I am very happy to announce that my tea ware is now available through Phoenix Tea in Burien. I really recommend phoenix tea if you are ever in need of high quality tea. Even though they sell fine tea, Virginia and Chris are very nice and approachable. They are very knowledgeable and excellent at teaching anything tea related. If you want to start learning about tea, this is the place to go. And of course, besides tea, they offer lots of quality ceramics.
Lee Kang-Hyo
While looking for inspiration I ran into a nice web page from the San Francisco Museum. It was an article about an old exhibition featuring Korean artists. To my surprise one of the Artist was Lee Kang-Hyo, someone I really admire. I first knew about this guy from a youtube video. I like his take in life and pottery.
Avoiding Cracks
Before trying to crack this issue, just know that this is my first blog related to technique. I’m hoping to blog about technique in order to help my fellow potters. I’m not going to bore you with scientific details to explain or refute particular methods or techniques (I bet there are many sciency online articles already to explain anything I can come up with).
Now, on to cracks. As one progresses in pottery, one will irremediably encounter frustrations. ‘S-cracks’ are without a doubt one of the most dreaded and annoying ones. S-cracks are s-shaped fissures that develop in the foot of pots. These unexpected defects show up as a pot is drying or even after it has been fired. Throwing off-the-hump increases the probability of running into this issue.
A few months ago I started to get lots of cracked pieces. This was very surprising since I would encounter them very randomly before. There are many recommendations about how to prevent s-cracks but these pointers have helped me overcome this issue:
Drying too fast. I cover drying pieces with plastic bags to slow down drying. Need patience here.
Firing too fast. I use a slow firing profile when firing, specially bisque firings.
Uneven drying. Besides using plastic bags around drying pots, I place them on top of a wood surface or any other material that sucks up moisture.
Use clay with grog or sand added to it. I think this helps but I’m not sure if this is completely true.
Compress the foot. This is not possible if throwing off the hump. Again, not sure if this actually helps.
Break faulty pieces. I broke defective pieces in order to investigate probable causes.
Breaking multiple pieces in order to inspect them is what helped me the most. As seen in one of the pictures, the bottom of is quite thicker as compared to the sides. Thickness was not uniform. When trimming I was leaving the foot way too thick. If walls are not uniform, no matter how slow a piece dries, it won’t dry uniformly. Refining my trimming technique has, for the moment, fixed my cracking issue.
A word about Painting
If you find a reference to painting anywhere it is because I paint too. I like oil painting a lot. However, lately I been focusing more on pottery. But painting is still a passion I plan to continue. I started painting about 7 years ago. Just like pottery, I'm completely self-taught.
In contrast to my ceramics work, when I paint I like to follow more of a 'western' approach. I’ve come to love Realism, Impressionism, and Surrealism styles the most. Painting in a Realist style comes natural to me, so that is the style I've focused on. I use the Venetian technique (more about this style of painting in another post). I’ve studied the techniques of old European Masters. My inspiration comes from works of Masters such as Rembrandt, Velazquez, el Greco, Titian, Tintoretto, Vermeer, Hals, and Repin.
I've been thinking a lot about painting while making pots. I'm working out new ideas about paining in my mind. I've been thinking about adding some 'Zen/Wabi-sabi' to my paintings. Something Rembrandt achieved with his amazing brushwork (in my humble opinion).
For now I'll continue my focus in ceramics, but hopefully I'll post new paint works soon. Here are some paintings by me currently hanging at home.
The start of Ojalá Studio
I'm glad to finally have a dedicated place for my ceramics work. Little by little my workshop is taking shape.
I am still working out lots of details. For now it is well equipped for me. It took me almost a year to get it ready. Lots of work but the efforts are finally paying off. I will have more time to make pots instead of dealing with electricity or flooring issues. What a relief!