Showing posts with label Shigaraki feldspar clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shigaraki feldspar clay. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Karma

Whether you choose to believe in a force such as Karma or not, doing good turns and being a good person is its own reward. I like the idea of Karma being circular and part of a continuing story that we all have roles in. Some say that what goes around comes around and I believe it.....

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A Glazed Look
























This is one of my most unusual pieces. What makes it so is that it was fired in the big noborigama (four chambered, climbing, wood-fired kiln) at the Ceramics Institute in Shigaraki, Japan. This kiln is only fired twice a year by a ceramics group from Kyoto. It was an honor to work with the group through the entire process of making, bisque, three day firing and unloading. A ceramics friend from Denmark and I had a midnite to 6am shift stoking the fire (along with the Japanese fire master). It was an experience I will never forget - and I don't think they will either!

When the mask emerged from the kiln, I felt it was finished. That could be the most unusual aspect of the piece since I normally do three or four more firings to build up layers of color and glaze. This is one mask I will never voluntarily part with!