I know, I know. I keep starting new things and then moving on. But this one is a keeper.
Sometime in the delirium of lockdown, I saw a tiny USB pottery wheel on that there internet and decided it was the most stupid thing I had ever seen and I needed one.
It came, I make a pot and ruined a shirt and forgot about it.
Then at the end of last year, I thought of it again and gave it a good crack, but only because I had also discovered a marvel called a Microwave Kiln. So with my tiny potter’s wheel and my slightly larger Microwave kiln, I’m making and glazing pottery in my kitchen!!
I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. I love it when they work, I love it when they pop. I love it all…
And in the space of an hour, I can set up, throw 4-5 pots and clear up. Gotta love my kitchen table!
See the finished pots on ETSY: etsy.com/uk/shop/FlusterMakes
It’s a ring thing.
I like nonsense things. I saw someone making ceramic rings, nonsense, so had to have a go. I got a ring sizer and just started. They are in the kiln at the moment, god knows what size they will end up after fully shrunk! I think these will end up in bright primary colours. I really want to work out… Read more →
Mishima Inlay
I love discovering new techniques. New to me that is – if it sounds Japanese, it’s likely thousands of years old! Mishima is a way of inlaying clay in clay. You draw or carve an image into leather hard clay, fill the carving with coloured slip, and then scrape back the surface so you get a neat line in the… Read more →
Testing Colours..
I want a midnight blue with cobblestone. So this is one coat of black, two blue and two cobblestone This one is orange under 2 coats of Cirtus splash. Read more →
Some blues…
Just to keep track of my blues. All Mayco. These are all on red clay, bisque fired first. Not sure about the crackles… 2 issues… 1. The rust colour, while lovely is not intentional, must be colour seeping through from the clay when it fiees. Not seen this before. 2. Not a lot of crackles. I do know the cracks… Read more →
Water Bombs Bowls
I saw a video on Instagram, it looked so simple. Luckily you can trust what you see online. haha. Not simple, out of about 8 I have 3 left to fire. Let’s see what happens. They are sooo thin. I loaded up the glaze inside and out to make them a little thicker. No idea if they would stand up… Read more →
Blue Azure
Something wrong but getting this Read more →
Mayco Classic Crackles
1 full coat blue yonder, patchy second coat. 3 coats of Classic Crackles transparent Read more →
The Perfect Expresso Cup…
I love the whole process of 3D printing to slip casting, but it does take a while, so I’d love it if it was perfect the first time… Pah! I have this lovely Expresso cup; beautiful, but the maximum size I can fire is only 4cm tall, so it’s only a single-shot cup. I want a double at work, so… Read more →
Adventures in Slipcasting: Part 3
Feels like ages since I should have posted this. The paper cups were intended as espresso/shot cups, but after shrinkage, they were too small (my white clay shrinks more than my terracotta), so back to the drawing board. Something new. 3D printed originals, scaled 10% bigger than needed, made into a mold for casting. Here’s a quick image montage: I… Read more →
Specialties: Copper Metallic & Copper Penny
I really wish I write something down last year!! It took ages, but finally got it working. They were all going green because the copper oxidised too quickly. This part of raku needs to be starved or oxygen. I was using a pot with airholes because the lid kept popping off. This works for naked raku where all we need… Read more →