Thursday, March 25, 2010

Inspiration

I snapped a picture of this over in Hillsborough the other day. I love these old shacks that are all over the place in Chatham County and Orange County. The colors remind me of the French earthenware that Doug Fitch saw while in France. If you haven't read Doug's blog about his trip, go read it!! If only I could get glaze colors like that!
I have had these gourds in my house for the longest time, they were my grandmothers and hung in her kitchen for as long as I can remember. They now hang in my kitchen and I look at them all the time thinking they would make a great form for a pot. When I saw the Jane Wheeler pot that was on my last post I decided to give it a try. Today, I worked on a couple of small ones to see how they could be made in a larger size, not as easy as I thought it would be. I was, of course, impatient, and the tall neck kept sinking into the round part because the clay was too soft. I finally waited for the clay to set up and got these two made.
I'm going to put a white crawl raku glaze on them and see what happens. I think they might be kinda funky! The blue bowl in the background was an eathenware test failure, but it looks pretty good in this photo :) up close it's a mess though. I should go back and give that some more time, but it was driving me nuts with the pin holes and the slip not behaving and my pots melting whine whine..... watching Judy Shreve getting better and better results with her tests is giving me a new perspective on testing and patience. I never stick with any of it long enough to work it out. I get aggrevated and move on. May be time to go back and revisit some things with fresh eyes...... patience grasshopper!!!

7 comments:

Peter said...

Those are gorgeous! Love the really tall necks, glad you could make them work. The crawled glazes will look just great. Nice house too, I always thought that we would end up in one rather like that when we moved South in search of a place to live, and we ended up in an old post office building instead. Life's funny isn't it! Thanks for your help regarding crawled glaze recipes. Much appreciated.

cookingwithgas said...

Love that shape! and the fact you have those from your grandmother-isn't it funny what some folks hang on to as important.
On another note- the court house fire!
No- that is such a long part of my life.
We were just through there and I always love to see the courthouse...

Tracey Broome said...

Thanks Peter, most welcome for the glazes. Meredith, the fire is just awful! Gerry tried to get me to take Wes down there to shoot some pics, but such a crowd, I really didn't want to get in the middle of it. I am sure the interior is just ruined and so many treasures lost. You should see all the things I hold on to,but the gourds are just so cool and were such a part of my childhood.

Linda Starr said...

I love old buildings, so cool. I scrolled down real quick, thinking I might see another building piece, then I saw the gourds and thought those necks are so tall, wow, amazing how you achieved those necks in clay, I love them. can't wait to see then glazed.

Judy Shreve said...

I love the colors of that building - oh to get glazes like that! And the early French earthenware - I can't wait to see it & hopefully touch it!

Your tall forms are so interesting & I think a crawl glaze will be perfect on them. Can't wait t see them glazed!

ang design said...

indeed grasshopper!and very nice tall necks...you know i think the old house as glazes or engobes is doable trace get to it!

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

Nice bottle forms Tracey!... Changing subjects: Way too bad about the courthouse fire. I'm sorry. That's a loss to your community.