A long evening of picking, choosing, and photographing, and an afternoon of editing left me with a handful of finalists, from which I selected three images (and, by implication, pieces) to enter in Strictly Functional. My lighting setup is working, and I hope to add something to soften the shadows - but I’ll need more wattage to get the light I need, too. It’s been a good experience to look critically at the work I’ve been producing. Here is the best image of each piece I photographed.

Four leafy cups. 2007. Handbuilt of grolleg porcelain. Localized atmospheric flashing on bare porcelain, Tom’s purple glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Shallow bowl. 2007. Handbuilt of BBSFAO flashing slip over stoneware. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Since no-one was around, they all came out and danced. 2007. Handbuilt of Tile6 over stoneware FCSI with incised drawing. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Bent cups for hot drinks. date. Handbuilt of rutile-containing flashing slip over stoneware. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Box with scotch cups. 2007. Handbuilt of stoneware FCSI. Copper glaze. Wood+salt fired to ~c.11. 2.5?h, 2.5?w, 6.5?l.

Box and three scotch cups. 2007. Handbuilt of Tile6 over stoneware FCSI with incised drawing. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Hot copper bowl. 2007. Handbuilt of BBSFAO over FCSI. Cohen copper red glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Homage to lead pipe flashing detail I. 2007. Handbuilt of Tile6 over stoneware FCSI with incised drawing. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired in reduction to c.10, reduction cooled. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Homage to lead pipe flashing detail II. 2007. Handbuilt of Tile6 over stoneware FCSI with incised drawing. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired in reduction to c.10, reduction cooled. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Three pinches. 2007. Handbuilt of stoneware FCSI. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired to c.10. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

Tentative title: Tripod II. 2007. Handbuilt of porcelainous stoneware. Temoku glaze. Soda fired in reduction to c.10, reduction cooled. 0″h, 0″w,0″l.

At long last, I am set up, and it’s ready to go whenever I am. So much intention and so many hours of work went into making my photo setup happen; I’m a little relieved. The white sweep is a marked difference from my prior black; very clean, less severe, the addition of visible shadows, gradiated background - more to work with compositionally. As a start on my first day of shooting, here are a pair of favorite pieces, and several from September’s wood+salt firing.

Two bent tumblers. Handbuilt of stoneware FCSI with Tile6 slip and incised drawing. Woo blu glaze. Soda fired in light reduction to c.10. Each 6.5″h, 3.5″w, 3″l.

Box with scotch cups. Handbuilt of stoneware FCSI with Tile6 slip. Copper glaze. Wood+salt fired to ~c.11. 3″h, 2.5″w, 5″l.

Box with scotch cups. Handbuilt of stoneware FCSI. Copper glaze. Wood+salt fired to ~c.11. 2.5″h, 2.5″w, 6.5″l.

Bag wall house. Handbuilt of #119 stoneware. Ash and salt from atmospheric process. Wood+salt fired to ~c.11. 6″h, 4″w, 13″l.

Vessel. Handbuilt of grolleg porcelain. Oxidized copper blush, copper glaze. Wood+salt fired to ~c.11. 13″h, 7″w at widest.

The “ideas” category seems to have ideas too spread out, and many of my ideas don’t seem to merit an entire post. So I’ve started a static page, located here. This will allow for quick additions and updates, good oranization, and easy linking to images of the finished products. While the blog category may be shelved, the ideas themselves sure aren’t - enjoy.