One more pot...

So, it has been way too long since posting (not to mention making!) more teapots. At this rate I shall still be doing this project in 20 years! I did make another teapot. This one was for Sarah, my daughter who has gone away to university in the great white North - Canada. She has been asking for a pink and white polka dot teapot for a very long time. Now she finally has one. I completed the teapot at the end of the summer, but am only just getting the photo up now. I wish it were a better shot, but I didn't have time to track down a photo booth before she headed off. (As I recall, I went and unloaded the kiln the very day we were leaving town!) Perhaps this year will see the addition of more teapots in the projects...See you soon.

The vagaries of machinery...

I have made two more teapots. I was easier this time - I remembered how to make my lids, but forgot a few things when I was trimming...there are so many things to be thinking about when making teapots, particularly in the realm of proportions - you want a form as round as possible (biggest volume + smallest surface = hottest tea); the opening has to be big enough, but not too big, and it should be similar in circumference to the foot. Unfortunately, I often remember these details when it is too late!
I finished these two teapots (one for the project, one to sell) and was in the middle of a bisque firing when the kiln died! Disappointing, but not the end of the world. The teapots (and the rest of the work!) aren't ruined, just nicely dried. But they are on hold now until the electric kiln is fixed. :-( Oh, well, I shall just have to relax and wait.

the first photos...

So, the first 4 teapots are done. I am pleased. Haven't completely decided to whom they will go - except for this one (#4). That's for Katrina - Hope's mom. She was the one who gave me the giving idea in the first place.
I am really amazed at the difference between the first two and the second two. I have already learned so much about the form of teapots: what makes them work, what doesn't; about lids, handles, etc. Can't wait to start another one.

This second photo is of the very first teapot I made in the series. It is stoneware. I carved the flower pattern mostly to thin it out because it was way too thick! That worked well in the end. (It was glazed with cobalt oxide and Barb's white.)

This is #2. There is a big difference in the proportions of lid to body between these first two and the second two. I have a much better understanding of of these elements. Sarah loves the metallic bits on this one...This one was glazed with shino over rusty oxide. I love the irregularity of the colours - the rusty, the black, the metallic. Shino is always unpredictable. The black is caused by carbon trapping in the firing...totally random and uncontrollable. One pot might be all black, the other white. One of the vagaries of ceramics but also one of the thrills!

This fourth (#3 in the series)one makes me smile. It is so playful. I was so pleased to get it out of the kiln - so often, I envision something but the kiln has another plan! Sort of what God does with our lives. We go along with our plans and then God comes and sends us off in a completely different direction. When this happens to my work, I am often disappointed and go and stuff the work in a closet somewhere because it wasn't what I was looking for...then, months(occasionally years)later I come across the piece again and think, "Wow. This isn't so bad after all. I kind of like it." I think that happens in our lives, too. We get disappointed or discouraged because it wasn't what we were planning, but then, looking back, we see that God made a beautiful thing out of it all.

What's with the teapots?

Those of you who know me know that probably the thing I do most in life is drink tea! First thing when I get up, when someone is visiting, after a meal, when there is crisis...even in the summer when it is really hot! It is such a familiar experience, wrapped up with family, friends, comfort. But if you know me, you will also know that I am very particular about the tea, the cup and the pot...bad versions of any of these drive me crazy. So I spend a fair bit of time looking at mugs and teapots, deciding what makes them function well and what doesn't.
A number of months ago, I was having a lovely chat with a friend about generosity and the art of developing a giving heart. She had embarked on a project to give something to someone everyday - it could be a cup of coffee, it could be some of her time, money in a parking meter, whatever. I loved the mindful way she was approaching it and thought I would like to bring some of that into my life. Right about the same time, I was attempting to make a very large teapot for our family (still have been unsuccessful with that!) and was frustrated with the feeling that I didn't really understand the construction of teapots. What I made was ok, but never quite right and I couldn't tell why....
So, I came up with a project for myself: make 30 teapots and give them all away!
A great way to really understand the construction of a teapot woven together with the thing I like best about having tea - sharing my life with the people I love.
I have made the first four now. At this rate, I should be finished by 2014!!! Hahaha. Hopefully I will be able to make them faster than 4/semester...