26 Jan 2018

The Evolution of Ceramic Woodland Insects

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General | 0

Late May 2017 – On a sunny Sunday, I spied a shiny black beetle at the side of a path whilst hiking in the Heritage Grove Redwoods, La Honda, California. I realized instantly that this bug would make a perfect model for a ceramic insect that I would coat with some recently-purchased Black Luster overglaze.

Luckily, my hiking partner had his iPhone and took this Photo.

Research revealed that this creature has the fantastic name of Darkling Beetle.

I sketched what I had in mind for making a ceramic bug.

My idea was to make antennae and legs from wire leftover from my hobby of making earrings, using wire-wrapping techniques learned back then.

The bugs would be mounted on driftwood collected from the beach earlier in the year after a gigantic storm.

Copper tacks from my late-father’s stash of hardware would be perfect for attaching the bugs to the driftwood.

I hand-built 6 experimental bugs out of high-fire stoneware clay. Each started as a closed pinch pot. Different features were added, such as up-lifted flared wings, bugged eyes, mouth/lips. I made protruding eyebrows and sled feet, with holes to accommodate the later addition of wire antennae and legs.

After the bugs dried, I applied various combinations of underglaze colors for highlighting different features. All bugs survived the bisque firing.

For glazing, I experimented with various glossy glazes, including Palladium (Silvery Black), Saturation Gold, Pansy Purple, and Transparent.

After the glaze firing, the bugs needed enhancement with Luster overglazes. Lusters contain precious metal elements, such as real gold, which give a glittery and/or iridescent effect. For most of the bugs, Black Luster was used to make their bodies shinier, and to highlight their wings. Opal Luster was applied to wings (including underneath). Gold Luster was applied to lips, eyes, and/or to highlight the tips of wings. The pieces were re-fired at Cone 020 (1180 F), with the end result being a shimmery finish, gorgeous to look at.

Created 2 antennae and 6 legs from gold wire which was threaded through holes in each bug, coiled with pliers. The last step — no small effort — was to wrestle the bugs onto their driftwood mounts using vintage copper tacks.

December 2017 (6+ months later) — The inspiration of seeing a little black beetle evolved in my brain and hands into totally unique and eye-catching fantastical art pieces. Also appropriate for older children interested in insects — adorable companions or a great addition to a bug collection.

Each one measures approx. 2+″ x 3+” x 2+″

Listed for Sale on Etsy.com, click on LegalizePotteryShop.

22 Oct 2016

Legalize Pottery’s School of Fish Continues to Grow

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General | 0

I just can’t seem to stop creating fish ceramics. Here’s the latest creation, still pretty fragile, in the process of hardening (greenware stage). Notice I’m using ‘fish wrap’ to cradle the piece while it is drying.

Below is a smaller fish which just survived bisque firing, and now ready for glazing.

3 Sep 2016

Legalize Pottery’s 4th Anniversary

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General | 1

Summer 2016 marks the 4th year of my foray into pottery. Here’s the first picture of my initial effort (June 2012):

Here’s my most recent project, currently in the drying-out stage:

Along the way, there have been some disappointing results. I was advised early-on to smash up anything that turned out sub-par — we don’t want future archeologists to dig up 21st Century crap and declare that we were really, really lousy potters. Below is a photo of my latest landfill contribution. It was disappointing to accept that all the hours spent on this piece had resulted in something that was just plain awful, but it feels good to know that I will never have have to look at it again, reminding me of my shortcomings as a ceramicist.

On a brighter note, the fish dishes that I started in mid-June (1st set of photos) are now completed and I am happy with how they turned out — especially the lipstick red lips (2nd set of photos).

I also wanted to mention that lately I’ve been adding items to my Legalize Pottery Shop, on Etsy.com. It would take a miracle to sell anything via that outlet, due to the millions of offerings that I’m competing with. But I’m proud of my “storefront”, which is starting to look pretty decent.

15 Feb 2016

Square Plates Edged with Sgraffito

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General | 0

I’m continuing to add sgraffito to some of my recent projects, including these two sets of square dessert plates. On the 1st set of 4 plates, I applied 4 coats of jade underglaze and used sgraffito tools to incise a design of branches around the edge. On the 2nd set of 4 plates, I applied 4 coats of black underglaze (4 coats) and increased the complexity of the carving. These pictures were taken before firing (greenware stage). The plates measure approx. 6″ x 6″, made of cone 10 stoneware.

6 Jan 2016

Vessel Vase with Sgraffito

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General, Uncategorized | 0

To make a large classically-shaped vase, an ancient technique is to use fat extruded coils, and flatten them out — making “slab coils”. Two large bowl shapes were made from the slab coils being wound and stacked and smeared together. After resting a bit, the two bowls were joined rim-to-rim into a roundish vessel. A foot and neck/rim were added from more slab coils. A band of underglaze was applied to the belly of the vase, and I used “sgraffito” tools and a linoleum cutter to carve an abstract design into the underglaze. After bisque firing, an ivory underglaze was applied above and below the sgraffito area, and inside the vase. VA Clear glaze was used inside and outside, with a thick coat on the rim. The overall effect is pleasantly rustic.

(Measurements 9-1/2″ tall, approx. 6-1/2″ diameter)

1 Sep 2015

Review of 2015 Thus Far

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General, Uncategorized | 0

In the 1st part of 2015, while my house was being remodeled, I virtually lived in my ceramics studio. That is, I moved my kitchen table & chairs, refrigerator, microwave, computer, etc. into the Studio, and the Studio is where I did all my cooking, ablutions/make-up, paperwork, etc. At the end of each day, I went back into my torn-up house to watch TV and sleep. This routine was not very conducive to making ceramics.

However, I did manage to create a Legalize Pottery Shop on Etsy. To visit, please click on the link!

I also started a Legalize Pottery Shop page on Facebook. To visit, please click on the link!

By April, some pieces made it into the kiln and came out fairly decent.

For a Pop-Up Sale in early June, I got the idea to make a batch of Plant Stakes for Weeds — how appropriate for Legalize Pottery.

Then, I took a detour into Sculpture — and made a rudimentary human figure.

Now, it’s back to the classroom — I’m enrolled at Palo Alto Art Center for the rest of the year, with an awesome instructor/ceramicist named Malia Landis. In the next few months, I’ll be posting the results of that adventure.

8 Aug 2015

Foray into Sculpture

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General, Uncategorized | 0

Last month, to jump-start my creativity, I decided I should pursue ceramic sculpting (which I’ve been meaning to do for years now), and signed up for a class in San Francisco (http://dikarevart.com).

After looking through art books for inspiration, I opted to go for a prone skinny figure. The teacher made the great suggestion of first making a tile for the sculpture to be lying on.

After the first week, it looked like this — ready to dry out and fired at Cone 04.

Returned after 2 weeks, and spent the next few hours sanding it down, applying copper oxide and turquoise underglaze, and finally coating the tile with watered-down glossy white glaze. Here’s what it looked like, ready for firing.

It looks like, in spite of a sluggish start, this Summer may yet turn out to be full of creative accomplishments.

28 Nov 2014

Sol Y Luna Boutique

by linnell | posted in: Blog, General, Uncategorized | 0

The Sol Y Luna Boutique/Gift Lounge in San Carlos, CA is offering plaques and mugs from Legalize Pottery! In addition to ceramics, there are other unique gift items — scented candles, jewelry, body care, and one-of-a-kind clothing for the selective shopper.

Here is the information about the Boutique:

Sol Y Luna Gift Lounge
1321 Laurel St. (Upstairs)
San Carlos, California

Hours are:
Tuesday/Thursday: 11:00-6:00
Fridays: 12-5 and Saturdays: 12-4.

Sol Y Luna Phone: 650-631-7401