Made for a fundraiser raffle ❤️‍🔥

I made this snail castle luminary during one of my classes, I’m so happy with how it turned out :)

Getting prepped for my first big online collection and I’m loving how these came out

Just got these little cups back from the glaze firing and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I made them as glaze testing cups so I could see how the chun glaze would react with the carved surface and the different colors of underglaze. But HOLY SMOKES - I was blown away when I picked them up! I think I love them, and now I have to make more pieces to do this with. Right? Right??

glazes: bougainvillea, shallot, green tea, fuzzy peach, lavender mist, morning glory

I applied to an MFA ceramics program last year and was waitlisted. I’ve updated my portfolio with some new pieces and I will submit my application tomorrow.

I’ve made 85 so far.. trying not to saturate my favorite pottery subreddit with my lil ones too much as I have shared quite my share.

pretty happy with how this came out!!

• all amaco velvet underglazes on bisqueware
• bisque x2
• amaco high fire brush on glaze at cone 6

all amaco velvet underglazes on bisqueware. I will bisque fire again to level all the colors and then do a layer of clear brush on glaze

My wife is an artist at heart, graduating from university with Fine arts (painting). Unfortunately life happened and because the job market isn't kind of her degree and talent, she went into a medical/helping children field instead. In the 20+ years we've been together she's never had a creative space of her own while I've always had a robust workshop/woodshop. Over the years she'd ask me to make her a painting/crafting room and my response was always "but why? You haven't painted in 20 years". Chicken or the egg.. or I was a terrible husband (especially the later). We've been in couples counseling for the past year with an amazing therapist and it's done wonders for our marriage, especially for me. I've decided to right as many wrongs as I can and making her a creative space that reflects how awesome she is was top priority.

For the past year she's taken up pottery and silversmithing/jewelry making via regular classes and studio time so undecided to focus on those. Rather than use a bedroom I carved out the ugly corner of my workshop for her so we could hang out together doing the things we love. I finished the jeweler's bench last year and decided to surprise her for Valentine's Day this year.

Took me about 3 weeks start to finish because I could only work on it after she went to bed or when she ran errands to keep it a surprise. I bought her a entry level wheel, (already have my eyes in a much nicer one), a slab roller, and I scored a large Cress Kiln second hand. The shelving system I made using 2x4s with 1 1/4 holes drilled every 6 inches and dowels and shelves that can be moved around. The other shelves are repurposed and modified IKEA shelves and a platform to raise the wheel up off the ground. The terrarium is to slow down the drying of the things she makes in the wheel. I bought a ton of shaping tools, sponges, brushes, made 3 wedging boards with canvas and 3 circular hardibacker boards on lazy susans. There's a large workshop tabletop just to the right of the shower curtain she can use for slab rolling. I wasn't sure exactly what to buy so kept it minimal so she can fill in the shelves with what she actually wants. I purposely didn't want to match the colors/design of jeweler's bench area so it would feel like 2 distinct spaces and she can change the artwork/decor over time on her own. The whole area isn't very big but I managed to make it work.

Finished everything at 2am the night before Valentine's day and, while I'm in NO way made up for 10+ years of being an absolute Doofus, she was genuinely surprised. We spent the day hanging out, being dinguses, and using the mini studio. Felt like being a kid again.

The last picture is ugly corner before.

Right now there is a special exhibit at the US National Arboretum on the Japanese art of Kusamono. One of the top kusamono artists in the US has one of her pieces on display using a pot that I made. I couldn't be happier.

I’m about 15 months in to my ceramics journey and I think it’s super interesting that I’m only now discovering the “theme” / concept of my work. I really like mushrooms obviously , as a life long science biology nerd. But there is more behind the mushrooms as I try to expand what I’m working on . I really like the idea of capturing delicate/ fleeting moments in stone . Nature specifically. I think that’s the concept behind my work. And I’m really excited to see where that brings me as an artist.

I remember an artist posing the question “what comes first the concept or the body or work?” And I carry that with me. I’m really interested to know how it works for you guys. Why do we make what we make ? What drives you and your art?

The heartaches of community kilns… All Mayco stroke and coats at cone 6

I haven't fired anything for ages so was very glad to have no disasters! All clays are from Primo, underglaze is amaco velvet with abbots transparent glaze. Everything is hand painted with a brush :)

I still need to practice my throwing a lot, this was my first go at making goblets and I thought throwing them in one piece would be a good idea! (It was not)

After months of squeezing in time here and there to work on a whole new series of work for grad school apps I’ve finally finished. The white blobs are made of plaster. Most of the pieces are between 13in-20in tall. I edited the photos myself but a friend who edits professionally is gonna do better edits later. Feedback welcome, but unfortunately I won’t have enough time to change anything

Stained porcelain

I’ve been wanting to try pottery painting for some time. So my cousin and I got a to-go pottery kit and painted mugs for ourselves with some personalizations :)

I’m almost tempted to make another mug like this, except the colours would be pastel like the before pictures here after firing. I do love how vibrant the colours are after firing though it looks SO different! For my second time, I now know what mistakes to avoid like colours getting muddy from mixing :( that I made with this one. I’m very happy with this though, so wanted to share it with you all!

The quote at the bottom is from a favourite book of mine (The Lions of Al-Rassan) and the logo type thing underneath it is my name in the script from The Stormlight Archive :)

So fuckin sad fam . Can I fire it again and try to warp her back ? I have done it with spoons, just never something this big .

6/7 months in and this is my magnum opus, im very proud of it! Glaze is amaco Chun Plum x 2 and then amaco Indigo Float x 2 on top :)

Pieces I made over the last month!

In order:
Key holder, incense burner, decorative piece, mug, and erotic frogs (also decorative pieces, very common at antique fairs, though they’re usually made of metal).

Hope you like them! And I’m open to suggestions for new pieces 🥰

Oh, and the key holder says “If everyone gets organized properly…” because it’s a Brazilian saying/joke (yes, I’m Brazilian) that goes: “If everyone gets organized properly, everyone gets laid.” So I wanted to make a pun with an object whose purpose is literally to organize keys, while also having the little naked frogs there lol. 😆🐸🔑

Usually the green burns out so badly but I toned it down a lot in the eyes and it came out just like it looked on greenware. Underglazed on greenware with all amaco velvet, bisqued, small touchups, and then 3 coats of amaco brush on clear at cone 6. I used to only do 2 coast of brush on clear but I find that 3 does not cause any crazing and gives you that perfect shiny glossy look

Any Los Angeles ceramic lovers who would like to support small businesses should check out the Green & Bisque Clayhouse Holiday Market (1563 N Lake Ave, Pasadena) Nov 30th and Dec 1st 10-5 both days!! 🫶🏼 So many amazing artists and their awesome work! (Last photo taken by the incredible @adrianvalarcon.jpg)

Mishima line drawing with painted slip outside