Studio Seconds: Uglies, Errors, Oddities and Strangeness

These are the dregs of the studio that would usually never hit the photographer's lens. They are all being used as a tool holders, will head off to the Good Will and the less fortunate pieces that have lost their utility (due to glaze defects) will hit the trashcan once they've been documented here. Today I bring you these pieces as a tribute to all the Regretsys of the world, all the lost souls and garage sale relics.

Trust me, these look better in the photo studio than in person-- some of them can barely be held because they are so heavy and poorly designed. Some had a lot of potential, but glaze defects ruined them. As I discussed in my Pete Hornberger post, I have no real style yet. I'm just learning techniques, which is especially apparent in studio seconds. Eventually there will be a cohesive application of all these techniques...

Cone 10 Nara Porcelain. Part of my 100 cup assignment (just learning to throw on the wheel).



Cone 10 Nara Porcelain. Part of my 100 cup assignment. Such a tragic cup in weight, design and balance-- thought I could save it with a unicorn and stars. No luck. ha! It has a funny charm, though.


Cone 5. Hagi Porcelain. This cup has better weight and balance, but the majority of the underglaze sunset burned off in the kiln and the glaze is severely pitted.


Cone 04 White Star slip cast tea bowl. The decal was applied to cover up other decorative defects, and it didn't work. Some glaze defects in the interior.


Cone 10 Nara Porcelain. Part of my 100 cups assignment. What can I say, I was just learning to throw and this cup is sooo heavy and imbalanced that you can use it as a doorstop. I added the gold hydrangeas to give it a little bit of charm.


Cone 04 White star slip cast. This was a decal and glaze experiment, with less than stellar results. The other side has an iron decal hot dog on it that is half burned off. The blue decals are overfired and faded, but it's still functional.


Cone 04 white star slip cast. This was a studio tragedy. This piece went through 4 separate firings. It was perfect. No decal defects, no glaze defects. Just perfect. I was walking through the studio and tripped. It flew out of my hand and you can see the results-- cracked. I use it for paint brushes now.


Cone 04 white star slip cast from styrofoam cup. This was just a test. The glaze does not fit clay body and I was learning to apply decals and the decal on the other side burned right off.


Cone 5 Hagi Porcelain with Laguna glazes. This black cup was the 2nd or 3rd object that I've ever thrown on the wheel. The bottom is untrimmed, but somehow the whole thing kinda works. I love the glaze drip at the bottom-- a moment in time frozen. It's a really heavy cup.


Cone 10 Nara Porcelain with an orange shino glaze. Part of my 100 cups assignment.


Cone 5 Hagi Porcelain. I like this cup and it is representative of a direction my work is going, but the glaze pitting has rendered it useless.