I am still searching for a successful Tenmoku...
I want something opaque, something that breaks nicely and something very dark.

Perhaps some of my fellow potters can offer some insight.
I wish glazing was not such a struggle for me.

Raku Boxer Fundraiser

I've set up an eBay auction for this little guy as a fundraiser to help with Rowdy's medical bills.
You can bid on him here:
Rowdy's eBay Auction
The ceramic boxer pictured (Wiggles) was Raku fired by me (Cathi Newlin). White earthenware bisqued boxer comes all the way from Nottingham, England to be glazed and raku fired here in Angels Camp, Ca. Wiggles is fired using the Horsehair technique - The ware is glazed with a white crackle glaze and fired to about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and removed when the glaze is molten. Strands of horse mane or tail hair are laid across the ware, carbonizing and producing unique patterns. He is aprox 6 inches tall. Raku is a kinetic and somewhat unpredictable firing process. No two pieces ever come out of the kiln alike, which makes Wiggles truly one-of-a-kind.

Rowdy the Boxer was bitten on Monday, May 4th on the neck by a water moccasin. Rowdy is a good sized boy - but the snake was very big. Wes was in the yard when this occurred and was successful in getting the kids and Kira in the house, but was unable to get Rowdy out of strike range in time.

Rowdy, like Nugget, as you'll read later, is a hero.  He blocked the little boxer girl pup
(Kira) from getting to the snake.   He’s currently at the vet being treated for the bite and “holding his
own" according to the last update.

About 5 years ago the family suffered another tragedy involving a snake and a
dog.  Nugget, who was also recognized as a hero, knocked then 7 year old
Tori away from a water moccasin placing himself between the snake and the child
and was bitten.  

Unfortunately, treatment was not successful for Nugget
and he passed away due to complications of kidney failure.  Tori is 12 now
and she was 7 when Nugget got bit protecting her.  She remembers it like it was yesterday and still cries over Nugget..  She is terrified.  I have posted Nugget's story as told by
Susan at the end of this email.

Wes has recently been hired at a new job after being out of work for a 
year.  As we all know, it's tough enough providing for a family without
dealing with being out of work for an extended period, and then when something
like this comes along, it becomes an overwhelming financial burden. 
Anti-venom is expensive.  The cost for the anti-venom alone is going to
run $950 a vial, and it's not known how many vials are going to be needed in
order to save Rowdy's life.

Not interested in Wiggles?

You can still help, and anything will be appreciated!  Rowdy was a rescue coming out of Rockin'P Rescue, and in the event that more money is raised than is needed, any extra will be donated to Rockin'P Rescue.  

 
Please.  Send whatever you can, be it a $1 or $100.

Donations can be sent to:
Susan McKinnon
322 Dallas Circle
Folkston, GA  31537


If you’d like to verify this, Rowdy is being treated at:
Russell Road Animal Clinic
904-291-9511
http://www.russellroadanimalclinic.com/

A Brief Interruption to Celebrate Owen's Birthday

Semper Fi Tin Soldier (Owen, O-man, P, Wenny) is 12 years old!

Quyle Kilns

Pam Quyle at Quyle Kilns is graciously allowing me to put 10 items in their gallery!

This is wonderful! It gives me both exposure and real world feedback on my work, and it means I can say I'm showing in a gallery, which might be great when applying for shows etc.

Quyle is also where I get my clay - they mix their own local bodies. I love the iron rich Sandstone Buff and am using it almost exclusively now.

Anyway, after much thought, I've decided on this bunch of items to bring up - I don'y have any bigger bowls or bird feeders right now, but these should do. I hope they're the most appropriate.

 Looking at the shot glasses last night puts me in mind of making some sake sets.