These little vases are perfect for the dining table and are trickier to throw than they look. It’s easy to throw a vase, but it’s much harder to make one with just the right curve and shoulder.
Shino is the name given to a family of high feldspar glazes that originate in Japan, and they’re typically give you a mix of sugary whites and fiery oranges. To get the shino effect, you have to fire your pots in combustion kilns, which means using either wood, gas, oil or some other combustible to produce flames. The flames ‘suck’ the oxygen out of the pots and surrounding air, which changes the way the glazes react and gives you that shino look.
To add to the drama different parts of the kiln can be affected in different ways, and the clay you use has a much bigger effect on the end result, which makes kiln opening all the more exciting. Below you can see where the reduction atmosphere has ‘pulled’ the iron out of the clay and made little spots on the surface!
The celadon and nuka glazes I use also need reduction, which is great, because firing with flames is waaay more fun that using electricity.
