okay, this is brilliant.

Today marks the sixth anniversary of my husband putting up with me.
This is what we did to celebrate.

I have this lovely little bowl with a glaze that looks all run-together and streaky, which I got from a real potter a few months ago, and I wanted to experiment with some glazing techniques to see if I could get a similar effect. The materials available to me at the little studio I’ve been going to are a bit limiting; for instance, I’m not able to dip pieces, which I think is sort of a big deal. I suspect that a lot of the effects that I like to see on pottery are achieved primarily by dipping, but in this studio, we are only able to apply glazes with a brush.

Nevertheless, I managed to mostly get the result I was looking for, though clearly further experimentation and refinement is required. I think next time I try this effect, I will avoid a matte base layer - I thought it would look more interesting with a matte underlayer, but it seems to have served only to accentuate the places where the glaze didn’t fall precisely as I wished. At any rate, I’m quite happy with the inside of the bowl, and have some ideas for further refining the technique at my next session.

I also continued work on a TOP SECRET project which I began last week. It’s TOP SECRET because it’s meant as a gift for my husband’s good friend Anthony, who occasionally peruses this site, and who is a huge fan of architeuthis. I will post the finished piece eventually.

Sometimes my math study time turns into slab pottery design time.