Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Fifth Israeli Ceramics Biennale

Yesterday I went to see the exhibition in Eretz Israel Museam in Tel Aviv. It was very interesting to see. Many talents and beautiful work, surprising ideas, all laid out very well. I would be even happier if along side to ceramic art & design there would be a place to exhibit functional pottery ... maybe one day?
In any case it is delightful to see the high quality of Israeli ceramic artist. If you have a chance go and see.

























Sunday, January 25, 2009

A New Batch Of Teapots Born




Lids

I am working on improving my teapot lids. Making them a bit more heavy and the bottom part longer, so that when the teapot will be used and the liquid poured, the lid will stay firmly in its place. Here is an example:











Spouts & Handles

These are spouts and handles I made on Friday but did not mange to assemble them on the teapots that same day. By rapping them in nylon they stayed moist, and surprisingly were good to work with today (Sunday!)

A Hot & Dry Winter

In many of the pottery blogs I follow there are beautiful pictures of a snowy winter all around the world. We however, are experiencing a hot and dry winter, 18-19 C today with no rain in sight...



A New Shimpo Wheel

Arrived last week, a Shimpo wheel from ceramicon. after weeks of looking for a good 2ed hand wheel with a reasonable price, I decided to make an effort, add to my budget and buy a new one - already put to use for rental space and teaching.











Monday, January 19, 2009

Testing Porcelain Glazes

Some celadons and clear glazes on Limoz porcelain, fired to 1250 c in reduction.



Thursday, January 08, 2009

About Paper Work & Setting Goals











It's been a day of paper work summarising the past years incomes and expenses of the pottery - my main understanding from this process is that there is much more to be done in order to increase the income, and go beyond the level of just surviving. It has helped me come up with 3 main goals for the coming year:

1. Enhancing my teaching.
2. Participating in 2 more major fairs during the year, preferably during February and July (does anyone know of something good?)
3. Starting to market my products in Tel Aviv.

So, wish me luck...

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

And Some More From The Latest Firing










Looking For The Right Shape Of A Bowl

I am still searching for the best shape of a bowl - open/closed, tall/short, with a foot or without. This bowl is getting close to the shape I want. I am a bit worried this process of searching is becoming more of an intellectual controlled process and less an intuitive and free one...

Temmoku With Ash

added 50% ash to the temmoku glaze - a very runny result. In this bowl the glaze stopped just in time, there is another bowl stuck to the shelf... If someone wants to experiment, I would recommend reducing the amount of ash systematical from 50%. I'll be happy to hear about results.


I

First Firing For 2009

This was a first firing after some time. Many of the pots were special orders long due. The day of firing went well and the kiln reached the temperature without any problem. After opening the kiln it turned out to be not enough reduction for my liking. Here are some pictures:


























Glazed Containers With Glass

Some containers before their firing. In retrospect after opening the kiln it was a bit too much glass on the lids.












Before and Afrer