Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bottles



This grouping of bottles are from a few years ago....They are a little bottom heavy, but in the case of making bottles, that's not a bad thing.


I was experimenting with corks and came up with an idea to cap a wine cork by glueing a top onto the cork after it was fired. Getting the measurements just right is a bit of a hassle, but the cork is secure and fits. I used Goop to attach it to the top.




I really like the way the celadon pooled over the white glaze in the short pot.

I made applied 'buttons' as decorations. The button is actually patterned with a real antique button mold. I made the mold with clay, fired it, then pressed the soft clay button into the bisque mold to reproduce the original button form. You could do this with many different kinds of molds to make all kinds of button decorations on your pots.



The small piece only has a sort of spike shaft at the bottom of the cap. It rattles around right now, but I will find the right cork and hollow it out to fit the shaft.



I like the balance of this tall bottle. Great for single branches and tall flowers. Ridges and finger rings add interest to the shape. There's a lot of exploring to do just in where the rings are placed on the form.

This smaller "buttoned" vase goes with the larger corked one. I believe I made it first, then made it's 'sister'.



Click below for a larger image


2 comments:

-Rob, Simple Circle Studios said...

I have made bottles and flasks before and always struggled with the stopper issue. I have wanted to try gluing a ceramic top to a cork, but was unsure as to how well it would hold and whether or not it would hold up to repeated use. Have you had any problems with the ceramic top detaching from the cork?

Clay and Fiber Artist said...

So far, so good.

Industrial grade Goop "can stick a Volkswagan to a wall" as one potter remarked.

But remember, when you glue something, you must apply pressure while it dries. As my Dad used to say, "Glueing without pressure is a waste of time."