Sunday Final

Faux ikebana.
That's what I was doing today.
Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
Actually it's a bit deeper than that, as most Japanese arts are, but I don't know a whole lot about it, so I won't get into it.
Like that made sense.
First off, that pot with the bubbalous glaze, well it turns out it looks like it was over fired:



That's what happened when I fired it two cones hotter, along with the bisque fire.
Now most of these glazes are supposed to be good within a certain cone range, like plus one or two cones, but apparently this glaze is sort of temperature sensitive.
That and I got a hot spot in my kiln.
The thing to do when firing a kiln for the first time is to cone different sections of it to check if it's firing evenly. Most of the time, you may find that there is up to a cone difference, which comes out to around thirty to fifty degrees.
That doesn't sound like a lot when you're up at twenty one hundred degrees, but chemically strange things are happening.
I'll make a mental note to fire that color only in the middle of the kiln, or not let it get too close to the sides.
Things can get freakier in a gas kiln, I've got a pot around here with three different colors from the same glaze.
So anyways, I was thinking that I should get me some flowers to help demonstrate the unique qualities of my vases.
Off I went to the craft place to check out the assortment of silk flowers.
Boy, I was impressed. I'll try to sneak some pics when I go back but the place was loaded with all kine flowers!
Choke!
That's local speak for plenty.
Well this is actually the first time I've actually seen any of my pottery with flowers in them:





I gotta tell you, getting them flowers to look nice is not that easy.
For one thing, I only bought one of each color just to try them out. Ikebana is a sort of minimalist thing so it should be right up my alley. Playing with them flowers made me realize that there exists a relationship with the pot I wasn't really aware of.
Most of the things I make, I make to stand alone.
Occupy space, blend in with the surroundings.
Now, I realize that when combined with flowers, it becomes just a vessel, and it shouldn't detract from the flower or arrangement.
I sort of had to sit back and rethink the rest of the pots I got.
Of which there are twenty three more to go.
Three more glaze firings.
Then I'm done with my mission.
Oh, then I got to go out and sell em.
I needs me a new bike don't you know.
That should be interesting.
The selling part I mean.
Stay tuned.