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.
