Wicked awesome test mug #4 results

So, as you can see from my post title I am pretty pleased with these last results. There are still a few issues I need to deal with, but huge potential I think. The blue really looks nice with my palette, and in practice it interfaces well with the other glazes-a huge plus. I got these issues though, you can even see it in this photo above. My white liner glaze blisters unpredictably, or rather maybe too predictably and I am finding the risk of this unacceptable. I am quite certain this is directly related to my clay body. It doesn't behave this way on porcelain, or if I use it over slip. I have a really high iron body and has been difficult finding glazes that co-exist well with it. But it's the best looking and most mature body I have tested. So I need to do something about that.

This cup above is glazed the same way as the one above it. If you click on the picture you might be able to see a nice attribute of this blue however. Where it breaks over edges it shows the dark body, but then fades away from the dark edge into a pale, whitish color, then goes to blue. This gives it a lot of interest I think. I think it probably has to be the right thickness for this to happen. You can see I chose to have a cup of tea in this one.
This matt black and the blue have a real potential together I think. The issue which you can see on the cup below is that I have to be careful not to let the liner glaze become too thick on the rim or I can get shivering. I know this is not a result of the two glazes meeting, because usually it is fine and I have frequently ecountered this issue in the past with the black liner. So, that should be an easy problem to deal with.

So, below is the same glaze combo as way up above, but with the blue as a liner. Unfortunately I got a few pinholes around the inside of the rim. I am first going to approach this as maybe the glaze was too thick because I held it in the cup for several seconds before draining out. So we'll see about that.

Adam gave me an amazing critique this morning. I thought it was very thoughtfully done and very astute/intuitive/perceptive. He was very happy with the mugs and said that he could really see the style and direction that I am going in. He described the work as playful, whimsical and not really "perfect", but in an intentional way. What did he say, something like the work is mature but yet has a child like quality. He said it way better but it really impressed me how thoughtful his critique was. He noticed the blisters and such said he has become really aware of how much more there is to making pottery, than just making the pots. How many issues need to be dealt with etc. He looks at pottery now with a different eye because of what he has learned from living with me, and has become a professional s-crack spotter. I really appreciated his feedback this morning. It was positive yes, but most importantly inspiring.

So I think this blue, if it can stand the test of a few more test firings is going to be a welcome addition to my work. I know I said a few posts back that I was getting rid of blue, but I was glazing a lot of my work in blue allover, and I think my intention now is to just use this to compliment and highlight the cups with a little color sometimes. I can't wait to test these glazes on that test clay. It's bisqueing now. It has this dark brown, reddish quality that I hope might really add to the glazes as it peeks through. AND NO GROG!!!! Oh happy day, to throw with clay with no grog. Okay, bye.