Kreeger Pottery

Glaze Test Results

I mixed up a few glazes and tried some basic colorants…no fancy line blends or other testing. This was a first step in playing around with the electric kiln. I think there’s some stuff to work with. I’ll hopefully fire again late next week and mix up a bigger batch of one of these to try out.

Staffel Semi-Matte

from Mark Burleson’s The Ceramic Glaze Handbook

Ball Celadon

from Mark Burleson’s The Ceramic Glaze Handbook

Coleman’s Chun

from Ceramics Monthly

I don’t have the recipes handy…I’ll post them soon.

Posted in firing results, glaze tests on 06/11/2009 02:45 am | Comments Off

Dry! Please Dry!

It’s incredibly damp(and cool) out here on the Cape. I’d like to get this bisque loaded but my pots aren’t drying. I may have to wait on a few of these for another bisque and just finish loading with what I have ready. I would like to get all of the plates through so it’s going to be an awfully long soak in the kiln to dry things out….not worth the risk with the pitchers and teapots.

I posted these plate/bowls earlier but I like the way they looked stacked to dry.

Here are some of the pitchers….

Posted in bowls, pitchers, plates on 06/06/2009 03:22 pm | 1 Comment

Workshop at Castle Hill

I’ve posted about this before but there are still a few spaces left in my summer workshop at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. It’s a great place to make pots for the week in a great spot on the Cape.

It will be a 5 day workshop, 6/22-6/26 that runs 9-1 so you will have the afternoon to explore Cape Cod while your work dries. It’s billed as an Intermediate Throwing Class and will also have a nice focus on altering pots in the wet and leather-hard stages. We’ll even have some time to look at different decorating techniques.

Hope to see some of you faithful readers there!

Posted in workshops on 06/03/2009 05:01 pm | Comments Off

Bowl/Plates

I’m filling out an order of sort of pasta/noodle/plate/bowls.

The first round looked good but may be a little small….

So I made another version with an extra pound and a half of clay.

They’re almost ready to trim and I’ll get to that as soon as I finish up my morning hanging out with Clarita…

Posted in plates on 06/03/2009 12:21 pm | 2 Comments

Pitchers

I don’t know why but I made a few pitchers during the last couple of days. These squared ones are new to me. I’m still trying to work out the details of the form but they follow a pretty straight line as they’re thrown and then they’re squared before forming the spout. I’m still absorbing the form here and trying to decide what I think of them.

Here are the first two that I made over the weekend with a couple of long handles. I’m not sure if it’s the best way to resolve the piece but we’ll see tomorrow when I get some shorter handles on the new ones.

My studio is in desperate need of a cleanup and that will happen soon. I’m going to decorate some of the other greenware and get it into the kiln for a bisque. That will give me an opportunity to break-down my nicest steel ware-racks (2 of them) and get them ready for the journey to Texas. I have some shoddily constructed 2×4 racks that I’ll use from here on out. It will also start clearing some space for me to clean up and continue to figure out what’s coming with me.

I have a few hundred pounds of b-mix and porcelain left and I’ll finish throwing that throughout the next couple of weeks. I’m planning on making new work until the end of June or I finish up my remaining clay…whichever comes first. Then it’s time to glaze, fire, clean and pack throughout July.

July doesn’t seem so far away anymore….neither does August….

How hot is it in Austin in August again?!?!

Posted in pitchers on 06/01/2009 07:55 pm | 1 Comment

Big Kilns are hard to move to Texas

I spent the afternoon on the phone about how much it would cost to move my gas kiln to Texas. It definitely isn’t cheap but it’s a lot cheaper than either buying or building new.

First I’ll need to find a studio space that will permit the kiln…otherwise I’ll be selling it and I’ll figure it out from there.

Like I said…the worrying has begun.

Posted in austin, kiln firing on 05/29/2009 09:52 pm | 4 Comments

Teapots

I’ve made a few teapots, which is something I do rarely. Even rarer is the fact that they’re made with porcelain. Here’s a preview and may be the only shot of them if the handles decide to be picky. They’re sitting pretty under plastic and will be drying as slowly as I can to give them a fighting chance. Since these pics were taken I’ve let the handles set up a bit and then thinned them out a bit more while they’re on the pots.

These will most likely also get some stains and then a clear glaze.

Today will hopefully be spent making a few more pieces, throwing some test tiles and then getting ready to fire the electric kiln by the end of next week. As always, some moving stress will be inserted throughout the day. Today’s dilemma is the large Bailey gas kiln. How much will it cost to get a rigger here, crate it up and ship it freight down to Austin. Or, do I sell it up here? Then, once I figure out where my long term studio in Austin will be, build either a reduction or a soda kiln.

Posted in porcelain, teapots on 05/29/2009 12:37 pm | 2 Comments

Mug Pairs

I’m still cruising with the porcelain and a little over a week into it I’m beginning to enjoy the stuff.

Instead of making mugs in sets of 6-8 at a time like I normally do, I decided to make them in pairs as I get used to porcelain again and try out different forms and different handles. It’s been a fun exercise and has also kept things light in the studio as I’m starting to wind down life as a maker on the Cape.

I do have to say that I’m looking forward to decorating all of this pure white ware. I’m planning on mixing up a clear glaze for an electric firing and decorating most of the work with some underglazes via Silvie Granatelli’s site. The recipe I’ve been using is for bone dry ware:

epk 100

frit 3134 100

stain 100

The mugs in the last image have a couple of coats of the underglaze stain on them, I used a sage green mason stain on them. This is all new to me as I experiment with some more electric firings to prepare for our move. I’m trying to turn all of my raw clay into pots so I have work finished while I figure out my studio setup down in Austin.

The move, by the way, is starting to become extremely real and nerve-racking….we are moving on August 10th. I’ve been busy getting estimates and figuring out what’s coming, what’s staying and what’s going. It’s all very confusing.

Posted in handles, mugs, porcelain on 05/28/2009 05:28 pm | 1 Comment

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who stopped by over the weekend and picked up some new and some old pots to take care of in their homes.

I’ll be open by appointment throughout the week. Use the email on the contact us page at the website or just give us a call and either Evangelina or I will make sure to show you what’s new.

Thanks Again!

Posted in gallery, Open House on 05/25/2009 12:04 am | 1 Comment

Open

I’ll be in the gallery today until mid-afternoon.

Open Studio is Saturday & Sunday, 10-3

Posted in gallery, Open House on 05/22/2009 02:46 pm | 1 Comment

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