Some more crystal glazed pots... Earlier to bed tonight!
I unpacked another load from the kiln this morning and loaded it up again with more pots. It is going to be finished at about 11pm tonight, which is much better than previous firings. I was much faster loading this time.
Here are most of the pots from the firing I unpacked today, and one or two close ups of crystals.
This has really exquisite crystals that are like mother of pearl flowers.
Close up of the crystals of the brown pot above. Note the mother of pearl colours and the "wood grain" background.
These crystals belong to a more severe looking pot. I was fascinated as to how the crystals lost their colour in raking light, and looked like pale Xrays of themselves.
With the light more directly on the crystals they show a strong blue. Notice the more compact, slightly blobby, form that these crystals have as compared with the looser, more flower like crystals on the first pot.
Here is the pot that the blue crystals belong to.
A bowl that turned out well (thank goodness!)
A very pretty little pot.
A more masculine pot..., with lugs!
I spent the morning grinding glaze runs off pots and listening to the last stages of the New Zealand v Australia cricket test match, as Australia pulled off another win. Their bowlers can manage over 150 kilometres per hour with the ball... our fast bowlers are damaging themselves if they manage much over 140... I don't know how the Aussies do it!
A nice group of people from the Maniototo.
This afternoon we had a visit from a nice group of people from the Maniototo. Laura showed them her paintings, and I demonstrated throwing pots on the wheel, and we had a tour around the kilns for good measure. It made a nice change from glazing pots to get my hands into clay again, and the visit was a refreshing short break from my current pre exhibition activities.
Must end this now..., 11.30pm..., time for bed!
Here are most of the pots from the firing I unpacked today, and one or two close ups of crystals.
This has really exquisite crystals that are like mother of pearl flowers. 
Close up of the crystals of the brown pot above. Note the mother of pearl colours and the "wood grain" background.
These crystals belong to a more severe looking pot. I was fascinated as to how the crystals lost their colour in raking light, and looked like pale Xrays of themselves.
With the light more directly on the crystals they show a strong blue. Notice the more compact, slightly blobby, form that these crystals have as compared with the looser, more flower like crystals on the first pot.
Here is the pot that the blue crystals belong to.
A bowl that turned out well (thank goodness!)
A very pretty little pot. 
A more masculine pot..., with lugs!I spent the morning grinding glaze runs off pots and listening to the last stages of the New Zealand v Australia cricket test match, as Australia pulled off another win. Their bowlers can manage over 150 kilometres per hour with the ball... our fast bowlers are damaging themselves if they manage much over 140... I don't know how the Aussies do it!
A nice group of people from the Maniototo.Must end this now..., 11.30pm..., time for bed!
Comments
As for those Aussies, do you think Aussie beer has performance enhansing qualities? Never seen Cricket but would like to.
I mostly understand American football, baseball and basketball. There are many other sports that I don't understand well (or at all), even the method for keeping score for something as popular as tennis. What is 40-Love supposed to mean? However, the sport that I least understand is cricket. I know in both heart and mind that there is more to it than I will ever comprehend, but as one of life's great mysteries, I intend to leave it that way. :)
Keep those lovely pots coming!
According to the media (and they can't possibly make things up can they!!?) former Aussie spin bowler, Shane Warne, used to take his own food with him when he was on tour to India, he was evidently fond of pies and baked beans. Not sure of the effect of Aussie beer on fast bowling...., it might help the speed, but I am not sure of the direction!
Thanks for cheering me on with my work too, much appreciated!
Hell Pat,
When I wrote the line about Cricket, I did so with some mild amusement as I know, from an American friend of mine, that the game is completely incomprehensible to a great many Americans. My friend, bless him, was so confused by the game that he seriously thought that the bowler was the same man all day, and wondered how it was possible to have so much stamina! To be honest, I don't understand American football, so we're even. Whilst I have never shown any aptitude to playing sport at all, I do enjoy listening to the cricket commentary on the radio, especially to the traditional 5 day Test version of the game. It is a really nice accompaniment to ones daily toil, and the commentary (usually by former players of the game) is amusing and entertaining, and full of anecdotes.
Glad you are enjoying looking at the pots. The "pretty little pot" label was a bit inadequate really, but I am hopeless with titles! When I was a painter, I was the sort of artist who natural inclination was to label my work,"untitled 1", "untitled 2", and "untitled 3" for an exhibition!
What a success, your crystals glazes !!! I like the bowl and the masculine pot with yellow-brown lugs. I have never seen any cricket match at all, it's so British. I am not a fan of soccer or sports. Sometimes I watch the "Tour de France", cycling.
Have a good day
I'm not a great follower of sport either, and sport at school was a time to be endured rather than enjoyed in my case. I always preferred painting!
Cricket, yes... it is a mysterious pass-time. 5 days can be spent standing in an open field in the hot sun, wind, but not rain. A really hard, small, leather ball is thrown with exceptional speed at someone who is standing only about 20 metres away who holds a heavy, hard wooden bat. If this person is lucky, they see the leather ball, and are able to avoid it..., or hit it a really long way with the bat, skilfully guiding the ball past lots of people who are intent on catching it, or otherwise interrupting its progress! The only thing that can interrupt the five day game, is rain, damp ground, or bad light... It is, as you say Armelle, "so British"!
A "crystal farm" Jim, I like that, I should make a suitable notice for my studio door. My studio is becoming more like a research laboratory these days where a mad scientist is doing unfortunate experiments on innocent pots. Possibly the image of a farm rather than a laboratory is a nicer one! Cricket, to be honest, I don't understand it in any depth myself, but it is entertaining in its own eccentric and convoluted way, and the commentary can be marvellous fun.
What happened to the slow pace of bygone cricket ...when everyone wore whites and the only part that needed protection was a cricketers man hood. How I loved to watch a match on the local green when I was young ...even though I am of the fairer sex lol
Thanks for that. Glad you've had a chat to Jeff and that he and Stella got back safely. Really special people. I am planning to come over sometime (not sure if it is this year or next at this point), and a visit to you and making some pots would be absolutely fantastic. Ha, the Ashes! Tee Hee... it is at times like this that it is good to be able to have two countries I can call home, one that mostly gets beaten by Aussie, and the other that holds the Ashes! Great stuff!
Hi Angie,
That's lovely about the "pretty little pot", thank you!. It is really nice to be able to look at something and dream. I always liked those round glass paperweight things that had the scene inside and snowed when you shook them gently, or turned them over. Kaleidoscopes are good like that too.
Cricket, bless you, I loved it better when everyone wore whites too. With all this daft commercialization of everything, all square inches of everyone and everything seems to be plastered with logos, and corporate colours. BlaaaaaaaH! Where's the romance in it! The cricket green surrounded by summer weary trees, white clad figures, the clop of willow on leather, the anguished cry of the wicket keeper, the smell of mown grass. Ahhhh!
There is almost no sport now on TV in NZ, unless you have paid for Sky TV. (Administrators are now wondering why there are less people interested in sport, or taking part these days!) Cricket on radio used to be wonderful a few years ago, there never seemed to be much advertising, and it was all low tech, low key, and fun. Sadly, the god of the dollar has infested that as well now, and we have hideous, insane, and inane interruptions to the coverage of the game as "Radio Sport" advertises a bunch of products (which it can almost be excused for if that is how it has to be funded) but worse.... it takes up time advertising itself... and the fact that it is covering the cricket match, and that the cricket commentary will be "coming up next!".... this is all going on whilst balls are being bowled, and last stands by heroic tail enders are being held. BLAAAAAAA! The good news is that there is far less advertising when a test match is on (I guess they figure that no one is interested), but one day matches sometimes get so bad that they only broadcast 5 balls of one over before they are back to more ads!
Goodness... I'm obviously steamed up about it at some deep recess of my normally non sporty self!
Just noticed that Mark Titchiner does 5 day courses in slipware, gosh they look tempting!
See you soon I hope!